Jeff Lang

On 5 April during the opening of the National Folk Festival at the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), Jeff was announced as being the winner of the 12th annual National Folk Recording Award for his critically album, Carried in Mind.

The NFSA's CEO Michael Loebenstein said "Jeff skillfully blends these musical influences with a prodigious song writing talent. He has the ability to get inside the skin of his subjects and to weave beautiful, emotion-laden, musical stories. We are delighted to present him with the 2012 Folk Recording Award".

Jeff Lang said "Being presented with the 2012 National Folk Recording Award at the National Folk Festival this Easter was a wonderful surprise for me. I want to personally thank the National Sound and Film Archive for awarding me this honor."

You can buy the limited edition, 2 CD set of Carried In Mind at the following online retailers ...

- www.sanity.com.au
- www.jbhifionline.com.au

Jeff Lang is pleased to announce that his new album, Carried In Mind, has ben released in Australia.

Jeff talks about the recording of the new album, "I had the distinct pleasure of pushing these songs around in a room with the stellar talents of Danny McKenna on drums, Grant Cummerford on bass and on a good many of the tunes the wonderful Garrett Costigan on pedal steel.

"I bleated in my customary fashion whilst scraping the wires of my various guitarotrons and occasionally playing back loops off an old Sony cassette player that was in the room with us plugged through a Fender guitar amp. Our pal Dave Manton recorded all of this onto certified 1970s era recording media with very fine microphones placed right in our zones, so to speak."

A limited edition 2 CD version of Carried In Mind will be available at retail outlets from release date of September 9th and at live shows only.

The second disc will feature alternate versions of songs contained on the album and a few pieces that don't appear on the album at all. Get them while stock lasts!

Jeff, along with Danny McKenna and Grant Cummerford will be touring nationally in September and October, supported Jordie Lane. Check the Tour Dates page for confirmed shows.

You can buy the limited edition, 2 CD set of Carried In Mind at the following online retailers ...

- www.sanity.com.au
- www.jbhifionline.com.au

Jeff Lang is pleased to announce that his new album will be released, in Australia on September 9 2011. A limited edition 2 CD version of Carried In Mind will be available at retail outlets from release date of September 9th and at live shows only.

The second disc will feature alternate versions of songs contained on the album and a few pieces that don't appear on the album at all. Get them while stock lasts!

Jeff says, "Carried In Mind is my new recording. A batch of brand-new, reconditioned, rust-removed, freshly ventilated, instinct-driven musical conversations between sleep-deprived, cheaply-clothed, (mostly) freshly-shaven, (partially) clean-living, flinty-eyed gentlemen wielding precision instruments with all due care and respect".

The title "Carried In Mind" refers to the kind of hauntings that prey on everyday people, growing from common stuff, things that seemed innocuous at the time: a half-heard comment that stays with you after most other events from that night in that bar have sunk back into the blotting paper, words that ricochet between your memory and the paranoid voices in your head, back-and-forth, over-and-over, until they've spun around enough to have mutated into something possibly more sinister, something more laden with secret meanings than you might have a right to speculate on.

Jeff, along with Danny McKenna and Grant Cummerford will be touring nationally in September and October, supported Jordie Lane.

A limited pressing of Carried in Mind will be available with an extra CD which Jeff describes; "I thought it might be interesting for people who enjoy "Carried In Mind" to hear some of the songs in a different setting, stripped back to a single instrument for example, or even done in a different style".

You will be able buy Carried in Mind online and instore on 9 September 2011.

Carried In Mind Australian Tour

Jeff, along with Danny McKenna and Grant Cummerford, will be touring nationally in September and October.

Check the Tour Dates page for confirmed shows.

Hello everyone,

You will be pleased to know that Jeff Lang is putting the finishing touches on a BRAND NEW album that will be released this September in Australia via ABC/Universal.

Jeff & his musical cohorts, Grant Cummerford & Danny McKenna, will be putting in just a couple of Australian shows before a national tour which will run through September & October this year.

So if you are lucky enough to be in the following locations for the following gigs, you might just be lucky enough to hear a song or two off the new album before it's released...

Other News:

FRANCE
On Saturday June 11 Jeff hits the stage of one of France's coolest festivals, Papillons De Nuit.

