Jon Langford is a prolific renaissance man – a country punk rocker, songwriter, visual artist, and activist. Having lived most of his life in England and Wales, he moved to Chicago in 1992, a city he’d visited many times as a touring musician with the Mekons and The Three Johns. It was during these trips in the mid-to-late 80s that Langford developed his interest in the music and culture of the American south, particularly country & western. This much maligned genre is mostly treated as a joke in Britain and neglected by the commercial mainstream in the States where it’s been swept under the rug in favor of New Country which has learned little from the legacies of Langford favorites like Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline & Bob Wills.

In 2004 Jon released a solo CD on Bloodshot Records called “All the Fame of Lofty Deeds” – ostensibly a concept album about the life and times of fictional country legend Lofty Deeds that one bold reviewer described as “a honky-tonk Ziggy Stardust” For the cover, Langford created several memorable paintings of a partially erased country band with bandanas over their eyes fronted by a skeleton called Lofty Deeds. Now the Chicago Department Of Cultural Affairs, Walkabout Theater, and acclaimed playwright Mark Gaurino have come together to turn the album into a multi-media stage show and Jon has been working on a series of ghostly and poignant new paintings which will be used as part of this production. The stage play premieres at The Storefront Theater in Chicago’s Loop early in 2008 but New York City gets the first chance to see Jon’s new artwork at his Aidan Savoy Gallery exhibit “LOFTY DEEDS” which opens September 13th and runs through October 7th, 2007

Jon Langford has a degree in Fine Arts from Leeds University in England. This is his first show at Aidan Savoy Gallery. He will be in attendance at the opening.