"Well, I hope music can help people form relationships with those others that are as different from them as I am from someone like Taildragger; in my relationship with him, the subject of race is literally a  joke. We know each other well enough to know that we are truly more alike than different, because of the music."

Martin Lang: Old Good Days of Blues Harp

Martin Lang is an American blues harp player, vocalist and songwriter, known for traditional Chicago Blues harp in the style of Little Walter, Leon Brooks and Slim Willis. He has released albums under his name on New York-based Random Chance Records, and has played harp in Chicago for nearly three decades. Focused on tone and “weight,” an elusive characteristic of electric blues harp, Lang has learned from those close to the original art form. From backing legendary Bluesmen including Tail Dragger, plus Willie Buck and Oscar Wilson, and playing with Pinetop Perkins, Robert Jr. Lockwood, Sam Lay, Willie Smith and Dave Myers while touring the U.S. and Europe, Lang’s no-nonsense approach is steeped in the power of Blues. Formerly a French horn player, he landed in Chicago from the East Coast, coming to study law and philosophy. Enamored by the fading world of the Chicago Blues, Lang secured the groove and the love of music from players known and unknown, forging his own strong thread in the fabric of Chicago Blues. As a session player on Chicago’s venerated Delmark Records and independent works, Lang has contributed to albums in a broad range of styles.

(Martin Lang / Photo by Hannah Frank)

Versatile but forever loyal to the groove, Martin’s playing continues to evolve as his spirit leads him from sideman to artist, leading deeper into the Blues. Recent releases include Bad Man (2020), Ain’t No Notion (2017), Chicago Blues Harp Sessions (2015). Lang has appeared on WGN Radio, at festivals including Chicago Blues Fest and Mississippi Saxophone Fest, and is a Chicago Hall of Fame Master Blues Artist. Creating his own clinics and workshops, he offers musicians interested in blues harp one of the most powerful learning experiences, drawing on both his skills and stories to bring the Blues to life. Martin Lang is laying down harp and picking up vocals on the new Bad Man album on Random Chance Records (2020). On Bad Man, veteran playing and new energy of Frank Krakowski (guitar), Billy Flynn (guitar, mandolin), Illinois Slim (bass), Gerry Hundt (organ), David Waldman (piano) and Dean Hass (drums), support Lang on twelve songs ranging from vocal numbers to instrumentals, with new originals and interpretations of deep cuts. West Coast blues (and reggae) performer Rusty Zinn with a smooth tenor voice teams up with gritty, gravely voiced Chicagoan Martin Lang for album "Mr. Blues, Mr. Blues" (2022), which also features the Bad Man Blues Band; a group of veteran musicians who have paid their dues backing up an earlier generation bluesmen.

Interview by Michael Limnios  

How has the Blues (and people of) influenced your views of the world and the journeys you’ve taken?

The blues musicians and people I met in Chicago had a great time in the world they lived in, very individualistic and vibrant. I liked the way they looked at life, they could be who they really were. That's how I see the music, and being a blues musician; it's all about figuring out who you really are. Not who people say you are, or who you'd like to be. The real you, the real me.

What do you learn about yourself from the blues and what does the blues mean to you?

The blues to me is a way of life. A way of seeing life, and making music from that. I learned about myself that the blues is a form of music that's so beautiful and great that it doesn't need much help from me.

How do you describe your sound, music philosophy and songbook? Where does your creative drive come from?

I think of my sound as real old-style Chicago harp blues. Tone, groove, and economy. In terms of this record, I had everything on the line. It was do it or die. I had to change gears. It really was past time for me to do this.    (Martin Lang / Photo by Michael Kurgansky)

"The most important person I met here in Chicago was definitely Taildragger. I learned a lot about the music from him. Not the harp specifically, about blues music. The best advice I ever heard was to lay back and wait and take your time. I listen to the drummer, play along with him, in most cases."

How do you prepare for your recordings and performances to help you maintain both spiritual and musical stamina?

This is a tough question, as I don't really have a set way of preparation for a session - I guess I just commit myself to the project until I run out of energy - which happens. Dick Shurman, my superb producer, works the musicians (including myself!) very hard in the studio, but only with the end of achieving the best sound. So, it would be good if I had some pre-cutting session magic to prepare myself, but I don't. I'm like a mule or an ox in the studio, it's all work!

Currently you’ve one more release with Rusty Zinn. How did that relationship come about?

Rusty Zinn and I have known one another since the early or mid-1990s. I think we first met either at a club in Chicago or at the Chicago Blues Festival. Well before that, I had heard people mentioning his name. He had developed a reputation as a very strong player very quickly. What *really* made an impression on me early on was Rusty's overall musicality- I could see this person was a pure musician. He sang with such powerful clarity and conviction, and played with such flowing, musical authority and power! We became friends in short order, I think because we shared a musical or creative kinship.

Do you have any interesting stories about the making of the new album "Mr. Blues, Mr. Blues"?

