These are the dates:
Sep. 26 - FESTIVAL AMERICA - PARIS (Vincennes), FRANCE
Sep. 27 - Viroinval Festival - Viroinval, Belgium
Sep. 29 - Bluescafe Radio Live - Namur, Belgium
Oct. 2 - Radio Ridderkirk - Ridderkirk, Netherlands
Oct. 3 - Rock Cafe Tekilla - Tienen, Belgium
Oct. 4 - Private Party - Belgium
Oct. 5 - Kultuurhuisbosch - Arnhem, Netherlands
Oct. 7th - Darko's Tattoo Shop - Tilburg, Netherlands
Oct. 8th - Dragon Tattoo - Eindhoven, Netherlands
Oct. 9th - Inkkitchen Tattoo - Hengelo, Netherlands
Oct. 10th - Rinto's Tattooshop - Burgum, Netherlands
Oct. 11th - Iduna Poppodium - Drachten, Netherlands
Oct. 12th - De Wissel - Mill, Netherlands
Oct. 17th - Skin-a-Matic - Nijmegen, Netherlands
Oct. 18th - Inkstitution - Rotterdam, Netherlands
Oct. 20th - Tattooing by Tycho and Hanky Panky - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Oct. 23rd - Theatercafé 't LEETVERMAAK - Ieper, Belgium
Oct. 24th - Le Petit Tonneau - Acosse, Belgium
Oct. 25th - Aukebersmafotokunst - Vlaardingen, Netherlands
Oct. 26th - Independent Inker - Ijumuiden, Netherlands
Oct. 27th - Blaue Wolk - Zottegem, Belgium
Oct. 30th - Big Red - London, England
Nov. 2nd - Magnum Opus Tattoo - Brighton, England
Nov. 8th - Oxford Cafe - Bethune, France
Sep. 26 - FESTIVAL AMERICA - PARIS (Vincennes), FRANCE
Sep. 27 - Viroinval Festival - Viroinval, Belgium
Sep. 29 - Bluescafe Radio Live - Namur, Belgium
Oct. 2 - Radio Ridderkirk - Ridderkirk, Netherlands
Oct. 3 - Rock Cafe Tekilla - Tienen, Belgium
Oct. 4 - Private Party - Belgium
Oct. 5 - Kultuurhuisbosch - Arnhem, Netherlands
Oct. 7th - Darko's Tattoo Shop - Tilburg, Netherlands
Oct. 8th - Dragon Tattoo - Eindhoven, Netherlands
Oct. 9th - Inkkitchen Tattoo - Hengelo, Netherlands
Oct. 10th - Rinto's Tattooshop - Burgum, Netherlands
Oct. 11th - Iduna Poppodium - Drachten, Netherlands
Oct. 12th - De Wissel - Mill, Netherlands
Oct. 17th - Skin-a-Matic - Nijmegen, Netherlands
Oct. 18th - Inkstitution - Rotterdam, Netherlands
Oct. 20th - Tattooing by Tycho and Hanky Panky - Amsterdam, Netherlands
Oct. 23rd - Theatercafé 't LEETVERMAAK - Ieper, Belgium
Oct. 24th - Le Petit Tonneau - Acosse, Belgium
Oct. 25th - Aukebersmafotokunst - Vlaardingen, Netherlands
Oct. 26th - Independent Inker - Ijumuiden, Netherlands
Oct. 27th - Blaue Wolk - Zottegem, Belgium
Oct. 30th - Big Red - London, England
Nov. 2nd - Magnum Opus Tattoo - Brighton, England
Nov. 8th - Oxford Cafe - Bethune, France
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN OR PURCHASE
FROM THE CRITICS:
"Heartache transforms into profound albeit bleak wisdom on this acoustic outing by bluesman/actor La Botz. From the abyss, he delivers stunners like “Depression Brings Me Flowers,” “Hard to Love What You Kill” and “About Who I Am,” which rank among the hardest-hitting, most poetic and melodic songs he’s written..."
-PASADENA WEEKLY
"...the bluesman’s fifth album, independently released in time for his latest tour of tattoo parlors across the lower forty-eight, is a bare-boned journey deep into dark nights of the soul; La Botz jokes these are “songs to kill or be killed to.” But, notwithstanding the black humor of “The Devil Lives in My Throat,” there’s nothing funny or half-assed about the way he strip-mines bleak, hypnotic beauty from heartbreak and fingerpicked acoustic settings on ballads like “When Your Trouble Gets Like Mine” or the harrowing “Depression Brings Me Flowers” (“The bad news is I don’t believe in happiness/ The good news is I know the ground quite well/ I go to hell and back with eyes wide open/ And come up to smell the flowers by my bed”). Pain rarely felt so sweet."
