Jake La Botz Melds a Colorful Lifetime Into Gritty, Grooving Early Rock 'n Roll Gold on New Album "Sunnyside"

DRIFTER, ACTOR, BUSKER, FORMER PUNK, DEEP WELLED AMERICANA ARTIST JAKE LA BOTZ READIES FIRST ALBUM IN FOUR YEARS
 

PRODUCER JIMMY SUTTON (POKEY LAFARGE, JD MCPHERSON) HELMED NEW ALBUM 'SUNNYSIDE', OUT MAY 12 ON HI-STYLE RECORDS

 

FROM TATTOO TOURS TO ‘TRUE DETECTIVE’ PART, NASHVILLE-VIA-LA-FROM-CHICAGO ARTIST MELDS COLORFUL LIFETIME INTO GRITTY, GROOVING EARLY ROCK 'N ROLL GOLD

 

"From the first time I heard him playing guitar and singing his songs in a smoky bar on La Brea and Sunset, I became a devoted fan of Jake La Botz. Effortlessly blending authentic blues, rock, country, and gospel, he's created a sound and style that is original and yet instantly familiar. Soulful, personal, painfully funny and sad, he's a true American classic, a gift, and a musical resource that is a joy to be discovered time and time again.”  - Steve Buscemi

 

Cats have nine lives, they say. If that’s true, Jake La Botz must be a cat. 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 of those experiences and synthesized them with producer Jimmy Sutton (Pokey LaFarge, JD McPherson) for ‘Sunnyside,’ coming May 12 on Hi-Style Records. It’s his first album in four years and 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 tattoo’d artist.

 

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.

 

Let some of his peers and media tell it:

 

"Jake La Botz is a creator of dark poetry and haunting song, the kind of music that gets in your bones and rides you for days, a sound and vision only those who've been to the bottom and clawed their way back up can generate. Not everybody will get this music - because not everybody is ready for the truth." -Jerry Stahl (author of Permanent Midnight)

 

“Music from a deep well, a blues with country, folk and sharply observed lyrics... as affecting as a shot of overproof rum on a hot day." -Tattoo Magazine

 

LA Weekly said, “Jake La Botz came up the right-proper, fucking hard way: a teen renegade on the streets of Chicago, dabbling in a mixture of antisocial activities (from car theft to jabbing up his own rudimentary tattoos) and exploring the rich, deep blues tradition as a street singer (with Chi-town legend Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis) and beside Delta-blues originator “Honeyboy” Edwards. That lovely, lurid background forged a musical power that… demonstrates not only an innate mastery of the blues, but also displays what he calls a ‘condensed rock & roll mythology.’

MAVIS STAPLES & JOAN OSBORNE'S SOLID SOUL TOUR KICKOFF JOINED ON-STAGE BY BONNIE RAITT

Mavis Staples and Joan Osborne kicked off their national Solid Soul tour at the Fillmore in San Francisco with a bang as special guest Bonnie Raitt sat in for "Will the Circle Be Unbroken." Solid Soul is presented by Columbia Artists Management, Inc. and runs through November 22, 2015.

Solid Soul Tour Dates:

October 6-7, 2015 – Phoenix, AZ – MIM Music Theater
October 8, 2015 – Tucson, AZ – The Rialto Theatre
October 10, 2015 – The Woodlands, TX – Dosey Doe Coffee House
October 11, 2015 – Baton Rouge, LA – Manship Theatre
October 24, 2015 – Clinton Township, MI – Macomb Center for the Performing Arts
October 26, 2015 – Binghamton, NY – Osterhout Concert Theater
October 27, 2015 – University Park, PA – Eisenhower Auditorium
October 28, 2015 – Tarrytown, NY – Tarrytown Music Hall
October 30, 2015 – Stony Brook, NY – Staller Center for the Arts Main Stage
October 31, 2015 – Washington DC – George Washington Lisner Auditorium
November 1, 2015 – Newport News, VA – Ferguson Center for the Arts
November 3, 2015 – Morristown, NJ – Mayo Performing Arts Center
November 4, 2015 – New York, NY – 92nd Street Y, Theresa L. Kaufmann Auditorium
November 6, 2015 – Schenectady, NY – Proctors
November 7, 2015 – Boston, MA – Berklee Performance Center
November 8, 2015 – Providence, RI – Veterans Memorial Auditorium
November 10, 2015 – Keene, NH – New Hampshire Colonial Theatre
November 11, 2015 – Fuller Hall - St. Johnsbury, VT
November 12, 2015 – Portsmouth, NH – Portsmouth Music Hall
November 14, 2015 – Englewood, NJ – Bergen Performing Arts Center Auditorium
November 15, 2015 – Richmond, VA – Camp Concert Hall
November 16, 2015 – Durham, NC – Fletcher Hall Auditorium, Carolina Theatre
November 18, 2015 – Atlanta, GA – Ferst Center for the Arts
November 19, 2015 – Oxford, AL – Oxford Performing Arts Center
November 21, 2015 – Cutler Bay, FL – Main Stage, South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center
November 22, 2015 – Clearwater, FL – Capitol Theatre

