BACK TO ROOTS
Jonny Lang returns to the blues fundamentals on latest album
Two decades have passed since Jonny Lang burst onto the music scene.
The 36-year-old musician has become a driving force in blues and guitar — and he’s not slowing down.
He released his seventh studio album, “Signs,” in 2017.
“It’s definitely weird looking back, to have as many records as I do,” he says of his career. “My only goal is to grow with each album.”
On “Signs,” Lang says, he went back to his roots within the blues.
He wanted the guitar to be front and center in each song.
“A lot of my earlier influences have been coming to the surface, like Robert Johnson and Howlin’ Wolf,” he says. “I have been appreciating how raw and unrefined that stuff is. I had an itch to emulate some of that, and I think it shows in the songs. Still, I let the writing be what it was, and that was sometimes not necessarily the blues.”
As with previous records, Lang collaborated with Drew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders.
The trio worked in a Los Angeles studio and was able to crank out more than a dozen tracks within a few days.
“The original tracking sessions was three or four days,” he says. “Then it was about trying to find time to finish the record after that. After the recording sessions, it was challenging, because I was constantly on tour, and when I was at home, I was Dad. In one way, it went really quickly. In another, it took a lot of time to complete. Surrounding myself with Drew and Shannon is one of the best things that I could do. We’ve grown into a team that trusts each other.”
The end result is tracks that feature funk, rock and blues.
“Some of the songs are autobiographical, but not usually in a literal way,” Lang says. “The main goal is for folks to be able to relate to what I went through. If I can’t make it work using just my personal experience, I use my imagination to fill in blanks.”
In addition to being a successful musician, Lang is also a husband and a father to five children.
He snickers when thinking about finding balance in his life.
“The thing I found out is that I don’t think there is a balance,” he says. “Day by day, life just throws stuff your way. The more people you care about, the trickier the equation. Leaving the kids and wife at home, that’s the most difficult. We make it work the best we can. My children are musical and singing all the time. We have a piano at home they play on. It’s amazing to see them all becoming individuals.”