Jon Langford is a musician and visual artist from Newport, Chicago, born in 1957. He is associated with the Mekons, the Three Johns and a range of other projects, and works across punk, alt-country and Americana.

Music

Langford begins as the drummer in the Mekons, the punk band formed at Leeds University in 1977. He later moves to guitar as the group changes line-up. From the mid-1980s, he becomes one of the figures associated with bringing folk and country elements into punk rock.

After moving to Chicago in the early 1990s, he co-founds the Waco Brothers, a country-punk band that becomes one of his most sustained projects. He also releases solo records and works with other bands outside the Mekons. His first official solo album is Skull Orchard, a set of songs reflecting on his hometown of Newport, Wales. He follows it with All the Fame of Lofty Deeds and Gold Brick.

His other groups include the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, a changing line-up of Chicago musicians who back both Langford and other artists such as Kelly Hogan. He is also part of the Three Johns, with John Hyatt and John (Phillip) Brennan, who issue several drum-machine-driven punk records in the 1980s. Other listed projects include Wee Hairy Beasties, Sally Timms and The Drifting Cowgirls, Jon Langford and His Men of Gwent, KatJonBand, Four Lost Souls, Bad Luck Jonathan and the Killer Shrews.

Chicago and Bloodshot

Langford is closely linked with the Chicago independent label Bloodshot. He supports the label and its musicians, often contributing as a performer or visual artist, and also invites local musicians to appear on his own releases. He becomes a well-known figure in the city’s music scene.

Visual art, writing and media

Alongside music, Langford is a prolific visual artist, especially known for portraits of country music figures including Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Elvis Presley. He illustrates the comic strip Great Pop Things under the name Chuck Death. His collection Nashville Radio, gathering artwork and writings, is published in 2006.

He creates the multimedia performance The Executioner’s Last Songs, which premieres at Alverno College in 2005 and is later performed in other cities. Since 2005 he also co-hosts the weekly radio programme The Eclectic Company on WXRT 93.1 FM in Chicago, and he contributes regularly to This American Life.

Collaborations

Langford appears on recordings by the Ex, the Old 97s, Chip Taylor and Alejandro Escovedo, and he records joint albums with Sally Timms, Kevin Coyne and Richard Buckner.