Jonny Lang has been a staple of the blues scene for 10 years.
That's saying a lot, considering he is only 25 years old. Just days before his 16th birthday, Lang released his first major-label debut, Lie to Me. Now, 10 years and four albums later, Lang is bringing his youthful experience to the Barrymore tonight.
Numerous sources have dubbed Lang a child prodigy or wunderkind. For starters, we need look no further than his childhood and how the blues was born in him. Lang hails from Fargo, N.D. Known for little other than a movie in the '90s, the city is not exactly a hotbed for the blues — it's hard to imagine a rendition of "Sweet Home Fargo." Given his upbringing, it is a wonder that Lang has emerged as one of the most recognizable bluesmen of the past decade.
More astonishing is the age when Lang first picked up the guitar. At the ripe age of 12, Lang began grooming himself on the axe. Now, if we recall his age when Lie to Me was released and do a little finger counting, we can calculate that Lang had only been playing guitar for four years before releasing a multi-platinum album. When most teens would be placing the finishing touches on "Iron Man" or "Smoke on the Water," Lang was receiving praise from Eric Clapton and B.B. King.
Adding to the list of Lang's attributes is his signature voice — a large part of his success must be credited to his pipes. Sounding more like a grizzled old man, one can't help wondering if he has been smoking a few packs of Marlboro Reds each day since birth to attain such a gravely, mature voice. The cigarette hypothesis is discredited, however, when he breaks into his smooth falsetto that seems to come so naturally.
The bluesman's debut album, Lie to Me, garnered him countless praise upon its release in 1997. The album is a mix of covers ranging from Sonny Boy Williamson to Ike Turner, as well as some of Lang's own songs. In blues, unlike most musical genres, the cover song does not display a lack of personal creativity. In fact, covers are not only embraced, they are almost rites of passage for blues musicians — songs such as "Crossroads" by Cream and "Don't Touch Me" by Robert Cray being prime examples.
Lie to Me marked a resurgence of the blues in the late '90s. Paired with another young bluesman of equal talent, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Lang gave life to the "new millennium blues." The duo gave a facelift to the genre long defined by the familiar sounds of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Lonnie Mack and John Lee Hooker and infused a new spark in their music that had not been seen since the passing of the powerhouse that was Stevie Ray Vaughan, circa 1990.
Lang's follow-up album, Wander This World (1998) matched, if not surpassed the success of Lie to Me and has been Lang's most successful album to date. The Grammy-nominated album showed exponential growth both musically and physically in Lang. It was from his own pen that two of his biggest hits were created, "Walking Away" and "Breakin' Me" — quite a feat at the age of 17. The latter of the two is widely considered his best song and showcased Lang's voice in a beautifully controlled tone, laid over flowing acoustic instrumentation. The throttled-back acoustic guitar offered a departure from Lang's squealing Telecaster that tolled reminiscent bells of SRV's "Life by the Drop" — a turning point in Lang's career. The now-signature guitar riff has been emulated by countless fledgling guitarists in efforts to make young love interests swoon for several years now, and the track has the joined the ranks of "Unchained Melody" and "I Can't Help Falling in Love."
Lang's recent releases, Long Time Coming (2003) and Turn Around (2006), have strayed slightly from the proven methods of the first two albums. The great mix of Lang's natural and falsetto voices have shifted to a song structure that favors the falsetto. Curiously, this may be attributed to a man who could not escape the Jonny Lang comparisons when he first came out: John Mayer. Mayer, labeled a weaker-voiced, "poppier" Lang on his debut, has experienced wild success with his airy, pop-blues tunes. On the flip side, following Mayer's achievements, Lang's own recordings began to favor a more pop-blues influence. This is more prevalent in Long Time Coming, which is almost unrecognizable at times. Lang's wonderfully salty voice and crying guitars were largely masked behind a new "pop" sound and highly produced backing instrumentation — in essence abandoning all of Lang's strengths.
On his new album, Turn Around, Lang makes an effort to re-ground himself in what has made him who he is today. In his own words, "The guitar is still there, whispering at times, occasionally even screaming. Now, though, it is just a voice in a chorus of sounds." Songs off his new album like "Bump in the Road" are a testament to this new creed. A more structured blend of his guitar prowess and his signature voice have created a song that old fans can reattach to after the many questions raised by Long Time Coming.
It is this new sound and new creed that the one-time wunderkind, now staple of the blues will bring to the Barrymore tonight. Lang is now on tour in support of the release of Turn Around. While he hasn't done much touring recently, he is again pleasing audiences all around the country — just as he did 10 years ago.
Jonny Lang will perform with special guest Reeve Karney at the Barrymore Theatre tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $30.
