Jonny Lang

In the 1990s a curious pattern emerged in contemporary blues when adolescent guitar prodigies suddenly commanded widespread attention upon the arrival of their debut recordings. That pattern reached its apex with Fargo, North Dakota native Jonny Lang, who issued his first solo album, Lie to Me, at fifteen. After catching a performance by the Bad Medicine Blues Band at twelve, he joined the ensemble; within months he assumed leadership, prompting a name change to Kid Jonny Lang & the Big Bang and a relocation from Fargo to Minneapolis. Their 1995 debut, Smokin', achieved strong regional sales and ignited a bidding war among major labels, resulting in Lang’s 1996 signing to A&M Records. Early the following year the label released Lie to Me, which drew mixed notices, while the more accomplished Wander This World appeared late in 1998. Long Time Coming arrived in 2003 and drew frequent criticism for its polished hard-rock sheen and occasionally blunt spiritual themes; by contrast, the gospel-leaning Turn Around earned warmer responses in 2006. Concord Records issued Live at the Ryman in 2010. Following a seven-year absence from the studio, Lang revealed plans for his sixth album, Fight for My Soul, set for release in September 2013; it topped Billboard’s Blues Albums chart. Signs, his politically pointed follow-up, surfaced in September 2017.