Kd Lang Concert Tour Continues in 2009
Country Star, Crooner, Pop Star Combine in Canadian Musician
Feb 27, 2009
Lang’s 25-year music career is diverse and hops through genres. She is known to dabble punk rock, kitschy country, pop, crooning and lounge singing.
A native of Alberta, Canada, Lang grew up in a small prairie town named Consort listening to songwriters like Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, Kate Bush, and Emmylou Harris.
Her varied musical tastes were in full swing when she was introduced to country legend Patsy Cline and Lang soon became a huge fan. Lang’s first band, The Reclines, fast became one of the most unique sounds in music: kitsch mixed with old country, punk rock and performances that included Lang dressed in flowing checked skirts and cowboys shirts, all topped off with shiny cowboy boots.
Country Star Status Brings in Award
Fans responded and Lang took home a Grammy award for Female Country Vocal in 1989 for her first album Absolute Torch & Twang. Her next effort saw her moving more toward a pop sound with Ingenue (1992), which was embraced by the VH1 video channel.
That same year, Lang won her second Grammy for her song Constant Craving. She would win four Grammy awards in total, the third for her collaboration with Roy Orbison on Crying and the fourth for her musical partnership with Tony Bennett on A Wonderful World.
Watershed is Lang’s first release of her own material since Invincible Summer (2000). This album marks the first in her 25-year career with her taking on the role of producer, writer, singer and multi-instrumentalist.
Joni Mitchell, Neil Young among album covers
The new album also extends her musical reach that began with the 2004 release of Nonesuch and Hymns of the 49th Parallel, a collection of interpretations of fellow Canadian songwriters such as Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Leonard Cohen.
Watershed features 11 original songs and builds on her last album release with warm tones of string and guitar arrangements, all highlighting one of the most compelling female voices of this generation in slow, calm and nostalgic Lang style.
On her website, she explains that Watershed is “like a culmination of everything I've done -- there's a little bit of jazz, a little country, a little of the Ingénue sound, a little Brazilian touch.”
The track Upstream for example takes on a bossa nova rhythm true to Lang’s love of Brazilian music. I Dream Of Spring starts with flamenco guitar lines.
Live Tour Across North America in 2008 and 2009
She launched her Watershed tour in 2008, with indications that strong ticket sales continued despite the current economic conditions and forecast. Lang took the winter off and has added dozens of tour stops throughout 2009 starting in Pendleton, Oregon and including multiple Canadian concerts. The final concert is slated to be held in May in Staten Island, New York.
The return of kd Lang with a new, instant classic album and accompanying tour signals further development of a cross-genre musicians who continues to create her own artistic path.
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