Preacher Jack

Preacher Jack served as the stage name for the untamed keyboardist John Lincoln Coughlin, an autodidact whose command of vintage honky-tonk, rockabilly, and boogie-woogie bordered on encyclopedic. After building a devoted audience through the 1960s and 1970s during a long residency at a venue along Boston’s North Shore, he attracted the notice of George Thorogood, whose intervention secured him a deal with Rounder Records. The pianist’s first release arrived in 1980 as the album Rock’n’Roll Preacher; four years later came 3000 Barrooms Later. Although another decade passed before he entered the studio again, he maintained a steady presence on the honky-tonk circuit, and renewed grassroots support in 1997 prompted the recording of Non-Stop Boogie.