"I didn't hear too much blues when I was little," admits Jonny Lang, current wunderkind of the modern blues movement. When did he grow up and hear it, then? "That kind of started when I was 13."
Yeah, yeah; we know Lang's age measuring-stick is a little warped--after all, most of us ordinary folk were still considered "little" at the beginning of our teen years. Lang, however, is not ordinary folk--in fact, he's so extraordinary that it's perfectly admissible to use such clichés when describing him. One listen to his powerful, rasping, whiskey-soaked voice belting the blues is enough to make any listener pause. Especially when one realizes that it's pure talent, not hard living, that makes the voice sound that way. Lang, despite his own aforementioned definition of maturity, is still technically...little. Despite his prodigious gifts, he's only 17.
"I've always wanted to do it. Never wanted to be a fireman," Lang jokes regarding his early entrance into the professional music world, but his undertone is serious. His general attitude is pretty serious, too--within four years of picking up a guitar for the first time, the Fargo, North Dakota native (born Jon Langseth Jr.) has put out two records (1996's platinum Lie To Me and the most recent Wander This World), opened up for Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones, and jammed with legends of his chosen genre, like Buddy Guy and B.B. King. "I'm the kind of guy who wakes up everyday, sets a goal, and tries to achieve it by the end of the day," shrugs Lang.
Despite all this focus, however, the young singer/ guitarist started out a fairly typical kid. A steady dose of his parents' classic Motown records piqued his musical tastebuds but soon spun off into a teen-friendly interest in alternative music--in fact, Stone Temple Pilots' mega-chordfest "Plush" is the song he credits as inspiring him to pick up a guitar. However, his first teacher, Ted Larsen, was a professional blues guitarist who had other plans for the would-be Weiland. Lang was informed that if he wanted to study with Larsen, he would be studying blues licks. Lang acquiesced, quickly got into the style, and within a few months and lessons was invited to join Larsen's band, Bad Medicine, as frontman. Lang was so commanding in his new role that the band was renamed with a klieg spotlight: Kid Jonny Lang & the Big Bang.
"I was 13 years old when we had our first professional gig," Lang relates. "It was like an outdoor festival type thing. We opened for this band from Minneapolis, and we thought that was so cool, because we're from Fargo."
Early gigging with the Big Bang proved fun for Lang, without subtracting too much from ordinary teen life. "We'd go play a show on a Saturday night, get done early, and then I'd go to [a local club] in Fargo and then go to the mosh pit or something," says Lang. "It was always a great time."
Subsequent rabid interest in the blonde kid who played barefoot onstage and smoked on guitar (Lang has, in past interviews, confessed he occasionally felt like "a freak") led to a major record deal, and just shy of his sweet 16th, Lang put out his solo debut. The record went platinum, an impressive feat in itself--compounded by the double-whammy of Lang's tender age and the relative obscurity of blues in the current pop music scene. As a consequence, "I've already been on the road for four-and-a-half years pretty much straight," Lang sighs, but adds, "I love it. It's my favorite thing to do."
Gathering material for a much-anticipated sophomore release (when Lang was, literally, a high school sophomore himself) wasn't a regimented procedure. "I didn't have a preconceived idea of what I wanted to happen on the next album," Lang explains. "I kind of knew I wanted to branch out a bit from straight blues stuff. I don't really write blues songs. It's hard to explain. [The new album] gets along better with the songs I like to write."
Lang cut the baby fat musically and personally for his second release: he lopped off his trademark long locks (claiming in a recent interview that his hair choked him onstage), put shoes on (after suffering a couple of nasty splinters in his feet), got a bit of seasoning by performing in a movie (Blues Brothers 2000), and tightened his critical work knobs. The result? A second record that "turned into an edgy, rock funk soul album."
Wander This World, a surprisingly sophisticated (yes, again, for a teenager--but also for even a seasoned musician) mix of rootsier genres such as soul, funk, and straight-up rock, did indeed emerge with a built-in edge. Lang co-wrote three of the album's songs, including the standout plaintive croon, "Breakin' Me."
"'Breakin' Me' sounds like it's about a girl," admits Lang, who does in fact have a steady girlfriend, a Los Angeles-based teen actress who appears in the video for Lie To Me's "Missing Your Love." However, "[it's about] the best thing you ever had--you took it for granted and let it go, and now you're desperate to get it back because you let it go."
Lang seems in no danger of taking anything for granted. A consistently humble interview, Lang speaks often of his good fortune and is most deferential to his blues idols, Buddy Guy and B.B. King--both of whom have offered their own praise and suggestions up to Lang.
"I think the best advice I got from [Guy and King] is more of an indirect influence. It's by watching them and how they handle themselves on and offstage," he says. "They're both sweethearts and really great guys. Buddy let me sit in on his album and do a duet with him. That was pretty cool!"
When not performing, recording, or getting schooled by legends, Lang can always depend upon the support of his family--mom, dad, and three sisters (two older, one younger). "My parents have always been really supportive of me and all my sisters and whatever we want to do. They're just always kind of behind us, and let us know there will always be something to fall back on in case something goes wrong."
It appears that Lang has learned to handle his success in a balanced manner, but one final question continues to nip at the heels of his calm demeanor: Isn't he sacrificing a normal teenage life for his prodigal career? Lang is easygoing and unconcerned. "You only live once," he shrugs. "Besides, I only like 'old guy' sports like fishing and golf. Nothing that my friends like anyways!"
