Live Review
Jesse Lang Band
Jan 2005
by Mike Sjulstad
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"Keeping the Blues Alive Award" Achievement for Blues on the Internet Presented by The Blues Foundation
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She’s been called the hottest new attraction of the year, nominated the Best New Artist of the year (2004) by the Minnesota Music Academy, and often compared in her rise to stardom to her older brother, Jonny Lang. When I finally caught up with Jesse, just after the holidays, she was simply a soft spoken 22 year old singer working a hectic career of performing, writing a new CD, auditioning a new drummer, and caring for her 4 year old daughter. Jesse and her current lineup of musicians have been so busy playing live that they have had very little time to rehearse lately, but they do collaborate individually and work to keep things fresh and lively. The CD is scheduled to be released later this spring, “it’s still not titled, but we have to have it done sometime in May”, responded Jesse. “I have goals that I must set, with me it’s not what I want to do or where I want to be, it’s more like I will be at this point or I have to be at that point.” Determination and hard work seem to be words that she lives by.
When I asked the band members how they classify their music, it was a resounding, “energized rock!” Jesse’s immediate reply, “It ain’t country! It’s good old rock, but it’s also me, and what I do.” I would certainly agree, these uninhibited, all out rockers are certain to entertain and keep things lively. The members of the band are all rather diverse but they all claim to be rockers and this is a rock band. Jesse spent her childhood and young adult years playing music, acting and singing. Her stint with the ‘TC Jammers’ taught her the live show business and along with musical parents and siblings, it was almost inevitable that she become a star of some sort. Her band consists of some of the best talent around and includes Casey Smith (guitar), who has a college degree in Jazz performance; keyboardist Toby Marshall is best known as the B3 man around town and has played rock and blues for years; the man groovin’ on the bottom is bassist Craig Holets. The newest member of the Jesse Lang Band is drummer Ryan Inselman, who was described to me as an excellent performer.
I spoke with the members of the current lineup and each told me the same thing about working with Jesse, “we are family and we all care about each other and love working together.” Casey Smith went on to say “the only reason I transitioned so well was because of these people – I love them all and would do anything for them.” Craig Holets further elaborated with, “I think everyone genuinely likes one another… we all get together to go see other bands on our time off, that’s pretty rare for bands.” When asked about their schedules and their days, everyone said, very busy… Casey mentioned, “live shows serve as our rehearsals for the most part, but we always have fun and we love what we do.”
The formula for the Jesse Lang band appears to be dedication, friendship, talent and hard work. It seems to be a successful mix, and from what I could determine, there is most definitely no lack of talent or hard work. You can see Jesse and the band in February and March at several venues in the twin cities area, including Renegades in Burnsville. Later in April you can catch them more locally at Torges in Austin, and Spikes in Faribault in addition to several venues in the twin cities. Jesse also mentioned that Bunkers in downtown Minneapolis is her favorite place, “they are so consistent in supporting the live music scene.” Visit their website at www.jesselang.net for details and more information.
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