Jonny Lang
Encyclopedia
Jonny Lang is a Grammy award-winning American blues
, gospel
, and rock
singer, songwriter and recording artist. Lang's music is notable for both his unusual voice, which has been compared to that of a forty-year-old blues veteran, and for his guitar
solos
. His solo patterns have especially been noted for the constant use of wide vibrato
s.
made by the Fender Custom Shop. He also takes out a Gibson Les Paul for some occasions. The Telecaster Thinline has a Spruce body, maple top and birdseye maple neck. He uses Bill Lawrence
Pickups (500L Neck, 500XL Bridge) and a Seymour Duncan
P-90 in the middle. He uses a Route 66 pedal of Visual Sound and a Vox 847 reissue Wah Wah pedal for some songs. Live, he plays through a pair of Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue Amps. Jonny also used an arbiter Fuzz Face and an Electro Harmonix POG for The Experience Hendrix tour.
From 1996 to 2004, Lang's backing band included Paul Diethelm on guitar, Bruce McCabe on keyboards, Doug Nelson on bass and Billy Thommes on drums. Also appearing on keyboards during 2003 and in 2004 was Donnie La Marca in place of McCabe when he had to leave the road for some time. Nelson was killed in a traffic accident in 2000 and was replaced by Billy Franze. Franze was in turn replaced by Jim Anton
in 2003. Saxophone player David Eiland was added in 2000, providing Lang with a foil for extended instrumental jams. In 2005, Lang replaced the entire lineup, except for Anton, and embarked on an acoustic tour. He performed with Wendy Alane Wright at the 2000 pre-Grammy party. New guitarist Reeve Carney
was also the Lang band's opening act for several shows in 2005 and as well as the 2006 and 2007 tours. The new band also includes organist and Houston
, Texas
native Charles Jones, plus drummer Barry Alexander and organist Bill Brown from Minneapolis.
.
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
, and rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...
singer, songwriter and recording artist. Lang's music is notable for both his unusual voice, which has been compared to that of a forty-year-old blues veteran, and for his guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
solos
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
. His solo patterns have especially been noted for the constant use of wide vibrato
Vibrato
Vibrato is a musical effect consisting of a regular, pulsating change of pitch. It is used to add expression to vocal and instrumental music. Vibrato is typically characterised in terms of two factors: the amount of pitch variation and the speed with which the pitch is varied .-Vibrato and...
s.
Musical equipment
Jonny Lang originally used Benedict guitars but now mainly uses a Fender Telecaster ThinlineFender Telecaster Thinline
The Fender Telecaster Thinline is an electric guitar made by the Fender company. It is a Telecaster with body cavities. Designed by German luthier Roger Rossmeisl in 1968, it was introduced in 1969 and updated with a pair of Fender Wide Range humbucking pickups, Bullet truss-rod and 3-bolt neck...
made by the Fender Custom Shop. He also takes out a Gibson Les Paul for some occasions. The Telecaster Thinline has a Spruce body, maple top and birdseye maple neck. He uses Bill Lawrence
Bill Lawrence (guitar maker)
Bill Lawrence is a recording musician and an electric guitar pickup designer/maker and guitar designer/maker in the musical instrument industry, designing pickups and guitars for Fender, Gibson, Peavey and other companies from the 1950s to the present.MusicianThe Bill Lawrence story began...
Pickups (500L Neck, 500XL Bridge) and a Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan
Seymour Duncan is a company that is best known for manufacturing of guitar pickups, and currently has a line of effects pedals. The company was founded in 1976 by guitarist and luthier Seymour W. Duncan and his then-wife Cathy Carter Duncan in Goleta, California, USA...
P-90 in the middle. He uses a Route 66 pedal of Visual Sound and a Vox 847 reissue Wah Wah pedal for some songs. Live, he plays through a pair of Fender Deluxe Reverb Reissue Amps. Jonny also used an arbiter Fuzz Face and an Electro Harmonix POG for The Experience Hendrix tour.