NEW ZEALAND
In August, Jeff will be playing two very special shows in New Zealand, as they announce, so will we ... watch this space!

UK
In late August & September Jeff will be hitting the UK for a run of dates. As they announce, so will we ... watch this space!

Many thanks!
Jeff Lang Carrier Pigeon.

Live at the Basement DVD
It's been quite a long time since Jeff's Live at the Basement DVD has been available, but a small quantity has been located and are now available in the Jeff Lang Online Store.

The DVD contains 14 songs with Jeff playing solo or in the accompaniment of drummer Angus Diggs or pianist Don Walker. There are also several special features including an in-studio acoustic session and an interview.

Djan Djan have been awarded the ARIA for Best World Music album at 2010 Awards. What follows is the official ABC Music press release.

ABC PRESS RELEASE

World music supergroup Djan Djan have taken out the ARIA Award in the category of "Best World Music Album" for their self-titled, debut album.

Band members Mamadou Diabate (Kora, Mali), Bobby Singh (Tabla, India) and Jeff Lang (guitar, Australia) are well known and well regarded for their individual output and careers. Djan Djan is a collaboration that has seen these musicians stretching their imagination and skills into sublime areas of new musicality.

Although the players show their respects to their cultural backgrounds of Africa, India and Australia, the album has seen these virtuosic instrumentalists dispense intoxicating music - steeped in tradition, yet brimming with innovation.

Jeff's album "Chimeradour" has been nominated for Best Blues and Roots Album at the 2010 Australian Jagermeister Independent Music Awards.

Visit the following link to read an interview that AIR did with Jeff recently.

The 10 track Djan Djan album will be released on 5 March 2010 by ABC/Universal Music and accompanied by a month long national tour of Australia & NZ.

When the three musicians met in 2008, no one could quite predict the musical alchemy that would occur as a result. A spontaneous day of recording at Melbourne’s 30 Mill Studios lead to an astonishingly beautiful and surprisingly natural recording that displays the conversational and virtuosic style that all three are renowned for.

Originally the self titled debut release was an EP, which is now out of print. The band recorded 5 more songs in November of 2008 and the results will be bundled with the previous EP to create an album which will be released in March 2010 by ABC/Universal.

STOP PRESS: Mamadou Diabate's solo album, DOUGA MANSA, recently won a Grammy for best traditional world music album.

Djan Djan are: Mamadou Diabate (kora, Mali), Bobby Singh (tabla, India) and Jeff Lang (guitar, Australia)

Find out more about Djan Djan at www.myspace.com/djandjan

The rave reviews keep rolling in for Jeff's new album Chimeradour, and Jeff has a select bunch of appearances around the globe to announce. See below for full tour dates. Here's some quotes taken from Chimeradour reviews:

Listening to a new Jeff Lang album is like a cinematic experience. Images from Lang’s latest album sear the brain and scour the soul. **** 1⁄2 - The Australian

His dizzying combination of deep folk, kaleidoscopic blues and Hendrixesque fuzzy rock is enough to blow most minds, leaving celebrated contemporaries for dead. Rolling Stone

Prolific and experimental, Jeff Lang continues to defy classification on his latest record, but within the technical freakouts lay the subtle elements of great song construction. Australian Guitar Magazine

No mere string of adjectives can really do justice to Lang’s blazing folk-rock-blues-jazz creation. It’s one of those albums you just have to buy and listen to. A lot. Rip It Up Magazine

Jeff has also announced his latest tour dates, as well as some select dates in Australia, Jeff will also doing an extensive tour of the UK and a couple of dates in Japan. See the Tour Dates page for full details.

Earlier this year Jeff and band were invited to play at the Fuji Rock Festival in Tokyo. It was a wet day, weather wise, but Jeff and the band's enthusiasm kept the rain-soaked crowd warm on the inside with a blistering set which included the following performance of "I Want To Believe" from "Chimeradour". Click the image below to see the clip.

With Jeff Lang's Australia-wide Chimeradour tour coming to a wrap last Sunday, we are proud to present the next event ... Djan Djan, a world music supergroup featuring Mamadou Diabate (kora, Mali) and Bobby Singh (tabla, India/Australia) joining Jeff onstage.

