Los Angeles, CA — Jonny Lang is pleased to announce a brand new studio album, Signs, which will be released in North America on September 8th via Concord Records. The album (his sixth major-label release) is his first in four years. A pre-order for physical goes live today, with digital to follow on June 9. The European release for Signs will be on August 25 via Provogue Records / Mascot Label Group.
Starting off the record with a juke joint stomp, “Make It Move” is Lang’s story about going to the mountain rather than waiting for it to come to you. “There have been times in my life where I thought something would take care of itself when I should have put some effort forth to help it happen,” says Lang. “Being proactive has been a weak spot for me, and the song is about doing your part to get things moving.”
All fans can immediately download “Make It Move” for free via Jonny’s website.
Anyone who originally discovered Jonny Lang through his searing instrumental work will revel in the huge guitar tones and go for broke solos on Signs, while those who have appreciated his growth as an honest and passionate songwriter will find that honesty and passion unabated. Though he long ago left blues purism behind, Lang has never abandoned its spirit of universal catharsis through the relating of personal trials. Signs reaffirms his commitment to the blues and the guitar without sacrificing the modern approach that has made him such a singular artist.
It is hard to believe that at only 36 years old Jonny Lang has already had a successful career for two decades. Easier to believe when you learn he released his first platinum record at 15—an age when many young people are just beginning to play music. Lie to Me revealed a talent that transcended the crop of blues prodigies floating around in the late Nineties. No flashy re-hasher of classic blues licks, even at that early age Lang was a full-blown artist with a style of his own. Also, setting Lang apart from the wunderkind crowd was a 15-year-old voice that sounded like a weathered soul shouter. Actual life experience was yet to come and has been subsequently chronicled in a series of five uniformly excellent recordings.
What began as a bluesy sound, influenced by electric pioneers like Albert Collins, B. B. King, and Buddy Guy, evolved over those recordings into a modern R&B style closer to Stevie Wonder and contemporary gospel music. Lang’s distinctive, blues-inflected licks appeared on every album but became one element in a sea of passionately sung and tightly arranged songs.
Signs is not merely a return the artist’s guitar-based beginnings, but an embodiment of an even more elemental sound. Beyond focusing attention on his soloing prowess, it is about recapturing the spirit of the early blues, where the guitar was front and center, fairly leaping out of the speakers. “A lot of my earlier influences have been coming to the surface, like Robert Johnson, and Howlin’ Wolf,” he reports. “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.”
The record, which features funk, rock, and blues elements, is held together by Lang’s distinctive playing and singing, and the lyrics, which center on themes of embattlement and self-empowerment. “Some of the songs are autobiographical, but not usually in a literal way,” Lang explains. “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.”
Signs was produced by Lang, Drew Ramsey, and Shannon Sanders. Josh Kelly helmed “Bring Me Back Home.” Lang offers, “Josh and I cut six or seven songs together and had a blast doing it. I am saving the other ones for who knows what, but I definitely wanted that one to be on this record.”
Since the release of his debut album, Grammy Award-winning Jonny Lang has built a reputation as one of the best live performers and guitarists of his generation. The path Lang has been on has brought him the opportunity to support or perform with some of the most respected legends in music. He has shared the stage with everyone from The Rolling Stones and B.B. King to Aerosmith and Buddy Guy, who he continues to tour with today.
NORTH AMERICAN APPEARANCES ANNOUNCED TODAY
ALL DATES OTHER THAN 9/30 – GENERAL ON-SALE FRIDAY, MAY 19
8/11 Los Angeles, CA Teragram
8/13 Arlington, WA Stillaguamish Festival
8/19 North Thornton, NH White Mountain Boogie
8/22 New York, NY Highline Ballroom
8/23 Philadelphia, PA World Café Live
8/25 Toronto, ON Danforth Music Hall
8/26 Trois-Rivieres, QUE Trois-Rivieres en Blues
9/08 Aspen, CO Belly Up
9/09 Boulder, CO Boulder Theater
9/10 Arvada, CO Arvada Center
9/14 Dallas, TX House of Blues
9/15 Houston, TX House of Blues
9/16 Austin, TX ACL Live
9/18 Kansas City, MO Knuckleheads
9/19 St. Louis, MO Pageant
9/21 Milwaukee, WI Potawatomi Casino
9/22 Milwaukee, WI Polawatomi Casino
9/23 Chicago, IL House of Blues
9/24 Louisville, KY Bourbon & Beyond Festival
9/26 Indianapolis, IN The Vogue
9/29 Huntington, NY Paramount
9/30 Hartford, CT Infinity Hall (On-Sale 5/18)
10/01 Fairfield, CT Warehouse (On-Sale 5/31)
10/03 Boston, MA The Wilbur Theater
10/04 Portland, ME Aura
10/06 Cranston, RI Park Theatre
10/07 Hampton Beach, NH Hampton Beach Casino
EUROPEAN APPEARANCES ANNOUNCED TODAY INCLUDE:
10/22 Zwolle, NL Hedon
10/23 Cologne, Germany Gloria
10/25 Berlin, Germany Columbia Club
10/27 Hamburg, Germany Mojo
10/29 Copenhagen, Denmark Amager Bio
10.30 Oslo, Norway Rockafeller
10/31 Stockholm, Sweden Nalen
11/04 London, UK SBE (London Folk and Roots Fest)
11/05 Leuven, Belgium Hep Depot (Leuven Blues Festival)
11/07 Cleon, France La Travene (Blues de Travene)
11/09 Marseille, France Espace Julien
11/10 Six-Fours-les-Plages, France Espace Malraux
11/11 Paris, France La Cigale
11/13 Prague, Czech Republic Lucerna
11/14 Vienna, Austria Porgy and Bess
11/16 Sumperk, Czech Republic House of Culture (Blues Alive Fest)
ALREADY ANNOUNCED AND ON-SALE:
5/18 Rochester, NY Rochester Lilac Festival
5/20 St. Joseph, MI BBQ, Blues & Bluegrass
5/21 Annapolis, MD Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival
6/10 Birmingham, AL Alys Stephens Performing Arts
6/11 Nashville, TN Schermerhorn Symphony Center
6/16 Riverside, IA Riverside Casino & Golf Resort
6/17 Aurora, IL Blues on the Fox Fest
6/18 Moorehead, MN Bluestem for the Arts Amphitheatre
6/22 Columbia, MO The Blue Note
6/23 Wichita, KS Orpheum Theatre
6/24 Okmulgee, OK Musogee (Creek) Nation Festival
7/06 Lexington, MI Lexington Village Theater
7/07 Kent, OH Kent Stage
7/08 Rochester, MI Meadowbrook
7/13 Peoria, IL Riverfront
7/14 Minneapolis, MN Music In The Zoo
7/15 Sioux Falls, SD Sioux Falls Jazz Fest
7/20 Tucson, AZ Rialto theatre
7/21 Chandler, AZ Chandler Center
7/22 Las Vegas, NV Boulder Station
7/28 Saratoga, CA Mountain Winery
7/29 Lincoln, CA Thunder Valley Casino
ADDITIONAL DATES WILL BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY
