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Photo copyright © Pedrography 1997. Used by permission
See also Chain
Location: Geelong, Victoria
Web site: JeffLang - Really Disturbed
For some years now, Jeff Lang has been a-troubadouring down every by-way,
meeting the devil at those infamous crossroads, and picking up stories from
waterholes around the Australian countryside. He has been honing his live
skills and writing songs by the score, all the continuing his quest to find
his voice.
During this time, he put together two albums: Ravenswood, and
Disturbed Folk. Ravenswood gives a glimpse of his ability to portray
everyday life, while Disturbed Folk is basically a powerfully live, haunting
and, at times, footstomping performance.
Jeff has gained notoriety as an outstanding young blues guitarist. This has
seen him trading licks on stage with the likes of the legendary Albert Collins,
and providing the guitar magic behind Texas soul diva Trudy Lynn when she
visited Australia. He has also supported a pair of Irish minstrels - the blues
powerhouse of Rory Gallagher and the eclectic Celtic brew of Bob Geldof. In
addition, Jeff has also set the clubs and halls blazing with his opening
performances for other internationally renowned artists such as Jeff Healey,
Junior Wells, Edgar Winter, John King Cleary, Sugar Ray, Canned Heat, and The
Ford Blues Band.
Raised in Geelong, Jeff started his musical career playing clarinet, which
he did for six years. Because there was not an over-abundance of clarinet
playing on his favourite records, Jeff began playing the guitar at age fourteen
on an out-of-tune guitar discarded by his sister. Learning by ear from his
father's Roy Buchanan, Eric Clapton, and Ry Cooder records, Jeff learned to
play using unorthodox fingering to approximate what he was hearing. By the time
he had reached seventeen, Jeff was sharing the stage with local blues
professionals more than twice his age.
In 1990, Jeff began recording his own material and released Cramp Your
Style, a five-track instrumental cassette which demonstrated his evolving
guitar style. The cassette received airplay on some of Melbourne's FM radio
stations and even attracted attention from America's Guitar Player magazine.
Around this time, he formed the Jeff Lang Band with the intention of
performing his music live, and worked solidly through to early 1993. Jeff
further strengthened his reputation at the end of 1991 with a stint in Chain
with Australia's foremost exponent of the blues, Matt Taylor, who was so
impressed with Jeff's guitar skills that he saw fit to introduce him each night
on stage as "The most impressive young musician in the country".
At the end of a national tour, Chain recorded their album "Trouble In The
Wind" featuring Jeff's fiery playing. Matt Taylor is not the only one to be
impressed with Jeff - Phil Manning played on Ravenswood, while
Chris Finnen and Dirk Dubois both played on Jeff's third album,
Native Dog Creek. Chris Finnen and Jeff have since recorded another album
together, Live at the Vineyard, primarily featuring both playing acoustic guitar.
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