Jack Ingram

Except now, there’s quite a few more ears wanting to hear what those things are. Ingram insists that the high expectations being placed on him didn't affect how he approached the writing and recording of the new album.

"I know what the stakes are, but I'm not nervous," he says. "I feel like now is my opportunity to do what I've been working toward for 15 years. I'm fully prepared."

For the recording, Ingram turned to Doug Lancio and Jeremy Stover, who both produced tracks on the album. "Those guys are pretty drastically different," says Ingram of the ace producers he trusted to bring out the varied facets of his own personality. "Jeremy's got more of a seek-and-destroy type of production, while Doug is much more of a 'Come over to the house and play me a song' kind of person."

This Is It features a mix of Ingram originals and carefully chosen outside material from stellar songwriters like Radney Foster, Trent Summar, and Tom Littlefield.

"If it makes me sad or happy on an extreme level, if it's something I can relate to, and something I feel like I can deliver, then that's the kind of song I want to play," he says. "It really comes down to emotion for me."

Whether self-penned or not, Ingram says the songs that made the cut for This Is It are simply "the ones that stuck with me. These are the songs that I wanted to play for years to come."

He'll be playing them as part of Brad Paisley's "Bonfires & Amplifiers" tour this spring and summer, just the latest of several high-profile tours he's been a part of. In recent months he's won over a wide variety of crowds as the hand-picked opening act for country superstars Brooks & Dunn and rock luminary Sheryl Crow.

"It's been a blessing to be able to walk that line musically, where I can appeal to hardcore country fans as well as rock and roll fans," he says. "I know why I enjoy Sheryl Crow and her influences, and I know why I enjoy Brad Paisley and his influences. It's not that much of a stretch for me."

Bringing his music to so many new listeners has been thrilling for Ingram - and he's ready to keep all those new fans for a long, long time.

"I've spent the last year introducing myself to a brand-new audience," he says. "And now it feels like it's beginning to take hold. I’m telling you…This Is It.”