There are many stories about the making of the new album “Mr. Blues, Mr. Blues”, but for me, the best involves the track "Jet Stream" - originally intended as a tribute to Louisiana harp legend Jerry McCain. However, when you can't remember how the song, you're supposed to be paying tribute to goes, what can you do?

I just walked into the amplifier room where my rig was, and jacked the tremolo all the way up, and blew whatever came into my mind! I had no idea what I was going to do beforehand, my mind was blank. But it worked out!

"Blues music was popular, just for a very short time in the big picture and for a small, mostly black minority in the United States. After the early 1960s it was replaced by other forms of music to this listenership. Technique as far as singing, for me, is definitely related to the expressive ability of the voice, something I'm always trying to improve on. I don't think the great expressiveness is lost among those with great technique." (Martin Lang & Rusty Zinn / Photo by Lola Reynaerts)

Are there any memories from Pinetop Perkins, Willie "Big Eyes" Smith and Robert Jr. Lockwood which you’d like to share with us?

Willie Big Eyes was the first famous blues man from Chicago who took me on tour. Like all the older guys whose traveling careers had begun in the pre-civil rights days, when Willie left out of Chicago on the road, he left at sunrise. So, I met him at his home, a couple doors from Muddy Waters' old home. It was absolutely freezing, like -10 degrees without the wind chill, and here I was, in Willie's old red van, waiting for the engine to start. It was barely light outside, maybe five thirty in the morning. None of the other musicians had arrived yet.

Willie turned his face to me and said, "You want some chicken?"

He gestured towards an aluminum foil packet that had a dozen fried chicken legs in it.

That's a blues breakfast for you - cold fried chicken at 530 AM! But in fact, it WAS great fried chicken!

What has been the hardest obstacle for you to overcome as a person and as artist and has this helped you become a better blues musician?

I think perhaps the hardest obstacle for me to overcome was an important one: I had difficulty letting go, and just letting the music flow through me, for a long time. I had been out on the road with Taildragger for a while in Minneapolis, and had finished a difficult show with lots of high volume playing and a series of drummers better suited to Black Sabbath than blues. Long after the show, I was lying awake in a chilly Motel 8, still sweating and griping about the show. I thought of something Taildragger had said to me, over and over "Take your time! You got to take your time when you play the blues!"

I thought of this over and over again until I realized what he meant - I had to let go of how I thought it should be done, and let go and listen to the drums and the band, and play around them. This was a huge realization for me. I became gradually more and more able to allow myself to just let the music play itself through me.

"I think I've grown rhythmically and my phrasing's become looser. When I was young, I had energy and power and aggression. Now I'm in better control. The music making process is basically the same, it's simple. I write the songs, sing the melody, the band falls in. I'll get inspired by something I hear, usually early in the morning." (Photo: Martin Lang)

Why was the Blues never a part of the pop/popular music? What's the balance in music between technique skills and soul emotions?

Blues music was popular, just for a very short time in the big picture and for a small, mostly black minority in the United States. After the early 1960s it was replaced by other forms of music to this listenership. Technique as far as singing, for me, is definitely related to the expressive ability of the voice, something I'm always trying to improve on. I don't think the great expressiveness is lost among those with great technique.

John Coltrane said "My music is the spiritual expression of what I am...". How do you understand the spirit, music, and the meaning of life?

Wow this is a tough question. Blues is, at the end of the day, a way of saying something, a way of telling a story. I hope someday to be able to fairly represent what it is to tell a story in the old blues way, with harp, guitars, piano, etc. This is the great and difficult task of the blues musicians of the future - how will they understand it when all the former blues people are no longer with us? Will they understand what a blues story is, and what it sounds like?

How do you describe previous album "Bad Man" songbook? Do you have any interesting stories about the making of the new album?

The Bad Man songbook came together little by little. I had a couple ideas for numbers, but I hadn't really tried them. The band deserves a whole lot of credit. I had some deep cuts, Dick Shurman picked a couple, there's some insider stuff.'Reefer Head Man' is arranged like Willie Smith's 'It's a Hard Hard Way' - and just about all of us have worked with Willie.

"Blues is, at the end of the day, a way of saying something, a way of telling a story. I hope someday to be able to fairly represent what it is to tell a story in the old blues way, with harp, guitars, piano, etc. This is the great and difficult task of the blues musicians of the future - how will they understand it when all the former blues people are no longer with us? Will they understand what a blues story is, and what it sounds like?" (Martin Lang / Photo by Nanny Kajuiter)

How do you think that you have grown as an artist since you first started? What has remained the same about your music-making process?

I think I've grown rhythmically and my phrasing's become looser. When I was young, I had energy and power and aggression. Now I'm in better control.

The music making process is basically the same, it's simple. I write the songs, sing the melody, the band falls in. I'll get inspired by something I hear, usually early in the morning.

