By: Shelley McKinley, Ed.D.
Brian Jack, CEO and Owner of Brian Jack Produc-tions, LLC was born and raised in Dayton, Texas. Music seems to be his birthright since he watched and studied other family members as they per-formed in their zydeco and gospel bands and later picked up the accordion without any formal training. His mother is from Lebeau, LA and his father is from Barrett Station with roots in Elton and Washington, LA so time spent with extended family in Texas and Louisiana gave Brian the opportunity to learn how to play the guitar at 14 years old. Taught by his uncle in Louisiana, who played in zydeco bands, and his uncle in Texas who had his own gospel group, Brian stated, “I got lessons from both uncles. I got lessons in Lebeau in the summertime from my mother’s brother and lessons from weekend to week-end from my father’s brother in the Crosby area.”
On a trip to Baytown for boudin, Brian’s Godmother bought a toy accordion for her grandchildren, however they never played with them. “I asked my mother, ‘do you think she’ll give it to me?’ because I’m looking at a toy but once I fooled around with it, it was tuned and had the buttons and played like a real instrument,” explained Brian. His Godmother gave him
that toy accordion and within a few days Brian had learned several songs. Th at motivated him to continue to learn how to play the accordion.
ow to play the accordion.
While still a guitar player in the family band, they had a show at Ellington Field and Brian’s cousin realized that he left his accordion at home. He went back to get it, but was not back by show time. Brian said, “Well I got my little toy with me, so we put the little toy on the micro-phone and we played some instrumental songs. My uncle sang a few songs that I knew until my cousin got back with his accordion.” Even though he got back on guitar that night, the experience motivated him to stick with the accordion. Brian saved his money to buy his first real accordion in Louisiana the next summer. “My uncle who taught me guitar took me to the local music store where they sold accordions and that’s how I got my first accordion.” His love for the accordion took over and in 1994 he started his own band now known as Brian Jack and the Zydeco Gamblers. He is known for hits like “Pretty Face, Ugly Ways”, “Gotta Be Me” and “Good Good Lovin’” just to name a few.
Zydeco has always been a fun, upbeat, uplifting kind of thing for Brian. “Trail riding and zydeco are cultural and about family. I write trail ride-driven songs. I don’t really write songs from real life experiences,” stated Brian. Th e music is for the culture and passed from generation to generation. “I always say I’m Brian Jack from Low Woods, TX!” Brian is known to be a jack of many trades. In 2012 he decided that he want-ed to spearhead his own marketing so he picked up the camera and taught himself the photography business. He now owns a successful Professional Photography business, Brian Jack Vision that was founded in 2020. “My brother is a photographer, and I started calling him to do promo shots for me. I think I started calling him too much,” laughed Brian. Brian’s brother, Eugene Jack Jr., told him what camera to buy and gave him pointers to get him started.
It was during a show at Jack’s Grill that Brian met his future wife, Jenna. “I don’t think she knew who I was, I was still up and coming then,” shared Brian. They are happily married and have three children, Christopher, Carter and Brianna. Brian is also a dynamic studio engineer and owns Rock da House Studios of Humble, TX, where he has released several studio albums. His music can be found on all digital streaming platforms.
