Acantha Lang

Official Biography (courtesy of AcanthaLang.com)

Acantha Lang is a Soul/Blues artist born and raised in New Orleans. Although growing up in the rich musical landscape of New Orleans she didn’t find her voice until she relocated to New York City. Her music career began when she was asked to headline her own Blues show in Harlem. Every Monday night for three years she was backed by some of New York’s heaviest session players with credits to their names such as Chaka Khan, Jocelyn Brown, Prince and Roy Ayers to name only a few.

It was around this time, she was asked to perform at several large Blues festivals across Africa & the Caribbean to audiences as large as 70,000.

During her stint in Harlem, Acantha was also asked to become the in-house singer at the infamous variety show/nightclub The Box. This role evolved into her becoming the first woman to take on the highly respected position of MC/compere at the notorious club. While performing six nights a week at The Box, Acantha performed to some of the biggest names in the music and film industries such as Simon Cowell, Jude Law, Tom Cruise, Sting and Axl Rose (these are just a few of the celebrities who expressed their admiration for her voice and presence).

When The Box opened a sister club in the heart of London’s Soho, Acantha was offered the chance to relocate to London to continue her role in the newly opened club. She accepted, but while maintaining her duties at The Box she began gigging on the London Soul scene and writing the songs that would later become her debut album.

Around this time, Robert Randolph (and The Family Band), named as one of Rolling Stone magazine’s ‘100 Greatest Guitarists’, asked to use one of her songs ‘Gonna Be All Right’ on his Sony-released album ‘Got Soul’ which went on to be nominated for a Grammy Award for ‘Best Contemporary Blues Album’ in 2017.

Acantha has continued to write and perform in London, and in February 2019 she finally went into the studio to record tracks for her first album. Inspired by iconic Soul singers such as Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone, Mavis Staples, Gladys Knight, Acantha’s voice exudes throwback soul. She has developed a sound all her own while still giving a respectful nod to these great Soul singers that have paved the way.