Jon Langford

by Gregory McIntoshSomewhat of a Renaissance man, Jon Langford is perhaps best known as one of the founding members of the influential punk band the Mekons, but has had his hands in many other projects as well as being a prolific and respected visual and comic artist. Langford put together the Mekons in Leeds, England, in 1976 and has had a steady output with that band since, as well as guesting on dozens of recordings from Dutch punk band the Ex to Austin, TX, legend Alejandro Escovedo. Langford founded his first side project to the Mekons in 1982 with the inception of the Three Johns, which lasted until the early '90s, when Langford relocated to Chicago. In Chicago, he pieced together the underground country-punk group the Waco Brothers and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, an outlet for excursions into performing and honoring music written by others. He soon became a sort of father figure to the Chicago music scene, nurturing many of his labelmates on Bloodshot Records and championing anyone who he thought worthy of scrutiny, often lending his services as a musician or visual artist or inviting local musicians to guest on his releases. When 1998 rolled around, Langford released his first official solo album, Skull Orchard, and followed it eight years later with his sophomore release, All the Fame of Lofty Deeds, in 2004 -- in between which he released no less than 11 other albums via other projects.