Photo of Mavis Staples/Joan Osborne/Bonnie Raitt Solid Soul opening night

Credit: Greg Chow, click for high res

ROCK & ROLL HALL OF FAMER MAVIS STAPLES AND SEVEN-TIME GRAMMY NOMINATED VOCALIST JOAN OSBORNE TEAM UP FOR “SOLID SOUL” FALL TOUR

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FIRST EVER CO-BILL OF TWO RENOWNED FEMALE SINGERS PLANNED FOR 34-DATE TOUR TREK KICKING OFF SEPT 25

Mavis Staples and Joan Osborne will tour together this fall on Solid Soul, a tour kicking off September 25 in San Francisco, CA at the storied Fillmore Auditorium – a fitting locale for the tour premiere because of its history as a venue known for creative show lineups. Two of the great living vocalists in American music, they are expected to play their own sets and also duet as part of the show’s finale.

Soul/gospel icon, GRAMMY Award-winner, and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Mavis Staples has already had a busy 2015 as she is the subject of a full-length documentary “Mavis!,” ANTI- released her new EP Your Good Fortune, and she co-produced, with Jeff Tweedy of WILCO, Pops Staples’ last album Don’t Lose This (ANTI-). She has appeared on The Daily Show, The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show, The GRAMMY Awards, Newport Folk Festival, NPR All Things Considered, In Performance at the White House, the Kennedy Center Honors, and CBS Sunday Morning. Her most recent two full-length albums have been produced by Tweedy.

Seven-time GRAMMY nominee Joan Osborne, a Kentucky native, has earned a reputation as both a commanding, passionate performer and a frank, emotionally evocative songwriter. Since her smash hit triple Platinum-certified album Relish, Joan has sung soul music as part of the GRAMMY Award-winning documentary Standing In The Shadows of Motown with Motown Records’ Funk Brothers. She also has recorded three albums of soul music in How Sweet It Is (called “potent” by All Music Guide), Breakfast in Bed, and her 2012 album Bring It On Home, which included interpretations of “I Don’t Need No Doctor” and “Champagne and Wine,” among others, earning a Blues Album GRAMMY nomination.

Staples said, "Joan is such a loving soul sister, she spreads light and joy with every note. I am so grateful to have had her as a friend over the years, and we are going to have big fun on the road this fall."

Osborne said, "I'm beyond thrilled to be joining my musical hero Mavis Staples on tour this fall. To sing with her every night will be an honor and a great privilege. I don't know what I did in a past life to deserve this, but I cannot wait to get on that tour bus with Mavis!"

The warm embrace of Staples’ voice is the constant from the delta-inflected gospel sound she helped create in the 1950s, to the engaged protest of the civil rights era, and then, amazingly, on pop radio in the Stax era with a series of soul anthems, from “I’ll Take You There” to “Respect Yourself,” and into a new era of Americana and soul sounds in the 21st century.

Osborne's talents have put her into a wide variety of artistic contexts, in which she’s excelled. She joined forces with the surviving members of the Grateful Dead when they regrouped to tour in 2003 as The Dead and produced two albums for the great blues trio the Holmes Brothers. She's shared stages with a wide range of performers, including Stevie Wonder, Bob Dylan, Luciano Pavarotti, Emmylou Harris, and Taj Mahal. Recently, Osborne has toured and recorded as a member of Trigger Hippy, which also includes rising Americana star Jackie Greene and Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman.

