Short Bio by Webmaster and friend, Bob Whiteside.
Jack, more than anything else, is a prolific writer. Oh, he studied Art in college and his mother was a well-known, St. Louis Artist, but he just can’t keep from writing. Growing up near Washington University, he was drawn to the early coffee house scene in Gaslight Square where he began learning folk guitar method by watching Pat Webb. He taught himself ragtime piano by studying “Ragophile,” the late, great Trebor Tichenor. Jack is something of a “Refugee From A Wealthy Family” as the Joni Mitchell song goes. His estate is surreal but he’s friendly and kind of easy-going. Just don’t get him started talking about the government.
The emergence of a school of music and poetry centered around the history and mythology of the American hobo has inspired him for years now. He’s creating new, original songs, poems, stories and books in the hobo genre while attempting to carry on the tradition of U. Utah Phillips and Jimmie Rodgers. There’s a handful of other great performers specializing in this genre. They gather in Britt, Iowa annually for the Hobo Convention and other Railroad Festivals.
Jack, more than anything else, is a prolific writer. Oh, he studied Art in college and his mother was a well-known, St. Louis Artist, but he just can’t keep from writing. Growing up near Washington University, he was drawn to the early coffee house scene in Gaslight Square where he began learning folk guitar method by watching Pat Webb. He taught himself ragtime piano by studying “Ragophile,” the late, great Trebor Tichenor. Jack is something of a “Refugee From A Wealthy Family” as the Joni Mitchell song goes. His estate is surreal but he’s friendly and kind of easy-going. Just don’t get him started talking about the government.
The emergence of a school of music and poetry centered around the history and mythology of the American hobo has inspired him for years now. He’s creating new, original songs, poems, stories and books in the hobo genre while attempting to carry on the tradition of U. Utah Phillips and Jimmie Rodgers. There’s a handful of other great performers specializing in this genre. They gather in Britt, Iowa annually for the Hobo Convention and other Railroad Festivals.
