On March 24, 2009
EmArcy released his debut album Sounding Point to favorable reviews.[7][8] It was nominated for the 2010
Grammy Award Best Contemporary Jazz Album. His second album, Gladwell, was released April 26, 2011, to positive reviews.[9][10][11][12] His first solo acoustic album, World's Fair, was released on March 2, 2015, and his fourth album, Arclight, was released on March 11, 2016.
In a 2016 interview promoting Arclight on the
NPR program Fresh Air Lage revealed that around the time of the release of World's Fair he struggled with
focal dystonia, a neurological disorder resulting from the repeated performance of tasks. The disorder caused spasms in his left arm and hand while trying to play the guitar. He believed that the condition was brought on at age five from playing and gripping the neck of his guitar too hard, because the guitar was bigger than he was. At the time, he believed that was what he needed to do to "sound official... and [not] drop the guitar." He had to "re-learn how to play the guitar in a way that... addressed these tendencies that got [him] in trouble in the first place."[13]
On March 17, 2021, it was announced that he signed to
Blue Note Records. Along with the announcement, it was announced that his debut release on the label entitled Squint would be released on June 11. The lead single "Saint Rose" was released on that day as well.[1] April 9 saw the release on the second single "Boo's Blues."[16]
View With a Room was released on September 16, 2022[17] The lead single "Auditorium" was released on June 21.[18] "Word for Word", the second single, was released on July 13.[19] The third single "Tributary" was released on August 10.[20] The fourth single, "Chavez" was released on August 31.[21]
On November 14, 2023, Lage continued to prioritize acoustic-focused instrumentation with the release of the single "Omission",[22] building on the style established on his EP The Layers, which was released on March 17, 2023.[23]
^Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They recognize several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.