Osborne’s latest album, last year’s Love and Hate features contributions from Wilco guitarist Nels Cline and backup vocals by Gail Ann Dorsey, Catherine Russell and Amy Helm in addition to producer Jack Petruzzelli's (Patti Smith, Rufus Wainwright) stellar guitar work.

Solid Soul is produced by Columbia Artists Management, Inc (CAMI), a New York-based agency that specializes in the performing arts. Photos and more info: http://www.cami.com/?webid=2451

MAVIS STAPLES AND JOAN OSBORNE SOLID SOUL TOUR DATES

September 25, 2015 – San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore

September 26, 2015 – Modesto, CA – Mary Stuart Rogers Theater

September 27, 2015 – Napa, CA – The Uptown Theatre

September 29, 2015 – San Luis Obispo, CA – Harman Hall, Christopher Cohan Center

September 30, 2015 – Davis, CA – Barbara K. and W. Turrentine Jackson Hall

October 2, 2015 – Agoura Hills, CA – The Canyon Club

October 3, 2015 – Cerritos, CA – Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts

October 6, 2015 – Phoenix, AZ – MIM Music Theater

October 7, 2015 – Phoenix, AZ – MIM Music Theater

October 8, 2015 – Tucson, AZ – The Rialto Theatre

October 10, 2015 – The Woodlands, TX – Dosey Doe Coffee House

October 11, 2015 – Baton Rouge, LA – Manship Theatre

October 24, 2015 – Clinton Township, MI – Macomb Center for the Performing Arts

October 26, 2015 – Binghampton, NY – Osterhout Concert Theater

October 27, 2015 – University Park, PA – Eisenhower Auditorium

October 28, 2015 – Tarrytown, NY – Tarrytown Music Hall

October 30, 2015 – Stony Brook, NY – Stallar Center for the Arts Main Stage

October 31, 2015 – Washington DC – George Washington Lisner Auditorium

November 1, 2015 – Newport News, VA – Ferguson Center for the Arts

November 3, 2015 – Morristown, NJ – Mayo Performing Arts Center

November 4, 2015 – New York, NY – 92nd Street Y, Theresa L. Kaufmann Auditorium

November 6, 2015 – Schenectady, NY – Proctors

November 7, 2015 – Boston, MA – Berklee Performance Center

November 8, 2015 – Providence, RI – Veterans Memorial Auditorium

November 10, 2015 – Keene, NH – New Hampshire Colonial Theatre

November 11, 2015 – Lyndon Center, VT – Lyndon Institute Auditorium

November 12, 2015 – Portsmouth, NH – Portsmouth Music Hall

November 14, 2015 – Englewood, NJ – Bergen Performing Arts Center Auditorium

November 15, 2015 – Richmond, VA – Camp Concert Hall

November 16, 2015 – Durham, NC – Fletcher Hall Auditorium, Carolina Theatre

November 18, 2015 – Atlanta, GA – Ferst Center for the Arts

November 19, 2015 – Oxford, AL – Oxford Performing Arts Center

November 21, 2015 – Cutler Bay, FL –Dade Auditorium

November 22, 2015 – Clearwater, FL – Capitol Theatre

EILEN JEWELL’S OPEN-EARED AMERICANA VISION OF ‘SUNDOWN OVER GHOST TOWN’ ALBUM STREAMING AT ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, OUT NEXT WEEK ON SIGNATURE SOUNDS

JEWELL ADDED TO AMERICANA MUSIC FESTIVAL AT NASHVILLE’S CITY WINERY SEPTEMBER 17

Entertainment Weekly is streaming Eilen Jewell’s new album ‘Sundown Over Ghost Town,’ out next week on Signature Sounds. EW writes, “Packed with vivid lyrics, steel guitars, and hot licks, Jewell’s Americana-driven brand of country music sounds tailor-made for sweltering, stagnant summer nights."

Jewell’s acoustic guitar sports signatures by her living heroes Wanda Jackson, Emmylou Harris, Mavis Staples, Loretta Lynn, and Lucinda Williams. Immediately after one notices that these are all strong women, one can see the variety of music in Eilen’s personal canon. That broad-eared Americana approach has bled into Jewell’s own music. In concert, Jewell will cover material as varied as Lynn songs, “Drop Down Mama” by blues great Sleepy John Estes, rock n' roll classic “Shakin’ All Over,” Stonewall Jackson's country classic “Why I’m Walkin’,” Eric Andersen’s “Dusty Boxcar Wall.” As a bandleader and writer, her musical experiences have culminated in new album ‘Sundown Over Ghost Town,’ out May 26 on Signature Sounds. Jewell has been added to the Americana Music Festival with a show at Nashville’s City Winery on September 17 in addition to many other tour dates listed below.