What do you hope is the message of your music? What do you hope people continue to take away from your songs?

I hope most of all that people feel that my music is honest. I hope that it gives people the idea that there's some kind of hope for the evolution of the traditional blues sound.

If you could change one thing in the musical world and it would become a reality, what would that be?

Change one thing in the musical world? I'd eliminate bad intonation. That's a big question!

What are some of the most important lessons you have learned from your experience in the music paths?

The most important thing I learned was that it is in letting go that there's freedom in the music, not in holding on to more control. If you try to impose yourself on the music, your reward will be less of a positive impact. I had to learn that, to let the music breathe, which involves letting go of control. It's very Zen, but I'm not usually a Zen guy lol...

"The blues musicians and people I met in Chicago had a great time in the world they lived in, very individualistic and vibrant. I liked the way they looked at life, they could be who they really were. That's how I see the music, and being a blues musician; it's all about figuring out who you really are. Not who people say you are, or who you'd like to be. The real you, the real me." (Photo: Martin Lang)

Why do you think that Chicago Blues Scene continues to generate such a devoted following?

Chicago style music sounds (when it's right) sexy and dangerous and cool. That's why people always like it, and why it has such devoted followers, I think.

Are there any memories from gigs, jams, open acts and studio sessions which you’d like to share with us?

I remember once being onstage alone with Eddie Taylor, Jr., in Amsterdam, which is a big venue. It was just us two, no bass, no other guitar except Eddie, no drums. Just harp and guitar, and I had a big amp and my little Electro Voice mike I'd gotten from Fishman at the Delta Fish Market. Eddie did Crawling King Snake and I remember thinking "This is gonna be hard" in terms of blending the sounds of my harp and his guitar, because he was still playing a lot of the top parts. But it worked out beautiful.

Which meetings have been the most important experiences for you? What was the best advice anyone ever gave you?

The most important person I met here in Chicago was definitely Taildragger. I learned a lot about the music from him. Not the harp specifically, about blues music. The best advice I ever heard was to lay back and wait and take your time. I listen to the drummer, play along with him, in most cases.

Are there any memories with Tail Dragger which you’d like to share with us?

I've seen Taildragger correctly diagnose what was wrong with a running truck engine by listening to it. His eyes were closed, he had a cigar in his mouth, and he knew what was wrong with it when he opened them.

"The blues to me is a way of life. A way of seeing life, and making music from that. I learned about myself that the blues is a form of music that's so beautiful and great that it doesn't need much help from me." (Martin Lang & Taildragger, at B.L.U.E.S., 2015 Chicago IL / Photo by Michael Kurgansky)

What do you miss most nowadays from the blues of the past? What are your hopes and fears for the future of?

What I miss most is the black clubs and the Fish Market and the whole West Side blues scene. It was great, as much fun as a person could have. The people in the club were part of the music. It was call and response amongst the musicians but also amongst the musicians and the people. Those people knew about blues. They understood blues. They're gone, and I miss them. What I hope that blues lives on, in the hearts of the musicians of the future. A great deal can be learned from records. A great deal cannot. As for the future I consider myself realistic but hopeful.

What touched you from the sound of Harmonica? You studied law and philosophy, how has influenced your views of the world?

Something about the sound of the harp that I heard Little Walter make spoke to me clearly and immediately. It was the clearest thing I ever heard or knew of. I knew almost immediately upon hearing him playing his own stuff for the first time that I wanted to try it. It was exactly like the first hit of a really great drug, the best ever. I heard "My Babe" and completely freaked out. I asked Lee "Little Wolf" Solomon, who I met at Ohio and Hamlin on the West Side, what was the blues? He was from Tallulah, Louisiana. He replied "Cryin' for your mama. We all be cryin'. Cryin for your mama."

What is the impact of Blues on the socio-cultural implications?  How do you want it to affect people?

Well, I hope music can help people form relationships with those others that are as different from them as I am from someone like Taildragger; in my relationship with him, the subject of race is literally a joke. We know each other well enough to know that we are truly more alike than different, because of the music.

"The most important thing I learned was that it is in letting go that there's freedom in the music, not in holding on to more control. If you try to impose yourself on the music, your reward will be less of a positive impact. I had to learn that, to let the music breathe, which involves letting go of control. It's very Zen, but I'm not usually a Zen guy lol..." (Martin Lang / Photo by Michael Kurgansky)

You have run several harmonica clinics all over the Midwest. What touched you from the "Harp Freak” clinics?

I was amazed at the level of passion from harp players all over the Midwest, really. The number of people that honestly wanted to learn more about the traditional way of playing the Chicago blues harp. I had a lot of fun and made many good friends.

Let’s take a trip with a time machine, so where and why would you really want to go for a whole day?

Not that easy a question, but I'll say a multiple bill featuring Little Walter with the Aces at the Royal  Peacock anytime around 1955 or 56. Or maybe Muddy's early band in Chicago. That's a tough question!

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