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A Pocketful of Soul Philadelphia Inquirer  September 3, 2000 Jason and the Scorchers, the alt-country progenitors, play with such hell-bent rock-and roll fury that it sometimes obscures the down home profundity of front man Jason Ringenberg's songs. That's not the case with this aptly titled solo effort. A Pocketful of Soul is a spare, virtually all-acoustic effort that focuses squarely on bedrock country themes: the pull of home and the old ways ("Oh Lonesome Prairie" ..Merry Christmas My Darling") as well as the threats to them ("The Price of Progress") -plus family fatalism and faith (the gospel charged "Under Your Command"). The soloing scorcher doesn't break new ground here, but one of his lines about the honky tonk hero of "Last of the Neon Cowboys" explains some of the appeal of Ringenberg himself: "When the music starts he'll give all of his heart, and make you believe again." Nick Cristiano