Blues prodigy to perform

With the release of his debut album, Lie To Me, in 1997 at the age of 16, Johnny Lang astonished the music industry and critics with his soulful guitar playing and raw gritty voice that accompanies many experienced Marlboro-smoking veterans of the blues. \nNow, having reached the ripe old age of 20, Lang is stopping in Indiana on his latest tour. Lang will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. today at the Embassy Theatre in Fort Wayne. Opening for Lang will be Indigenous, a Native American blues-rock band made up of four siblings with a guitar-driven sound reminiscent of Santana and Stevie Ray Vaughan. The band's first album, Things We Do, was released in 1998, and its second album, Circles, followed last year.\nIn 1997, Lang's Lie To Me debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard's New Artist chart. Headlining around the world and touring with Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones and B.B. King helped fill his time until the release of his second album, Wander This World, in 1999.\nLang evolved musically and expanded artistically in his sophomore album into R&B, rock and ballads. He has been recognized as a contemporary savior of the blues with influences such as Albert Collins, B.B. King and Stevie Ray Vaughan. Wander This World was a mature and conscious return to the roots of his Motown and soul upbringing from funky tracks such as "Still Rainin'" to his own ballad "Breakin' Me."\nTickets for the concert cost $25.50 and are available at all Ticketmaster outlets, via charge-by-phone at (219) 424-1811 or at www.ticketmaster.com.