Jonny Lang - Signs (2017) [Official Digital Download]

It is hard to believe that at 36 years old Jonny Lang has already had a successful career for two decades. Easier to believe when you learn he released his first platinum record at 15—an age when many young people are just beginning to play music.

What began as a bluesy sound, influenced by electric pioneers like Albert Collins, B. B. King, and Buddy Guy, evolved over those recordings into a modern R&B style closer to Stevie Wonder and contemporary gospel music. Lang’s distinctive, blues-inflected licks appeared on every album, but became one element in a sea of passionately sung and tightly arranged songs.

So getting back to basics, Signs is not merely a return to the artist’s guitar-based beginnings, but an embodiment of an even more elemental sound. Beyond focusing attention on his soloing prowess, it is about recapturing the spirit of the early blues.

“A lot of my earlier influences have been coming to the surface, like Robert Johnson, and Howlin’ Wolf,” Lang reports. “I have been appreciating how raw and unrefined that stuff is. I had an itch to emulate some of that and I think it shows in the songs on Signs.

Tracklist:
1. Make It Move (3:28)
2. Snakes (2:56)
3. Last Man Standing (3:25)
4. Signs (5:34)
5. What You're Made Of (4:18)
6. Bitter End (4:08)
7. Stronger Together (3:34)
8. Into The Light (3:59)
9. Bring Me Back Home (5:43)
10. Wisdom (4:00)
11. Singing Songs (5:52)