Jonny Lang

In the late ’90s, Jonny Lang was hailed as the next great blues six-stringer, and the fiery youngster from North Dakota did not disappoint. Born in 1981, Lang was a mere teenager when his second record, 1997’s Lie to Me, became a breakout success, yet he already possessed all the poise of a seasoned bluesman, one with a husky cry and blazing fret-work inspired by Stevie Ray Vaughan and Albert King. Subsequent albums grew increasingly diverse, showcasing nods to classic rock, funk, vintage soul, and—following his conversion to Christianity in the early 2000s—sacred music. A bold stylistic leap arrived in 2006 with Turn Around, an update of the archaic gospel-blues tradition that proved popular with secular blues and Christian fans alike. But it wasn’t as if Lang had given up his roadhouse roots for a life in the church. Released in 2017, Signs isn’t just bursting with tough-as-nails riffs; it’s an unapologetically political record that tears into the ills of the modern world with all the howling passion that had made him a blues wunderkind two decades earlier.