Penning his first original at seven years old, live performances began at nine. Now with 10 years of touring behind him (including the United States, Canada, and England), Jack Barksdale is shifting the landscape of Americana. At barely 19, his prodigal guitar playing and old-soul lyrics deliver a rare, authentic style that defies his years. Playing guitar, slide, harmonica, mandolin, piano, and ukulele, he still considers himself—first and foremost—a songwriter.
With constant music at home and a basket of toy instruments, he first started on the violin but shifted gears after receiving a Toys “R” Us guitar for Christmas. “I’d seen other kids playing guitars, and they always looked like they were having a great time,” he says. “When I picked mine up, it sounded terrible.” Formal lessons began at seven. “I could put the guitar to lyrics and started trying to write songs,” he says.
Crediting his (English teacher) mother for his expansive vocabulary, she also introduced Country, Americana, and Texas singer-songwriters (Nancy Griffith, Lucinda Williams, and Kevin Welch). Dad was into ‘90s grunge, rock, and rap, and listening to Nirvana presented an unexpected gateway to the blues. Says Barksdale, “[On] that live unplugged album where they play 'Where’d You Sleep Last Night,' Kurt Cobain talks about learning from Lead Belly. A whole new world of music [opened] to me: Folk, Country, Blues, all the music coming out of the south during the late 1800s, early 1900s.”
His influences include the lyrical style of Towns Van Zandt, Guy Clark, Leonard Cohen, and John Prine, and listening to each of them helped Barksdale recognize songwriting as a serious art form. Jerry Abrams taught him music, the Nashville number system, and how to listen, and playing local picker’s circles helped him build confidence (Luckenbach Pickers’s Circle, Greenwood Saloon).
Barksdale played open mics and says it always felt supportive. “I got to meet interesting people and try out songs. [It never] felt competitive. It was [about] helping each other out, especially when you’re so young. That was extremely helpful, even if I didn’t realize it.” Barksdale admits that having a supporting network early on and performing young meant that he didn’t know what to be nervous about. “I have a comfort with playing in front of people because I’ve done it for so long,” he says. “When I started developing this comfort I didn’t know I would ever need it.” Hosting video series Guitar Slingers, interviewing players and asking how they learned guitar, their influences and backstory, he pivoted to a podcast format and expanded interviews to songwriters and other musicians during lockdown, launching Jack Barksdale’s Roots Revival.
Looking to record a new album, Barksdale reached out to friend (producer) Mike Meadows, who is friends with Guy Clark’s biographer, Tamara Saviano. Verlin Thompson (Clark’s guitarist) was a friend to Barksdale, and a Truly Handmade Records’ Board member. All fell into place, Barksdale signed to Truly, and Voices came out in June 2025 (now with eight million Spotify streams).
“Find what works and really speaks to you,” he says. “Professional music is strange. It is hard to quantify because it’s something inherently subjective. It really can be tough and discouraging at times.”
Uncompromising in his lyricism, with millions of streams and momentum on SiriusXM and Americana radio, Barksdale has shared stages with Wynonna Judd, Ray Wylie Hubbard, Junior Brown, John Fullbright, and Hayes Carll. Intentional with word selection, he says, “It’s important for the outside material world to affect your own philosophy [and to] use your philosophy to affect the world around you.”
Following Phantom Trails (2023) and Out of Order (2024), having just returned from a writing retreat in Blue Rock, Barksdale’s third EP Battleground comes out October 16, following performances at Mountain Stage and Americanafest. Leaning into the fire of his sharp lyrics and acoustic guitar sound, lead single “Battleground” (out September 15) follows “The Scam Song.”
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