Djan Djan released a self-titled, 5 track limited-edition EP in 2008, sold mainly at live shows during the groups tour it sold out quickly. In 2009 Djan Djan recorded another 5 tracks which will be bundled with the original recordings to comprise the debut album.

If you purchased the original EP and would like to upgrade to the album, you can pay $10 and trade in the EP at any of the shows below, or post the EP and a cheque or money order for $12.00 made out to Top Shelf Productions PO Box 75 Glebe, NSW. 2037 Australia.

The 10 track Djan Djan album will be released in February 2010 by ABC/Universal accompanied by a month long national tour of Australia & NZ ... Stay tuned for more details.

Recorded by legendary producer Mark Opitz (Cold Chisel, INXS, AC/DC, The Angels, Divinyls), this is Lang’s 16th album to date. Chimeradour captures the blazing dynamism of his live performance with his virtuosic accompanists, Grant Cummerford on bass and Danny McKenna on drums, at full tilt.
Chimeradour is a spectral and many-faceted sonic journey. A voracious musical explorer, Lang has absorbed and transformed many rich influences in the course of his collaborations with musicians from Mali to Mumbai.

The echoes of African desert blues reverberate in the rolling, hypnotic lap slide guitar work on South, whilst the driving guitar rock of Slow Rooms and Half Blurred Faces suggests the ragged glory of Neil Young and Crazy Horse.

The 12 compelling songs of Chimeradour are miniature character studies drawn as much from the emotions Lang wrings from his guitar as from the imagery of his rapid fire lyrics. Revered piano man Don Walker sits in on Another One Of These Days and The Janitor, contributing his subtly magnificent finishing touches to the album.

To celebrate the release of the album, Jeff will be hitting the road for a solid run of shows across Australia. We are also especially happy to announce a very special guest for this tour, Jill Barber a sublime songstress from Canada. For a sample of what's instore from Jill & band please check out: http://www.myspace.com/jillbarbermusic.

You can pre-order Chimeradour at the ABC Music Store.

Jeff has finished work on his new album "Chimeradour" and is preparing for its Australian release on October 2 2009.

"Chimeradour" suggests the life of the travelling troubadour as well as conjuring the "chimera", a fantastic creature of many parts from Greek mythology; swift-footed with a lion's face, a serpent's body and a fiery breath.

Chimeradour captures the dynamics of Jeff's live performance and features accompanists Grant Cummerford on bass, Danny McKenna on drums and revered piano man Don Walker sits in for a couple of songs too.

Chimeradour was recorded at 30 Mill Studios in Melbourne by legendary producer Mark Opitz who is well known for his work on classic albums by Cold Chisel, INXS, AC/DC, The Angels and Divinyls.

A nation-wide Australian tour to launch the album will commence on October 8 2009. Jill Barber from Canada is special guest for most shows and will be launching her new album "Chances" on the tour. Check out the Tour Dates for full details.

Check out the Chimeradour Info page for full details.

Jeff has been hard at work in 30 Mill Studios laying down his new album (more news on this soon). Estimated time of completion is just in time for Jeff to take to the skies and hit some of the worlds biggest festivals and hippest venues across Canada, Japan, China, the Indian Ocean and ... Gympie.

Check out the Tour Dates for full details.

Kora, guitar and tabla come together in unity when Mamadou Diabate, Jeff Lang and Bobby Singh tour the East Coast of Australia in January 2009.

With an itinerary that runs from Noosa to Tasmania, the three internationally recognised artists will be exploring the connection they discovered in a small music studio in Melbourne in March 2008.

When the three musicians met in 2008, no one could quite predict the musical alchemy that would occur as a result. A spontaneous day of recording at Melbourne’s 30 Mill Studios lead to an astonishingly beautiful and surprisingly natural recording that displays the conversational and virtuosic style that all three are renowned for.

Mamadou Diabate was destined to play the kora. Cousin of legendary kora player Toumani Diabate, who was one of his most influential teachers, Mamadou was born and raised in the griot tradition of Mali, using music and oratory to preserve his people’s consciousness of their past. From his Grammy-award nominated solo album, to his latest release Douga Mansa (King Vulture), Mamadou’s technical virtuosity and innovative approach have kept him in high demand internationally.

