If Jeff Lang had not fallen in love with the sound of the guitar when he was young, what sort of musician would he be?
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"I'd probably be a drummer," he laughed over the phone while in Adelaide for the city's guitar festival.
"I can bring out a list of favourite drummers just as easily as a list of favourite guitarists.
"But I can feel like that about any instrument; when you hear a great trumpet player you think 'wow, people made that'.
"It restores your faith in humanity."
Describing his genre as "disturbed folk" - a term penned by a fan - the prolific songwriter has released 25 albums over the years, the latest being Alone In Bad Company which is filled with the sounds of acoustic finger-picking, slide guitar, electric lead, banjos and mandolins.
While many of the lyrics from his songs deal with topics such as grief, hardship and love, he said inspiration for them comes from a mix of his personal life, imagination and the stories he hears around him.
"I don't generally deal with autobiographical songs," he said.
"A lot of the time it will be imaging a scenario through a character's eyes.
"My perspective is bound to be in there somewhere, so even if the characters aren't me it's still my perspective coming across.
"Then I might tie in a story from a friend or someone I've met and weave it together."
Lang admits a lot of his views of the world have been shaped by music, but he has never felt the songs that truly grabbed him have ever come from someone trying to tell him how to feel about something.
"It's something more vivid for an audience member for them to be involved in the meaning they get from it," he said.
"If someone asked me what was one of the best songs of all times, I'd say Tangled Up In Blue by Bob Dylan, but that's not a song that tells me how to think about anything.
"I'm a big believer in show, don't tell."
As part of his love for touring rural Australia, he will perform a solo concert at Candelo this month, saying his decision to continue performing throughout regional areas in the country was a deliberate choice for his career.
"But I don't see it as anything higher minded on my part, it's just kind of selfish really!" he said.
"Especially in Candelo. I feel like I've been a good boy to come to Candelo, I've been doing enough positive things to be allowed to come back.
"An audience is an audience, and the energy of people you play to is what matters.
"It doesn't matter if I'm in a city or in an out of the way place, I'm there playing for people."
He lives a life surrounded by music, with his wife Alison Ferrier also a guitarist who performs in the band Opelousas in addition to being a fiddle player.
"So she's got the bowing technique over me!" Lang said.
"I've played in her band sometimes, she's played at a few festivals with me as well."
There are obviously strong musical genetics present, and he has considered starting a family band with their two children.
"If the kids want to say 'I want to play guitar too', it's like 'you sure you don't want to play bass, or are you sure you don't want to play drums'," Lang laughed.
"It would be great fun, but I'm wary of pushing these things; two arty-farty parents pushing their kids into music, it might go badly wrong."
Jeff Lang will perform at Candelo Town Hall on Saturday, July 27 with food and the bar available from 7pm and the show from 8pm.
Tickets are $25/$20, click here to buy.
Albert McKnight
Journalist at Bega District News.
Journalist at Bega District News.
