Daily Campus

Issue date: 11/5/09 Section: Entertainment

Jack O'Neill and Cary Pierce of Jackopierce released their first album, "Promise of Summer" following a 12-year hiatus in 2008. Photo courtesy of Cary Pierce Images [Click to enlarge]

In the late 1980s, Cary Pierce was an SMU freshman theater major who didn't quite fit in with the rest of the theater kids. During his freshman audition, Pierce recalls that he was "reamed out. The guy was like, 'I'm happy to buy you a bus ticket home.'"

Luckily for Pierce, he wasn't the only "pariah" of the department. During a 9 a.m. Saturday morning theater class, Pierce bonded with fellow outcast Jack O'Neill. They discovered a mutual love for playing the guitar, and since Pierce had a studio in the room, they both started jamming.

The jamming turned into something a little bigger, and the two started playing acoustic around campus.

"With acoustic, you don't have to worry about drums, five different people or who's got to study for a test," Pierce said. "It was me and Jack."

Pierce said SMU was a phenomenal opportunity and a foundation for them to get Jackopierce off the ground. Through word-of-mouth and friends, Jackopierce started playing at college campuses around the country. They also landed a regular gig at Mimi's back in Dallas where they built up a steady SMU fan base. Pierce recalls when singer Jack Ingram watched them play and decided he wanted to do that as well. "We passed the torch to him," Pierce said.

Jackopierce's music is what Pierce describes as "singer-songwriter-rock," influenced by artists like Bob Dylan and Tom Petty. "It's all about the songs," he said. "If it can't be played on an acoustic guitar with a voice, then it's not really our thing."

Thanks to their grassroots music movement, the band released five successful albums before deciding to break up in 1997. They played a farewell tour, released a Decade album, and called it quits. "We broke up and didn't speak for five years," Pierce said.

Pierce said the split was amicable; O'Neill wanted to move on and left for New York. Pierce went solo and released his record, "You Were Here."  He also helped write songs with artists such as Chris Tomlin and Katy Perry.

Continued...

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