WOMAD

Jeff Lang

From Australia

It’s been widely acknowledged that Jeff Lang’s musicianship is extraordinary. Whether he’s sliding silvery notes on lap steel, breaking your heart on acoustic, wailing on electric guitars or twisting through some bizarre blues/world/rock hybrid on a Turkish Cumbush, the result fills a room like a choir. Jeff Lang defies description simply due to the extent of his technical range, one minute playing sweet and soft, the next leaning on the distortion and breaking off into dense clusters of sound that feel like they are being wrenched from the devastated instrument’s guts with his bare hands. He never fails to take the instrument into new territory. Witnessing this virtuosity has been described as a spiritual experience by Lang’s peer John Butler, who said that “seeing Jeff Lang live was like to going to church”. His playing is strong enough that it would be easy to overlook his voice - until he opens his mouth and reveals a distinctly pure and powerful vocal style that could easily stand impressively alone, without the accompaniment of his instrumental abilities. Jeff Lang has already been nominated three times for the ARIA award for best Blues and Roots album (Cedar Grove 1998, Everything Is Still 2001, Whatever Makes You Happy 2004), winning in 2002 for his collaboration with Bob Brozman Rolling Through This World (“Jeff Lang plays like the devil!” – Bob Brozman). There is a strong political dimension to Lang’s song-writing - he writes about experiences and consequences, cutting to the heart of social issues in a way political preaching and “peace, man” lyrics never will. This is song writing that heightens the emotions and has the ability to transport. At each listening a new angle presents itself. From large festival stages to intimate clubs to the Sydney Opera House, Jeff Lang is a brilliant, constantly evolving artist who has earned critical and popular acclaim throughout his career.