Band personnel
From 1993 to 1996, Lang's backing band was The Big Bang. This group consisted of three founding members of the Bad Medicine Blues Band: Ted "Lightnin' Boy" Larsen on guitar, his brother Michael Rey Larsen on drums, and Jeff Hayenga on bass. Keyboardist Bruce McCabe joined The Big Bang in 1995 after Lang and this young band from Fargo impressed him with their set opening for McCabe's band at the time, The Hoopsnakes.From 1996 to 2004, Lang's backing band included Paul Diethelm on guitar, Bruce McCabe on keyboards, Doug Nelson on bass and Billy Thommes on drums. Also appearing on keyboards during 2003 and in 2004 was Donnie La Marca in place of McCabe when he had to leave the road for some time. Nelson was killed in a traffic accident in 2000 and was replaced by Billy Franze. Franze was in turn replaced by Jim Anton
James Anton
James "Jim" Anton, is an American bass guitarist who has toured and/or recorded with such artists as Steve Tibbetts, Bradley Joseph, Jesse Johnson, Willie Wisely, Choying Drolma, Peter Ostroushko, Mandy Moore, John Gorka, Joey McIntyre, Delta Goodrem, Glen Phillips, and Jonny Lang. He has also...
in 2003. Saxophone player David Eiland was added in 2000, providing Lang with a foil for extended instrumental jams. In 2005, Lang replaced the entire lineup, except for Anton, and embarked on an acoustic tour. He performed with Wendy Alane Wright at the 2000 pre-Grammy party. New guitarist Reeve Carney
Reeve Carney
Reeve Carney is an American singer-songwriter and actor. He appears in the Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark as the character of Peter Parker/Spider-Man.-Early life:...
was also the Lang band's opening act for several shows in 2005 and as well as the 2006 and 2007 tours. The new band also includes organist and Houston
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
native Charles Jones, plus drummer Barry Alexander and organist Bill Brown from Minneapolis.
Personal life
Lang married his girlfriend, Haylie Johnson, on June 8, 2001. They have three children; two twins, Raimy and Saylor, and a daughter Renn. They live in Los Angeles, CaliforniaLos Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
.
Discography
- 1995 SmokinSmokin (Jonny Lang album)Smokin is the first album by American blues guitarist Jonny Lang, independently released in 1995 under the name Kid Jonny Lang & The Big Bang...
(as Kid Jonny Lang & The Big Bang) - 1997 Lie to MeLie to Me (album)Lie to Me is the second studio album by American blues guitarist Jonny Lang, released in 1997. This is Lang's big-label debut, released a day before he turned 16...
- 1998 Wander This World
- 2003 Long Time ComingLong Time Coming (Jonny Lang album)Long Time Coming is an album by Jonny Lang, recorded at MF Studio and The Attic, Monrovia, California, and released on October 14, 2003....
- 2006 Turn AroundTurn Around (album)Turn Around is the fifth studio album by American blues guitarist Jonny Lang, released on September 19, 2006 . On February 11, 2007, it won the Grammy Award for Best Rock or Rap Gospel Album.From Amazon.com:...
- 2009 Live At The Ryman
Guest appearances
- 1997 A Very Special Christmas 3A Very Special Christmas 3A Very Special Christmas 3 is the third in a series of Christmas-themed compilation albums produced to benefit Special Olympics. The album was released on 23 September 1997, and production was overseen by Bobby Shriver, Al Cafaro, and Linda Feder for A&M Records.-Track listing:# "I Saw Three...
, performs on track "Santa Claus is Back in Town." - 1998 Blues Brothers 2000Blues Brothers 2000 (soundtrack)-Credits:* "Mighty" Mack McTeer, vocals* Buster Blues, vocals* Cab Blues, vocals* Elwood J. Blues, vocals, blues harp* Steve "the Colonel" Cropper, guitar* Donald "Duck" Dunn, bass guitar* Anton Fig, drums* Birch "Crimson Slide" Johnson, trombone...
original soundtrack, performs on track "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)." - 1998 Heavy Love album by Buddy GuyBuddy GuyGeorge "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
, performs on track "Midnight Train." - 1999 Loud Guitars, Big SuspicionsLoud Guitars, Big SuspicionsLoud Guitars, Big Suspicions is the debut album by American blues-rock artist Shannon Curfman, released in 1999, for Arista Records. The title comes from a line in the Sheryl Crow song "Hard to Make a Stand", which Curfman covers on this album...
album by Shannon CurfmanShannon CurfmanShannon Marie Curfman is an American blues-rock guitarist and singer. She came to prominence in 1999, at the age of 14, with the release of her first album, Loud Guitars, Big Suspicions, which she recorded a year earlier.Curfman has toured with John Mellencamp, Buddy Guy, George Thorogood and The...
performs on multiple tracks, and co-wrote "Love Me Like That." - 1999 For Love of the Game (film)For Love of the Game (film)For Love of the Game is a 1999 American drama sports film based on the novel of the same title by Michael Shaara...
original soundtrack, performs a cover of "Paint It Black" - 2000 It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues original cast recording, performs on tracks "Someone Else is Steppin' In" and "The Thrill is Gone."
- 2000 This Time Around album by HansonHanson (band)Hanson are an American pop rock band formed in Tulsa, Oklahoma, by brothers Isaac , Taylor , and Zac Hanson . They are best known for the 1997 hit song "MMMBop" from their major label debut album Middle of Nowhere, which earned three Grammy nominations...
, performs on "You Never Know", "This Time Around" and "Hand in Hand" - 2000 Milk Cow BluesMilk Cow BluesMilk Cow Blues is an album from American country music artist Willie Nelson. This album was released on September 19, 2000, on the Island Records label. It features many famous blues artists, including B. B. King and Dr. John.-Track listing:...
album by Willie NelsonWillie NelsonWillie Hugh Nelson is an American country music singer-songwriter, as well as an author, poet, actor, and activist. The critical success of the album Shotgun Willie , combined with the critical and commercial success of Red Headed Stranger and Stardust , made Nelson one of the most recognized...
, performs on "Ain't Nobody's BusinessAin't Nobody's Business"Ain't Nobody's Business" or "Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness if I Do" is an eight-bar vaudeville blues song that became an early blues standard. It was written in the 1920s by pianist Porter Grainger, who had been Bessie Smith's accompanist, and Everett Robbins. The song was first recorded October 19,...
" and "Rainy Day Blues" - 2001 Been a Long Time album by Double TroubleDouble Trouble (band)Double Trouble was the backing rhythm section for Texas blues rock guitarist and lead vocalist Stevie Ray Vaughan. Originally consisting of drummer Chris Layton and bassist Tommy Shannon, Reese Wynans would later join the outfit on keyboards.-History:...
, performs on "Ground Hog Day" along with Gordie JohnsonGordie JohnsonGordie Johnson is a Canadian musician, best known as the front man for the reggae-rock band Big Sugar, and later southern rock band Grady.-Biography:...
of Big SugarBig SugarBig Sugar is a Canadian blues-rock band, they were active from 1991 to 2004 and again since April 2010. The band has sold more than half a million albums in Canada.-History:...
. - 2004 All Things New album by Steven Curtis ChapmanSteven Curtis ChapmanSteven Curtis Chapman is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, actor, author, and social activist.After starting his career in the late 1980s as a singer/songwriter of contemporary Christian music, Chapman has since been recognized as one of the most prolific singers in the genre,...
, performs on "Only Getting Started" - 2004 Eric Clapton's Crossroads Guitar Festival, performs Give Me Up Again
- 2005 PossibilitiesPossibilitiesPossibilities is the forty-fifth studio album by American jazz musician Herbie Hancock, released in the United States on August 30, 2005 by Vector Recordings. The album features a variety of guest musicians such as John Mayer and Carlos Santana...
album by Herbie HancockHerbie HancockHerbert Jeffrey "Herbie" Hancock is an American pianist, bandleader and composer. As part of Miles Davis's "second great quintet," Hancock helped to redefine the role of a jazz rhythm section and was one of the primary architects of the "post-bop" sound...
, Lang sings and plays guitar on the track "When Love Comes to TownWhen Love Comes to Town"When Love Comes to Town" is the 12th song on U2's 1988 album, Rattle and Hum, where it was recorded at the historic Sun Studio in Memphis TN as a duet between U2 and B.B. King...
" along with Joss StoneJoss StoneJocelyn Eve Stoker , better known by her stage name Joss Stone, is an English soul singer-songwriter and actress. Stone rose to fame in late 2003 with her multi-platinum debut album, The Soul Sessions, which made the 2004 Mercury Prize shortlist...
. - 2007 A Deeper LevelA Deeper LevelA Deeper Level is a live worship album by Israel & New Breed. It was released in 2007 by Integrity Media. It is Houghton's seventh album, his sixth with Integrity, and his fourth live album....
album by Israel HoughtonIsrael Houghton-Other recordings :* "Champions for Christ" - Hi5 * "Where Are the Fathers?" from He-Motions * "Send Me to the Nations" from A Wing & A Prayer...
