''Wander This World'' is the third studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

Jonny Lang Jon Gordon Langseth Jr. (born January 29, 1981), known as Jonny Lang, is an American blues, gospel, rock singer, songwriter, and guitarist. He has recorded five albums that have charted on the top 50 of the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and won a ...

, released in 1998, when he was 17. The album was recorded at Seedy Underbelly Studios, Oarfin Studios in

Minneapolis Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

, and the Sound Kitchen in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

. This album produced Lang's first Grammy nomination. The album contains a mix of

genre Genre () is any style or form of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other fo ...

s; some tracks are blues, while others are Southern-style soul, funk, or rock with a blues feel. "Angel of Mercy" and

Luther Allison Luther Sylvester Allison (August 17, 1939 – August 12, 1997) was an American blues singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was born in Widener, Arkansas, although some accounts suggest his actual place of birth was Mayflower, Arkansas. Allison wa ...

's "Cherry Red Wine" are

twelve-bar blues The twelve-bar blues (or blues changes) is one of the most prominent chord progressions in popular music. The blues progression has a distinctive form in lyrics, phrase, chord structure, and duration. In its basic form, it is predominantly ba ...

; "Walking Away" and "Second Guessing" are similar to 1960s

Memphis soul Memphis soul, also known as the Memphis sound, is the most prominent strain of Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring melodic unison horn line ...

; and "The Levee" and "Still Rainin'" are more rock-orientated.

Review A review is an evaluation of a publication, product, service, or company or a critical take on current affairs in literature, politics or culture. In addition to a critical evaluation, the review's author may assign the work a content rating, ...

er Alex Henderson commented on how mature the 17-year-old Lang sounded, saying the album often sounded like it could be the work of a 30-year-old.

Track listing

# "Still Rainin'" (Bruce McCabe) – 4:49 # "Second Guessing" (

David Z David Z may refer to: * David Z (producer) David Rivkin (born 1953), professionally known as David Z, is an American music producer, engineer, and songwriter from Minneapolis, Minnesota. He is best known for his long-standing work with Prince an ...

/McCabe) – 5:10 # "I Am" (

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

/Z/ Levi Seacer, Jr.) – 5:04 # "Breakin' Me" (Lang/

Kevin Bowe Kevin Bowe (born February 27, 1961) is an American songwriter, record producer and musician from Minneapolis. He is best known for his work with prominent rock and blues artists including Paul Westerberg and the Replacements; writing songs for ...

) – 4:32 # "Wander This World" (Paul Diethelm/McCabe) – 4:49 # "Walking Away" (Lang/

Jerry Lynn Williams Jerry Lynn Williams (October 30, 1948 – November 25, 2005) was an American rock music singer and composer. He wrote such hits as " Forever Man", " See What Love Can Do", " Something's Happening", " Running on Faith" and " Pretending" for Eric ...

) – 4:14 # "The Levee" (Bowe/Lang) – 3:41 # "Angel of Mercy" (McCabe/

Mike Henderson Michael James Henderson (July 14, 1953 – September 22, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter. In addition to his solo career, which included five studio albums, Henderson was a member of the country band The SteelDrivers from 2005 to 2011 an ...

) – 4:30 # "Right Back" (Williams/

Danny Kortchmar Daniel Kortchmar (born April 6, 1946), also known as Danny Kootch, is an American guitarist, session musician, producer and songwriter. His work with singer-songwriters such as Linda Ronstadt, James Taylor, David Crosby, Carole King, David Cassi ...

) – 3:59 # "Leaving to Stay" (Bowe) – 4:35 # "Before You Hit the Ground" (Bowe/Lang) – 3:55 # "Cherry Red Wine" (

) – 3:31 # "If This is Love" (

Joe Louis Walker Louis Joseph Walker Jr. (December 25, 1949 – April 30, 2025), known as Joe Louis Walker, was an American musician, best known as an electric blues guitarist, singer, songwriter and producer. His knowledge of blues history is revealed by his u ...

) – 3:01

Personnel

– vocals, lead guitar *

Richie Hayward Richard Hayward (February 6, 1946 – August 12, 2010) was an American drummer best known as a founding member and drummer in the band Little Feat. He performed with several bands and worked as a session player. Hayward also joined with fri ...

– drums * David Smith – bass * Jack Holder – rhythm guitars, keyboards *

Steve Cropper Steven Lee Cropper (born October 21, 1941), sometimes known as "The Colonel", is an American guitarist, songwriter and record producer. He was the guitarist of the Stax Records house band, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, which backed artists such as ...

– guitars * Paul Diethelm – dobro on "Wander This World" *

– rhythm guitar on "The Levee" * Tommy Burroughs – acoustic guitar on "Walking Away", background vocals on "Right Back" * Jessica Boucher – background vocals on "Still Raining" & "I Am" *

Bekka Bramlett Rebekka Ruth Lazone Bramlett (born April 19, 1968) is an American singer. She is the daughter of Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett, of the music duo Delaney & Bonnie. Currently, she is a session singer, songwriter, and backing vocalist, working with ...

– background vocals on "Still Raining" & "I Am" * Bruce McCabe – keyboards * Ricky Peterson – keyboards * Jimmy Davis – background vocals on "Right Back" *

Eric Leeds Eric Leeds is an American saxophone player, mostly known for his work with Prince (musician), Prince. He has recorded mostly music in the Pop music, pop and funk genres, but is a studied jazz musician.Cole, George.Eric Leeds: Interviews: The Las ...

– saxophone on "I Am" * Tom Tucker – engineer

References

{{Authority control Jonny Lang albums 1998 albums Blues rock albums by American artists Funk albums by American artists