The band Ragged Jack is led by self proclaimed vagabond Lyman Ellerman. As a singer- songwriter Lyman has traveled from his birthplace in Illinois throughout the South honing his songwriting skills and pursuing his musical goals. Settled with his family now in Nashville, Lyman is began to see his hard work pay off when he signed a publishing deal with Music Central Publishing in late 2007. “I finally found some folks that were interested,” says Lyman. “I’ve been extremely fortunate time and time again. I’ve had a lot of hard times as far as the music business goes.. For a long time, I knew what I wanted to do and I just stuck to it in spite of roadblocks, I just kept going.”

With Lyman on lead vocals and guitar, Ragged Jack also has lead guitarist David Lumsden, Jeremy Holt on lead slide guitar and mandolin, Jerry Turley on bass guitar and vocals and Scott Mundstock on drums and percussion to round it out. “We teeter between rock and roll and country somewhat,” explains Lyman. “We’re all great pals, we all get along well together. We don’t do too much partying, so we keep our heads straight. We take it serious. When we go out and do shows we’re professional about it. They are just a great bunch of guys.”

Music came naturally to Lyman, “My mother and dad both played guitar, my granddad was a fiddle player, and my grandmother played all kinds of string instruments so it must have been in the blood. I listened to a lot of music early on. I started playing drums then migrated to the guitar. Songwriting was just a natural progression. The more I’d write, the more cohesive it started to become. Those first ones were a little choppy.”

Lyman feels that finding a balance between his music and his life with his wife and two children is extremely important. “Having me in the music business has always been a bit different for my kids than with most moms and dads. I don’t do nine to five. I can work from home. If I’m not out on the road, I’m home when they leave for school and I’m there when they get back. We’ve adapted. Our lifestyle is a little different, probably, than ordinary families, but it works, we’ve made it work well for us.. It’s a natural thing for us, nobody complains, when I’m at home we have a lot of fun and hang out, but when it’s time to go, it’s time to go.”

“I’m more concerned that I say something that is worthwhile,” says Lyman of his songwriting. “I write a lot of stuff that’s fun and lighthearted, but, typically, I prefer to write something that’s got a little meaning to it that might be able to make some kind of an impact on listeners.”

“I believe there’s room for everything out there. There are some serious issues out there; there are things that need to be said. I think sometimes we need to get back to music that has more guts and heart to it. Not just all whoop-de-doo music, as I call it, that you can dance to, but that doesn’t really mean anything. I like music to mean something. It doesn’t have to be so serious it bums you out, but it’s good sometimes to get a good dose of real.”

Lyman strives to keep his outlook upbeat and reflect that attitude on to his performances, “There’s plenty enough to be bummed out about, but it doesn’t do much good. I try to stay positive everyday and be productive everyday.”