Since the release of his 1997 major label debut, “Lie To Me,” the then-16-year-old Jonny Lang has built a reputation as one of the best live performers and guitarists of his generation. A blues artist who respects and reveres the traditions of the past, Lang embraces the more complex and evolved genres, grafting them to the blues foundation to create a hybrid sound that is simultaneously traditional and fresh.
Lang’s sets include shades of R&B, soul, gospel, hard rock, funk and more. All of it is packaged in a high-octane guitar-vocal attack from an artist who continues to explore new horizons with confidence and enthusiasm.
Lang is currently touring in promotion of his new studio album, “Fight For My Soul” (Concord Records), the follow-up to his 2006 Grammy Award-winning album “Turn Around.”
“In my own life, music has been such a powerful force, and I know that’s the case for a lot of people,” Lang writes on his website. “I’ve seen how music can give people the strength to change. After years of witnessing that, it’s become more of a focus for me to write songs that really county. I’m a blues musician, but I’m also much more than that.”
Opening for Lang will be Honor By August, which adapted its name from a literal definition: “gaining honor by doing something admirable or awe-inspiring.” The Washington, D.C.-based quartet delves soulfully deep and delivers emotionally charged contemporary rock. Honor By August’s poetic sincerity and infectious blend of “atmospherics” with anthem-like choruses have drawn favorable comparisons to U2, Kings of Leon and Bruce Springsteen.
If you go
Jonny Lang, with special guest Honor By August, will play at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College. Tickets cost $39 for balcony, $43 for orchestra and $50 for plaza level seating, available online at www.durangoconcerts.com , by phone at 247-7657, or at the ticket office inside the Durango Welcome Center at Eighth Street and Main Avenue.