“Hallelujah Band” is based on two true stories from Eilen’s life growing up: “The first is about an experience I had as a teenager with my best friend. Her boyfriend somehow knew of an unmarked, underground cave in the middle of the desert. We climbed down there with flashlights in our teeth and hiked around for hours. There was water down below and freight trains up above. It was a religious experience for me that has stuck with me to this day. Something poignant like that happens and you realize what a big life it is, what a glorious world. I may not be worthy but I’m going to join in anyway. And the second story in that song is about how, when I was a little girl I had a secret land that I would go visit. It was just a little indentation in the ground, and I’d sit on the pine needles with my doll. But it carried a lot of importance for me and still does.” Meanwhile, the refrain pays tribute to her love of gospel music, which she also performs in side project the Sacred Shakers.

Eilen Jewell Tour Dates

May 23 - Grass Valley, CA - Strawberry Music Festival
May 27 – Eureka, CA - Palm Lounge at the Eureka Inn
May 28 – Winters, CA - The Palms
May 29 - Berkeley, CA - Freight and Salvage
May 30 - Santa Cruz, CA - Kuumbwa Jazz Center
June 10 – Portland, OR – Alberta Rose Theatre
June 11 – Seattle, WA - Tractor Tavern
June 12 – Palmer, AK – Palmer Musk Ox Farm
June 13 – Soldotna, AK – Kenai River Festival
July 3 - Berwyn, IL - Fitzgerald’s American Music Festival
July 8- Cambridge, MA - The Sinclair
July 9 - New Haven, CT - Cafe 9
July 10 – Greenfield, MA – Green River Festival
July 11 - Hudson, NY - Club Helsinki
July 12 - Woodbridge, NJ - Woodbridge Country Sundays
July 14 – New York, NY – City Winery
July 16 – Washington, D.C. – The Hamilton
July 17 - Philadelphia, PA - World Cafe Live
July 18 – Pittsburgh, PA – Club Café
July 19 – Wakeman, OH – Music at Riverdog
August 7 – Challis, ID – Braun Brothers Family Reunion
August 9 – Bozeman, MT – Sweet Pea Festival
August 22 - Liberty, UT - Ogden Valley Roots & Blues Festival
September 3 – Collinsville, CT – Bridge Street
September 4 – Charlestown, RI – Rhythm & Roots Festival
September 9 – Portland, ME – Port City Music Hall
Stepember 16 – Asheville, NC – The Grey Eagle
September 17 – Nashville, TN – City Winery (Americana Music Festival)
September 19 – Tampa, FL – Skipper’s Smokehouse
September 20 – Decatur, GA – Eddie’s Attic

"Unforgettable" (Times UK) Leyla McCalla Opens For Mavis Staples; Earns Honors From UK Songlines

CAROLINA CHOCOLATE DROP LEYLA MCCALLA OPENS FOR MAVIS STAPLES; LONDON TIMES CALLS HER "UNFORGETTABLE"; SOLO DEBUT 'VARI-COLORED SONGS' NAMED ONE OF TOP 10 NEW ALBUMS BY SONGLINES

Presently on tour in Europe, Carolina Chocolate Drop Leyla McCalla has earned incredible acclaim for her debut solo album 'Vari-Colored Songs: A Tribute To Langston Hughes,' out February 4 in the US on Music Maker Relief Foundation:

+ She opened for Mavis Staples October 28 in Paris at New Morning.
+ The Times' Clive Davis called 'Vari-Colored Songs' a "triumph… unforgettable."
+ Songlines Magazine named 'Vari-Colored Songs' one of its top ten new albums, calling it "exquisite," continuing, "Anyone who's seen the Carolina Chocolate Drops will have been warmed by this young woman's artistry… this exploration of the city's under-explored Caribbean currents is most welcome; the Big Easy is, after all, as close – both geographically and culturally – to Port-au-Prince as it is to New York City."

McCalla will play APAP in New York City in January, 2014.