John Langford was bornin Newport, Wales and studied Fine Arts at Leeds University. He is the founding member of legendary Leeds punk band the Mekons, art-metal power trio the Three Johns and militant hard-country rockers the Waco Brothers. Since moving to Chicago in 1992 he has exhibited his artwork extensively, designed covers for albums by Hank Williams and Buddy Guy, campaigned against the death penalty, published a volume of cartoons lampooning the music industry, and become a dad twice over. His current projects include a spoken-word multimedia performance, The Executionera (TM)s Last Songs, with which he will tour North America in 2006; and a solo CD, Gold Brick: Lies of the Great Explorers/Columbus at Guantanamo Bay.