Friday, Jan. 16, 2004 | 3:32 a.m.
WEEKEND EDITION
January 17 - 18, 2004
Who: Jonny Lang.
When: 7 p.m. Thursday.
Where: House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.
Tickets: $35, $40, $45.
Information: 632-7600.
The first time Jonny Lang played Las Vegas the guitar prodigy had already opened for Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones.
And he wasn't even old enough to vote, to say nothing of having a beer or placing a bet in a Strip casino.
Now 22 years old, Lang can legally partake of either when he arrives in town for Thursday's concert at the House of Blues at Mandalay Bay.
However, since the wholesome Fargo, N.D., native doesn't drink or gamble, his Vegas experience isn't likely to be much different from previous stopovers.
Lang's music, on the other hand, has changed considerably since those early days, when industry types tagged him as the next Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Lang's latest album, last year's "Long Time Coming," marks a departure from his familiar, straight-ahead blues to a more eclectic sound, one featuring elements of mainstream rock and R&B.
Lang's first two major-label efforts -- 1997's "Lie to Me" and 1999's "Wander This World" -- vaulted to No. 1 on Billboard's Top Blues Albums chart. The latter also earned him a Grammy nomination in 2000.
On Thursday Lang took time for a telephone interview from his tour bus en route from Los Angeles to San Diego.
Las Vegas Sun: When did you first start playing guitar?
Jonny Lang: When I was 13. Just like anybody I'd play a guitar here and there (before that), but it was never anything that I thought I'd want to do (for a living).
It's like looking at a Rubik's Cube and going, "I'd really like to solve that, but I just don't think I can or have the patience to." But then one day I just kind of got hit with the bug, and my dad got me a guitar for my 13th birthday.
Sun: Did your parents tour with you in the early days?
JL: When I started out my dad would come with us, or my mom would come out sometimes.
Sun: When did you start going it alone?
JL: When I was about 17 or 18.
Sun: How did high school work for you?
JL: I didn't finish high school. I went through the ninth grade and pretty much stopped going to school. I don't want to be a role model that way for anybody else. I wouldn't recommend it.
Sun: You've opened for some huge names, including the Stones, Aerosmith, B.B. King, Jeff Beck and Buddy Guy. Do any of those experiences stand out?
JL: I've been blessed to go out with Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones. Those guys could have easily treated me and the rest of my band and crew like a bunch of rookies, which, compared to them, we are. But they were all very respectful and very accommodating and encouraging. Very nice people.
Sun: You must have had to pinch yourself when you first opened for Aerosmith at age 16.
JL: It was totally surreal. But for whatever reason, I've always been able to look at those guys as people. And I think they really appreciate people -- especially other musicians on the road -- being real with them and not being star-struck.
Sun: The title "Long Time Coming" refers to the five years between your second and third albums. What were you up to during that time?
JL: Mostly writing and recording. Most of the reason for that (break) was that our record company merged and we got lost in the shuffle over there. It took a few years to get back to square one with the record label.
Sun: Was there pressure on you to release another blues-oriented disc after the successes of your first two?
JL: No, everybody kind of had the same goal. I wanted to write most or all of the songs on the record and co-produce it. And they were supportive of that and didn't mind me stepping out of the blues thing, because that's really where I was naturally headed anyway.
Sun: You wrote or co-wrote 13 of the 15 tracks on the album, compared with three songs on the last one. I'm guessing that's a point of pride for you.
JL: Definitely. I love to write. And it was awesome working with (producer) Marti (Fredrickson). He helped me to kind of find myself as a songwriter.
Sun: I read that he was also the first person to really challenge your notion of the guitar solo.
JL: It was funny because I'd do a solo and I'd be really into it and I'd get done and say, "That felt pretty good." And he'd say, "Dude, I've heard that solo before. You've done that solo a million times. That sucked."
He's not impressed by flashy stuff. He comes from a really prudent place musically, which his what I really needed. And we became really good friends through all of this.
Sun: What did you think of Rolling Stone magazine's recent top 100 guitarists rankings?
JL: I'll probably shoot myself in the foot for saying this ... but they had to have known that was an absolutely ludicrous list. Sometimes I think they do stuff just to get controversy or whatever. I mean, Wes Montgomery wasn't even in there.
All of them, I thought, were great guitar players in their own respect, but I thought some of them were pretty out to lunch. I think people like Rolling Stone and MTV kind of have their favorites, like Jack White. He's awesome, but I think even he'd agree that (No. 17) was a little high.
Sun: What advice would you give to young musicians who might be in a similar position at the start of their careers?
JL: If you start having some success, don't ever forget the reasons why you started doing what it is you're doing.
It's like any other career: you have aspirations and visions in your head of how you want it to be, but it quickly turns into its own creature. And a lot of times the reasons of your heart -- why you started doing it -- can easily be left behind.
Just remember that you're doing it because you love playing music.
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