Jeff Lang

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Australian guitarist-songwriter-vocalist-producer, Jeff Lang has built a reputation for making startling music that is accomplished, intricate, gutsy, melodic and loaded with soul. Often taking unexpected turns, he has consistently inspired his audiences by creating a stylistically diverse catalog of over 25 albums.

Alone In Bad Company, Jeff’s latest album, presents the most organic union of his talents and influences yet. It’s filled with exquisitely sung stories and melodies, demonstrating that Jeff is nothing if not a lover of song. Each time he steps up to take a solo, his hard‐won style is unmistakable – fluid but with an edge‐of‐the‐seat recklessness. Acoustic fingerpicking, slide guitar, electric lead, banjos and mandolins drop into place like puzzle pieces. Though Jeff plays and writes nearly everything on the album, steadfast cohorts Danny McKenna and Alison Ferrier deliver on cue and master writer Don Walker shares his peerless wit on two songs.

As legions of journalists have written, Jeff is not one to be easily pegged, though in a general sense it’s fair to say he largely trades in roots-oriented rock; wider reaching in collaborations with the likes of roving guitar anthropologist Bob Brozman, American blues-rocker Chris Whitley, India’s desert-dwellers Maru Tarang and world music virtuosos Bobby Singh and Mamadou Diabate. Jeff’s work with the latter won the 2010 ARIA (Australia’s Grammy) for Best World Music Album, while he and Brozman took one home for Best Blues and Roots Music Album in 2002. Jeff received that same award on his own in 2012.

Jeff has mischievously called his music ‘Disturbed Folk.’ One writer referred to him as a “quiet achiever.” But the overall impression one has from observing Jeff’s lengthy career is that of a driven man who keeps his head down, playing and recording music as if his very life depends on it.

Outside of his homeland, Jeff has toured the UK, Europe, Japan, India, China, South Africa, New Zealand and Canada as well as concentrated work in the U.S., where he has played upwards of 300 shows, living there for 6 months at a time. He has appeared on prestigious American radio programs A Prairie Home Companion, Mountain Stage and Acoustic Café.

Jeff has shared stages with Bob Dylan, Dr. John, Richard Thompson, Bonnie Raitt, Ani Di Franco, Chris Whitley, Albert Collins, Loudon Wainwright III, Greg Brown, John Butler, AR Rahman and Bob Geldolf, among many others.

Jeff has delivered show-stopping performances at festivals all across the globe: The Dublin Blues Festival, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Quebec City Music Festival, Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Winterhawk Bluegrass Festival, Fuji Rock, Glastonbury, Echo Park China, Ottawa BluesFest as well as on his home turf at Port Fairy, Woodford, Bluesfest Byron Bay and Womadelaide.

Jeff Lang’s unique musical vision easily finds a home in myriad settings, from large festival stages to the intimate, long-running Ann Arbor, Michigan club The Ark to the Sydney Opera House. Most importantly, Jeff Lang has achieved what is a rarity in the cluttered world of contemporary sounds: his own voice.

“In a world where music is diluted by money and plasticine let’s give thanks that  there are still people like Jeff Lang out there … he paints pictures in sound”
Beat Magazine

“Jeff Lang is one of those people who has music dripping from his fingers.”
Noel Mengel, Courier Mail

“He’s one of Australia’s most gifted musicians. He really touched me and I had a kind of revelation…
John Butler

“Congratulations to Jeff Lang… the Slide Guitar King Of The World.”
Chart Magazine, Canada

“He explores sonorities as eclectic as they are stunning…Lang’s only reference point is himself, a unique singer-songwriter-guitarist who follows his own path.”
Le Soleil, Quebec

“That is some of the most unbelievable stuff I have ever heard.”
Bela Flek

“Lang is undoubtedly one of the country’s best guitar Players… .”
Iain Shedden, The Australian

“Whatever Makes You Happy is the album that should rightfully establish Lang as one of Australia’s great musicians and songwriters.”
David Curry, Canberra Times

“Let’s be blunt here – Jeff Lang is Australia’s best slide guitarist.”
Kaighin McColl, Forte Mag

“This stunning release from a long-time favourite son deserves to be heard by the widest possible audience”.
Lee Howard, Sunday Herald Sun

“He is a phenomenal guitar player, but he is a songwriter first… integrity, passion and extraordinary musicianship.”
Courier Mail, Brisbane

“There’s the sparseness of a desert soul and the shadows of the city falling over the strings and weaving through the harmonies.”
Warwick McFadyen, Sunday Age

“Tales of the dark side of the road from Australia’s best roots music artisan. ☆☆☆☆☆”
Rolling Stone

The Rogue Folk Club is pleased to provide great Sponsorship Opportunities for all our shows. For a nominal cost, individuals or businesses can sponsor any of our shows and reap a number of benefits - free tickets, reserved table, recognition on literature, our web site and at the concerts. Find out more here, or simply contact our Sponsorship Director Morris Biddle at mobiddley@me.com