, Lang plays and sings duet with Israel on the track "You Are Not Forgotten". - 2009 Oh Happy DayOh Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration"Some of secular music's top acts -- among them Queen Latifah, Jon Bon Jovi, Joss Stone and 3 Doors Down -- take a walk on the spiritual side for Oh Happy Day: An All-Star Music Celebration."...
compilation album, performs "I Believe" with the Fisk Jubilee SingersFisk Jubilee SingersThe Fisk Jubilee Singers are an African-American a cappella ensemble, consisting of students at Fisk University. The first group was organized in 1871 to tour and raise funds for their college. Their early repertoire consisted mostly of traditional spirituals, but included some Stephen Foster songs...
. Lang performed the song live on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno April 16, 2009. - 2009 Lines, Vines and Trying TimesLines, Vines and Trying TimesLines, Vines and Trying Times is the fourth studio album by the Jonas Brothers and their third album released under Hollywood Records. It was released June 16, 2009 in the U.S. The album received mixed reviews from critics and fans. In its first week, Lines, Vines and Trying Times sold 247,000...
album by Jonas BrothersJonas BrothersThe Jonas Brothers are an American boy band. The band gained its popularity from the Disney Channel children's television network. From the shore region of New Jersey, the band consists of three brothers: Paul Kevin Jonas II , Joseph Adam Jonas , and Nicholas Jerry Jonas...
, guest guitar on "Hey Baby" - 2010 Up Close album by Eric JohnsonEric JohnsonEric Johnson is an American guitarist. Though he is best known for his success in the instrumental rock format, Johnson regularly incorporates jazz, fusion, gospel and country and western music into his recordings...
, Vocals on "Austin" - 2010 What We Want, What We Get album by Dave BarnesDave BarnesDave Barnes is an American rock-R&B-contemporary Christian singer-songwriter from Nashville, Tennessee.-Early life:...
, guest guitar and vocals on "What I Need" - 2010 6 String Theory" album by Lee RitenourLee RitenourLee Mack Ritenour is an American jazz guitarist who has recorded over 42 albums, appeared on over 3000 sessions, and has charted over 30 instrumental and vocal contemporary jazz hits since 1976. One of his most popular songs was the smash hit, “Is It You” in 1981. Ritenour is considered to be a...
, featured on track "Why I Sing The Blues" Feat. B.B. King and Vince Gill - 2010 Memphis Blues album by Cyndi LauperCyndi LauperCynthia Ann Stephanie "Cyndi" Lauper is an American singer, songwriter, actress and LGBT rights activist. She achieved success in the mid-1980s with the release of the album She's So Unusual and became the first female singer to have four top-five singles released from one album...
, Guest vocals on "Crossroads", And "How Blue Can You Get?" - 2010 Guitar HeavenGuitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All TimeGuitar Heaven: The Greatest Guitar Classics of All Time, referred to as simply Guitar Heaven, is the 21st studio album by Santana, released on September 21, 2010...
album by SantanaSantana (band)Santana is a rock band based around guitarist Carlos Santana and founded in the late 1960s. It first came to public attention after their performing the song "Soul Sacrifice" at the Woodstock Festival in 1969, when their Latin rock provided a contrast to other acts on the bill...
, Vocals on "I Ain't Superstitious" - 2010 Crossroads Guitar FestivalCrossroads Guitar FestivalThe Crossroads Guitar Festival is a music festival and benefit concert first held in 2004 and again in 2007 and 2010. The festivals benefit the Crossroads Centre founded by Eric Clapton, a drug treatment center located in Antigua. The concerts are also intended to be a showcase for a variety of...
, DVD Various Artists, Performs on “Five Long YearsFive Long Years"Five Long Years" is a song written and recorded by blues vocalist/pianist Eddie Boyd in 1952. Called one of the "few postwar blues standards [that has] retained universal appeal", Boyd's "Five Long Years" reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart...
” – and “Miss You” – w/ Buddy GuyBuddy GuyGeorge "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
& Ronnie Wood
Filmography and television appearances
- 1998 Blues Brothers 2000Blues Brothers 2000Blues Brothers 2000 is a 1998 American musical comedy film that is a sequel to the 1980 film The Blues Brothers. Directed by John Landis, the film featured Dan Aykroyd and John Goodman, with cameos by many musicians.-Plot:...
- 1998 The Drew Carey ShowThe Drew Carey ShowThe Drew Carey Show is an American sitcom that aired on ABC from 1995 to 2004. The show was set in Cleveland, Ohio, and revolved around the retail office and home life of "everyman" Drew Carey, a fictionalized version of the actor....
episode "In Ramada Da Vida" (cameoCameo appearanceA cameo role or cameo appearance is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television...
)