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Artist of the Month: Jonny Lang
The first songs you heard of Jonny Lang's were probably off his current album Long Time Coming. Or maybe you caught his music on a recent episode of One Tree Hill. While you may think this 22-year-old is new to the music business, he's actually been working since he was a kid. Long Time Coming is his third release, but it's his first in about four years. Read on for more about the artist, then click here to listen to his single, "Red Light."
Where are you right now?
In Iowa. We're on tour right now, right in the middle of it.
What's it like performing live compared to being in the studio?
I love performing live. It's probably my favorite thing. Being in the studio and playing live are pretty different, but I think playing live is probably the most fun because you get to fly by the seat of your pants.
What was it like the first time you saw people singing along with your lyrics and you could tell that people really knew your music?
It's kind of weird, because from your perception you've just been holed up in a studio recording and then suddenly you're in a city far away and somehow all these people like, know your music! But it's flattering that people even enjoy the music I do.
Tell me a little bit about your new album. What kind of vibe are you trying to set with it?
I really don't know. This album is kind of...it's a bit of a left turn for me stylistically. It's definitely more rock. It feels a little closer to my heart because I actually got to write almost all the songs and co-produce and stuff like that... And because [when I was working on] this album I just got married, the songs are either about my wife or a lot of the songs I write are about my relationship with God. It's not really like a straight-up gospel message, not really direct but it's in there and it's something that's really important to me that I write about.
How did you get into music?
Growing up I was raised on Motown music, stuff like that. I had never really heard blues music or if I did I didn't really know that it was blues and, long story short, my dad was friends with a band from my hometown and he took me out to see one of their concerts and it was my first live show and they happened to be a blues band and the guitar player really inspired me. I got to know them and started taking guitar lessons from him. I was 13 years old. So I did a lot of that early on.
How did [Aerosmith's] Steven Tyler get involved with [Long Time Coming]?
We had gone on tour with Aerosmith a couple times and so we kind of got to know those guys and they're all really, really nice guys. Steven's a cool, gracious person. He seems really unaffected by everything — he's really normal. So, anyway, Marty, the guy I did the record with, also worked with those guys writing stuff, producing with them. We just asked him in passing "Would you ever want to play on the album?" and he's like, "Yeah, man. Sure."
Are you a big fan of Aerosmith?
You know, to be honest I wasn't at first. I hadn't really heard their music, but after we started going on tour with them, I really began to appreciate them.
Now your songs are showing up on shows on The WB. Is that kind of crazy?
I don't really watch that much TV but I keep hearing that our songs are making appearances there so that's a little crazy. I never really thought my music would relate to that side of things, but I'm glad it does. I hope it can relate to as many things as possible!
How did you meet your wife?
We met at a Hard Rock Café at the Universal City Walk in Los Angeles.
Does she go with you on tour? What does she do?
Yes, she does. She can do all sorts of stuff. She's a really good singer and songwriter. She started out as an actress and she went to film school and she's directed things so she's like a Swiss Army knife, a Swiss army wife! We've sat down and written songs together and stuff like that, but we haven't really taken it seriously as like a joint venture songwriting team or anything like that.
