Jonny Lang “Turn Around”

“He looks at me and goes, ‘Dude, you need to make a gospel record,’” Lang says, laughing at the recollection. “Now, I hadn’t really mentioned much to Ron about that side of my life, but for some reason he knew where I was at. So I thought about it for just a second and said, ‘Yes, I do.’”

There is plenty of gospel in Turn Around, especially in the choir that riffs through “Thankful” and “It’s Not Over.” But rustic country (“On That Great Day,” with guests Buddy Miller and Sam Bush), Motown funk (“One Person at a Time”), jazzy folk (“My Love Remains”), and other influences flavor this music too. In this varied setting, “gospel” has more to do with the spirit that animates these tracks than any category it might inhabit.

Again, the unity in this diversity comes from Lang himself. A professional musician since age 12, Lang rocketed from his hometown of Fargo, North Dakota, to international renown in his mid teens. While kids his age were still playing high school gigs, he was touring with giants like the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith, trading licks with mentors like B. B. King and Buddy Guy, and being lauded by U.S. News and World Report for having “the voice of a grizzled blues veteran … and guitar skills to match.”

Turn Around proves that, unlike many one-time wunderkind performers, Jonny Lang has grown to exceed the expectations that heralded his ascendance. Produced by Ron Fair (Black Eyed Peas, Mary J. Blige, Counting Crows), energized through collaboration with songwriter/performers Drew Ramsey and Shannon Sanders, anchored and elevated by former Prince NPG rhythm dynamo Michael Bland, Turn Around is Lang’s fifth album—but it’s also the first of what will become his most moving and enduring works. “Every record I’ve done has felt progressively more and more like the real me,” he sums up. “But more than anything I’ve done, this one comes straight from my heart.”

That, then, is the message of Jonny Lang: To Turn Around, you move ahead. It’s that simple—and powerful.