Jeff Lang

Jeff Lang
Lang at Harvest Festival Jan 2007
Background information
Birth name	Jeffrey Lang
Born	(1969-11-08) 8 November 1969 (age 47) Geelong, VIC Australia
Genres	Folk, blues, rock and roll
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, banjo, mandolin
Years active	1986–present
Labels	ABC Music
Website	Jeff Lang.com.au

Jeff Lang (born 9 November 1969) is an Australian songwriter, singer and slide guitarist. He is a leading performer in the Australian roots music scene and purveyer of his self-described "disturbed folk" style, which incorporates primarily folk, blues and rock. The songwriting in his music is heavily influenced by the folk music of the southern United States and the British Isles but has distinctly Australian lyrical content whilst his guitar playing mixes folk, blues and rock styles with Indian and African modalities. He plays various types of guitar, both slide and standard, as well as banjo, mandolin, Chumbush and drums. He has won ARIA awards for his 2002 collaboration with Bob Brozman Rolling Through This World (Best Blues and Roots album), the album Djan Djan (Best World Music album 2011) and for his 2012 solo album Carried in Mind (Best Blues and Roots album). In addition, Lang's 1996 album Native Dog Creek was named Best Australian Blues Album in a Rhythms magazine readers' poll, as were his 2005 release You Have To Dig Deep To Bury Daddy and the 2006 album Dislocation Blues, a collaboration with the late Chris Whitley.

In 2012, Lang was presented with the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's National Folk Recording Award.

Lang's interest in music was sparked at a young age, inspired by records his parents played at home. His early influences were AC/DC, Bob Dylan, Leo Kottke, Ry Cooder, Roy Buchanan and Neil Young. After playing the clarinet for six years he took up the guitar after discovering his older sister's discarded nylon string acoustic. He played electric guitar in various local bands in his hometown of Geelong before forming his own band and moving to Sydney in 1990 with the aim of playing his own compositions.

In 1992. Lang split his band up and concentrated on playing solo shows. For the following two years he wrote the songs that later appeared on his first independently released CD, Ravenswood. Since then, he has become known as a prolific songwriter, releasing 12 studio albums in the following 16 years and numerous live recordings. Seven of these albums have been nominated for the ARIA Award for Best Blues and Roots Album, with his collaboration with Bob Brozman, Rolling Through This World, winning the Award in 2002.