Jonny Lang recorded and released his first album, Smokin (1995) at the age of 13 under the name Kid Jonny Lang & The Big Bang. The following year, Lang released his debut solo album, Lie to Me (January 28, 1997). Lang’s music is noted for his singing, which has been compared to that of a 40 year old blues veteran, His blonde and barefoot stage presence belies the soulful timbre of his vocals and his roots blues guitar style.Lang started playing the guitar at the age of twelve, after his father took him to see the Bad Medicine Blues Band, one of the few blues bands in Fargo. Lang soon started taking guitar lessons from Ted Larsen, the Bad Medicine Blues Band’s guitar player. Several months after Lang started guitar lessons, he joined the Bad Medicine Blues Band, which was then renamed Kid Jonny Lang & The Big Bang.
The band moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota and independently released the album Smokin. Lang was signed to A&M Records in 1996. He released the critically acclaimed multi-platinum Lie to Me on January 28, 1997. The next album, Wander This World, was released on October 20, 1998 and earned a Grammy nomination. This was followed by the more soulful Long Time Coming on October 14, 2003. Lang also made a cover of Edgar Winter’s “Dying to Live.” Lang’s newest album, the gospel-influenced Turn Around, was released in 2006, and most recently won Lang his first Grammy Award.
In more than ten years on the road, Lang has toured with the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, B.B. King, Blues Traveler, Jeff Beck, and Sting. In 1999, he was invited to play for a White House audience including President and Mrs. Clinton. Lang also makes a cameo appearance in the film Blues Brothers 2000 as a janitor. In 2004 Eric Clapton asked Lang to play at the Crossroads Guitar Festival to raise money for the Crossroads Centre Antigua. |