Bobby Singh spent much of his childhood in Mumbai studying tabla. Recognised with a great talent, Bobby is the disciple of Aneesh Pradhan, one of the world’s most sought after tabla players. Nurtured into a mature, internationally renowned tabla virtuoso, both in traditional Indian and cross-cultural genres, Bobby has played with many of the top musicians in Australia and the world.

Jeff Lang would need no introduction to those on this email list!

The mini album, Djan Djan will be available at the following shows exclusively in January and instores in February.

Jeff has just announced that his tour in Ireland in June will be a co-headline tour with Clive Barnes, an award winning songwriter and guitarist.

Clive has released four albums, one of which won Acoustic Guitar Magazine album of the year. Clive has toured and recorded with Joe Cocker, The Blind Boys of Alabama, Taj Mahal, David Crosby, Dr. John, Joe Ely and Eric Bibb and he appears on Eric's new album, Get on Board, playing slide guitar alongside Bonnie Raitt.

"Clive Barnes is the real thing. He has talent with a capital T. Raw, undimmed, shining, electric, diamond hard talent." Cluas.com

"When Clive Barnes is mentioned he is typically described as a guitarist of rare quality, but Goldtooth Cinnamon, his fourth album, lets the spotlight fall solidly on his brooding and evocative songs" Joe Breen, The Irish Times **** 4/5

"Barnes is quite clearly a gifted musician. His slide guitar work is mightily impressive, and one can hear echoes of the dustbowl epics of Ry Cooder" Boston Globe

Jeff has provided a small number of the Half Seas Over Tour Extras for sale in the Online Store, so if you are quick you might be able to land yourself a copy of these soon to be collectables. Orders for the Tour Extras will be limited to one copy of each disk per person.

On the Half Seas Over Tour there will be a couple of "tour-only" extras available, the "extras" are a couple of new new recordings by Jeff which will only be available at the shows on the Half Seas Over Tour:

• "The Blessed South" - ** SOLD OUT ** a 9 song EP where Jeff covers songs by some of his favourite Melbourne songwriters. Originally a bonus disc at the Easter Bluesfests, the EP is being sold in a limited quantity of 1,000 copies for $15 at tour gigs only.
• "Disturbed Folk Music 2008" - a 2 (long) song vinyl single. There have only been 500 copies of this record pressed and they will not be available anywhere else aside from gigs for $10.

You will also be able to buy "Half Seas Over" with "The Blessed South" for $35 (Half Seas Over will be $25) at the gigs.

Half Seas Over by acclaimed Australian guitarist, singer and songwriter Jeff Lang is an album resonant with story and song.

With his eloquent guitar, sweet voice and plainspoken yet sensitive approach to the original and traditional source material, Jeff Lang is expanding the boundaries of traditional folk, country and blues to create a new brand of non-traditional music which is undeniably and deeply steeped in tradition, yet with its imagination set on future horizons.

This powerful and hypnotic recording draws deeply on folk sources – the old, unsettling gothic tales that have passed from musician to musician from century to century – and the simple but compelling sound of acoustic guitar with minimal accompaniment to express the deeper resonances beneath the stories.

Lang’s original compositions, together with a couple of traditional folk songs, testify to the power of music and story to stir our souls and awaken hidden stores of meaning. In Lang's hands, the ordinary becomes an enchanted space; everyday and domestic tales reveal themselves with heroic dimensions and tragic consequences. And his songwriting mastery can be seen in the smallest details -- from the wiry whiskers on an old lady's chin to a dress clinging to a barmaid’s body in the small town heat.

Arranged with the utmost simplicity, the duo format of Lang’s superb guitar accompanied by Grant Cummerford’s deft bass playing allows the stories of Half Seas Over to be delivered in their utmost power. As the quiet intensity of their playing builds, driven by the relentless pace of each story, the duo paint indelible pictures – a copper miner closing his eyes to dream of flight, a murderer watching the wind ruffle the water that will be his lover’s grave.

Inspired by a diverse set of influences, from John Fahey and Richard Thompson to Chris Whitley and Devendra Banhart, from Dock Boggs and Skip James to Dylan and AC/DC, Jeff Lang has created a contemporary classic. Jeff will be touring nationally through May & June to support this release with blues/folk singer songwriter Kara Grainger, in support of her debut solo album, “Grand & Green River”. www.karagrainger.com