Jonny Lang Lie To Me CD

Personnel: Jonny Lang (vocals, acoustic & electric guitar, electric sitar); Dennis Morgan (acoustic guitar); Ted Larsen, Billy Franzee, Kevin Bowe (guitar); Jack Holder (guitar, Hammond B-3 organ); Pat Hayes (harmonica); Art Edmaiston (saxophone, horns); Larry McCabe (trombone, horns); Dedrick Davis (horns); Bruce McCabe (piano, Fender Rhodes, Wurlitzer piano, Clavinet, keyboards, background vocals); Ricky Peterson, Tony Black (Hammond B-3 organ); Tony Black (synthesizer); David Smith (bass); Rob Stupka (drums); Steve Potts (drums, percussion); Bekka Bramlett, Marcia Langseth, Heidi Jo, David Z (background vocals).
Recorded at Oar Fin Studios, Minneapolis, Minnesota and House Of Blues, Memphis, Tennessee.
Personnel: Jonny Lang (vocals, guitar, background vocals); Ted Larsen (guitar); Dennis Morgan (acoustic guitar); Pat Hayes (harmonica); Dedrick Davis, Art Edmaiston (horns); Bruce McCabe (piano, Clavinet, background vocals); Tony Black (synthesizer); David Smith (bass guitar); Steve Potts , Rob Stupka (drums); David Z. , Marcia Langseth, Heidi Jo, Bekka Bramlett (background vocals).
Audio Mixer: Ed Cherney.
Recording information: House of Blues Studios, Memphis, TN; Oar Fin Studios, Minneapolis, MN.
Photographer: Frank Ockenfels.
Like peers Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Chris Duarte, Jonny Lang is a technically gifted blues guitarist, capable of spitting out accomplished licks and riffs at an astonishingly rapid rate, which he indeed boasts on Lie to Me. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Like his peers Kenny Wayne Shepherd and Chris Duarte, Jonny Lang is a technically gifted blues guitarist, capable of spitting out accomplished licks and riffs at an astonishingly rapid rate. That doesn't necessarily mean the album has much emotional weight -- Lang can deliver the style, but not the substance, simply because he still needs to grow as a musician. Lang does boast an impressive array of licks and instrumental technique, but he needs something more to make Lie to Me a substantive record. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Nipping at the heels of wiz-kid blues guitarist Kenny Wayne Shepherd, who debuted at age 18, comes 16-year-old Jonny Lang, the most soulful guitar slinger ever to make it out of junior high school. Lang's debut, much like Shepherd's LEDBETTER HEIGHTS, features a mix of choice covers and co-written originals. But whereas HEIGHTS leans in a Delta-blues direction, Lang's blues has more of an R&B flavor.
The Clavinet and Hammond B-3 organ on the title track and "Hit The Ground Running" help give LIE TO ME a funky swagger. As for influences, Lang's choices of Ike Turner's "Matchbox" and Syl Johnson's "Back For A Taste Of Your Love" show a taste for rousing shuffles and Memphis soul. Lang shows his commercial instincts by wrapping up the album with "When I Come To You" and the acoustic "Missing Your Love," two songs that wouldn't sound out of place on a recent Eric Clapton album.Entertainment Weekly (1/31/97, p.58) - "The ripe, vibrant voice of contemporary blues singer and guitarist Lang is so compelling, it would be an exceptional major-label debut even if he weren't only 16..." - Rating: B+