Raleigh News and Observer
David Menconi
Feb 2008

Rocker's second act is with the kiddie set

As most performers get on in years, they find themselves playing for audiences going as gray as they are. But 49-year-old Jason Ringenberg has come up with a novel strategy for growing old gracefully: Aim for a younger crowd. Lots younger, like the tricycle demographic.

That's what Ringenberg is doing with Farmer Jason, his children's-music alter ego, in which guise the Jason & the Scorchers frontman sings about skunks with a taste for punk, guitar-pickin' chickens and other topics aimed at the preschool set. He'll do two Farmer Jason shows in the Triangle this weekend.

At the same time, he also continues to perform music that is adult (if not necessarily grown-up) as Jason Ringenberg, the loudest one-man-troubadour band in the land, including tonight at Raleigh's Berkeley Cafe. But in Ringenberg's musical world nowadays, kids are king. "It's been a funny thing that just keeps growing organically," Ringenberg says in a phone call from the road. "I'm not sure where the Farmer Jason thing will end, or even if it will because it's become such a major part of my creative life. Truthfully, I'm more Farmer Jason now than Jason The Old Rock Guy."

At the very least, having dual performance personas allows Ringenberg to double up on his bookings. It does, however, create the occasional transition difficulty. "Usually, I have time to switch from one character to the next," he says. "The hardest part is when I get promoters who want me to do both at the same time, which is truly difficult. But I'll do a few Farmer Jason songs at Jason Ringenberg shows, and they always go over great. Sometimes I'll even close with 'Punk Rock Skunk.' And during a Farmer Jason show, I might pull out an old Scorchers song if I see a lot of old fans there -- parents, or even grandparents."

Offstage, Ringenberg is keeping busy in both his roles. He has released two Farmer Jason albums, 2003's "A Day at the Farm" and 2006's "Rockin' the Forest," with a DVD in the works. And just out is "Best Tracks and Side Tracks 1979-2007" (Yep Roc Records), a two-disc Ringenberg compilation with songs from before and after Jason & the Scorchers -- the '80s-vintage metallic country-soul band that still casts a formidable shadow, even though the Scorchers haven't existed on a full-time basis for a long time.

"I'm not sure what to call ourselves now, this state," Ringenberg says of the Scorchers. " 'Semiretired' would probably be the best way to put it. We'll do a show or two every year when it makes sense. Like our drummer, Perry Baggs, he's had some health problems. We did a benefit for him. Folks either offer extravagant amounts of money to play or ask us to benefit a good cause, and we can't turn it down."

Even with children's music taking up so much of his attention, Ringenberg's post-Scorchers solo career is nothing to sneer at. That especially goes for his most recent set of new adult material, 2004's "Empire Builders," in which Ringenberg came on like Woody Guthrie gone electric on a set of fiery political songs.

Not surprisingly, he's keeping a close eye on politics in this election year.