Peter Lang Needs Our Help!

Guitarist Peter Lang is in trouble and he needs our help. One of the world's foremost six-and-twelve-string fingerstyle guitarists, Lang has enjoyed a lengthy career, some 40 years, playing traditional music in the blues and folk vein. Influenced by artists like Mississippi John Hurt and Blind Boy Fuller, Lang originally recorded for John Fahey's Takoma Records label (also home to Leo Kottke and Michael Bloomfield during the 1970s). Through the years, Lang has performed or recorded with heavyweights like Freddie King, John Hammond, the Butterfield Blues Band, and many others.

In May 2008, Lang was involved in an automobile accident that resulted in injuries requiring several surgeries, and has suffered a nerve impingement that may prevent him from playing his guitar again. Caught in a bureaucratic "catch 22," Lang's auto insurance company refuses to pay his medical expenses, considering his injuries to be "pre-existing," while his health insurance company won't pay, terming his injuries the result of the accident. Either way, Lang's medical bills keep piling up, and Lang is unable to perform and thus support his family.

A fund has been set up to collect donations to help Lang's short-term medical and living expenses, an attempt to get him back up on his feet and making a living. You can donate via the Lang Fund website, and in turn the guitarist has made six of his albums available for digital download as a way of saying "thanks." It's a win-win situation by any measure - your donation helps Lang and his family, and you'll get to hear some great music.

Photo courtesy Peter Lang