After hiatus, Lang gets back to his business

Since his days as a teenage blues prodigy, Jonny Lang has earned as much praise for his live show as his top-notch chops on guitar.

By the time he reached his 20s – between 1998’s “Wander This World” and 2003’s “Long Time Coming” – Lang spent a five-year hiatus from the studio sharing the stage with legends like Buddy Guy, B.B. King, Bono and Sting, even opening world tours for Aerosmith and the Rolling Stones.

Lang broke his latest recording drought with a collection of live tracks that captures his high-octane show on “Live at the Ryman,” released last year.

Recorded at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tenn., the album is Lang’s first live recording and his first release since 2006’s more spiritually driven “Turn Around.”

Twelve tracks long, “Live at the Ryman” contains energized renderings of songs that date back to Lang’s 1997 major-label debut and first hit song, “Lie To Me.” Nearly half were mined from “Turn Around,” which won a Grammy for Best Rock Gospel Album.

“Live at the Ryman” jumps off with a one-two-three punch of “Turn Around” songs: “Bump in the Road,” “One Person at a Time” and the title cut.

The show takes a left turn into funkytown with the Prince-penned “I Am,” complete with falsetto quips. Lang and his five-piece band settle into the groove during the soul-heavy slow burner “Red Light,” tempering the album’s fire with introspective intimacy.

The mood cools even more at the back end of the CD with the melancholy ballad, “Breakin’ Me,” just before the temperature spikes for the closing scorcher, “Lie to Me.”

Lang pays tribute to one of his major influences with one of his stage staples, “A Quitter Never Wins” by blues veteran Tinsley Ellis.

Lang has been known to fill out his concerts with dynamic covers, including Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” and “Living For The City,” but the live album’s focus is on recasting fan favorites with the spontaneity and intensity afforded by the concert setting.

Opening Lang’s tour is Southern soul-rock outfit JJ Grey & Mofro, which also has a stellar road reputation after having toured the world, playing numerous shows on the major festival circuit including Austin City Limits, Bonnaroo and Fuji Rock in Japan.

Hailing from Jacksonville, Fla., chief songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Grey and his band are touring in support of their fifth studio release, “Georgia Warhorse,” named for the Southern lubber grasshopper.