Jake La Botz to Showcase New SUNNYSIDE Album at NYC's Bowery Ballroom

On the heels of his new album "Sunnyside," master storyteller Jake La Botz will perform with JD McPherson at The Bowery Ballroom in New York, NY on April 20. His first album in four years, "Sunnyside" finds the new NASHVILLE transplant recounting his past and present atop an irresistible, driving groove. Jimmy Sutton recorded La Botz in his original hometown of Chicago at an all-analog studio, teasing dynamite performances out of the heavily tattooed artist.

A teenage punk, a juvenile delinquent, an actor (including a part in the classic 'Ghost World'), a drifter, an apprentice to blues elders growing up in Chicago, self-educated reader, an addict in Los Angeles, a musician in a gospel church, a Buddhist, a meditation teacher, a songwriter touring a circuit of tattoo parlors nationwide. Now, he's taken all those experiences and synthesized them with producer Jimmy Sutton (Pokey LaFarge, JD McPherson) for 'Sunnyside,' now available on Hi-Style Records.

A master storyteller from time spent at the feet of his grandfather and other elders, La Botz infuses his songs with gritty, deeply imagined characters. The album runs along an axis of spirituality on one side and materialism on the other, with La Botz spinning metaphors and subtle dual meanings throughout. Stories include the absurdity of filling one's life with "positivity" (the title track), a portrait of a decrepit hotel with addicts seeking fixes ("The Hotel [Fix Me Now]"), a prisoner searching for a way out ("The Trees in Cali"), a mystical hobo's description of freedom ("Hobo on a Passenger Train"), a street musician trading art for spare change in the subway ("For Nickels & Dimes"), and the carefree feeling that comes with the arrival of summer ("Feel No Pain"). La Botz has opened for greats like Ray Charles, Dr. John, Mavis Staples, JD McPherson, Etta James, The Blasters, and Tony Joe White.

2018 U.S. TOUR DATES ACCOMPANYING JD MCPHERSON
April 10 - Cincinnati, OH @ 20th Century Theatre
April 11 - Wapakoneta, OH @ Route 33 Rhythm & Brews
April 12 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Small's
April 13 - Rochester, NY @ Harro East Ballroom
April 14 - Montreal, Canada @ L'astral
April 15 - South Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground Showcase
April 16 - Portland, ME @ Port City Music Hall
April 17 - Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
April 18 - Fall River, MA @ Narrows Center
April 19 - Holyoke, MA @ Gateway City Arts
April 20 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom

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