- FADE IN MAGAZINE
"...Jake La Botz's latest release on his own Charnel Ground Records label, Sing This To Yourself And Other Suggestions For A Personal Apocalypse is as lucid and honest examination of the subject as you'll hear anywhere. Without a trace of self-pity or melodrama the eleven songs on Sing This To Yourself explore and describe what a person going through depression experiences. While some might wonder at the rationale behind creating a recording of songs about depression, La Botz's explanation of "My hope is that these songs could be a comfort to those who are struggling" is worth remembering.
Depression is an incredibly isolating illness, so for the person suffering with it the knowledge that somebody understands what they're going through is more valuable then any medication. Now that's not to say this album should only be listened to when prescribed by a shrink, (although I personally think it's a far better medication than Prozac or any of the other deadening drugs.) as it's an amazing collection of songs that has a lot to offer anybody who appreciates a well written blues tune. Jake La Botz has an astounding capacity to express emotions in a way that anybody listening can't help but understand and be touched by.
Jake reminds us where the blues came from and what drew people to it in the first place. That's not because he's trying to imitate what somebody did sixty years ago, but because he deals with the stuff that troubles the human spirit in the same manner that blues people of old did. Of course, he's not singing about the things from yesterday that caused the blues; what it's like to be on a chain gang in the deep south, picking cotton, or being a sharecropper, he's singing about the things today that scrape us raw and leave us wounded in the heart.
"Hungry Again (Put Me In A Hole)", the opening track on the disc, describes the kind of life that can make a person feel too much. "Left alone too much as a small boy / Learned to walk and talk from the animals / they taught me what to eat". Neglect and abandonment are sure fire ways to turn a person in on themselves as they feel like they don't matter and they know the people who are supposed to care about them don't, so why should anybody else? That song expresses the hunger that burns in a person's chest to be wanted, to know that somebody cares about what happens to them.
The great thing about Jake La Botz's music is Jake himself and what he brings to his performance of the tunes. His guitar work is elegant in its simplicity, as he picks out individual notes with the precision of gem cutter splitting a stone to expose the heart that was hidden within the matrix. The notes he plays traces a similar path through his songs, as they follow a line that lead us to the heart that beats inside each tune - its emotional core. Speed isn't important for these songs, in fact it would be the worst thing possible for them. We gloss over emotions in our world by whizzing past them, so Botz's music allows us the opportunity to stay in the moment and properly experience them.
Jake's singing voice is as singular as his songs, and as raw as their content. Like the folk and blues singers of old, Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly, his voice is that of a person who has experienced the world and seen his share of hardship. Yet in spite of that, or maybe because of it, there is a strength of spirit to his voice that makes these songs positive experiences. In a world where men aren't supposed to express their feelings, here's this guy pouring his heart out in a strong, sure voice that cracks with emotions. If nothing else it's certainly an example for other men to follow about how to be emotionally real...
Jake La Botz's Sing This To Yourself And Other Suggestions For A Personal Apocalypse is as fine a collection of traditional acoustic blues music as you're going to find anywhere. The fact that it also happens to be some of the most emotionally honest and beautifully passionate music as well makes it even more special. Do yourself a favour, the next time your feeling down, give Jake a listen, his blues are the best medicine money can buy.
-BLOGCRITCS MAGAZINE (Richard Marcus)
"...Jake La Botz is clearly going to shoot his own face off. From the opening strains of “Hungry Again (Put Me in a Hole),” he’s a little Bob Dylan and a whole lotta suicide...
Oh, Jake La Botz! Can’t you find a new woman to smack around and make you happy? We don’t like seeing you like this."
-LA CITYBEAT
As far as I know I'm still the only guy who totes a guitar around the U.S.A. (and Europe soon) playing tattoo shops...
I was on the road for the month of August playing some of the most interesting tattoo studios in America...read below for details...
Photo by Nicole Weingart: www.nicoleweingart.com
These were the dates:
Aug. 2nd Po Boys Bourbon Street - Peoria, IL
Aug. 3rd Jason Smith - House of Ink - Jacksonville, IL
Aug. 4th Jayme - Sycamore Marketplace - Kokomo, IN
Aug. 6th Jason Morgan - One Shot Tattoo - Cincinnati, OH
Aug. 7th Alex Higgins - The Tattoo Factory - Chicago, IL
Aug. 9th - Bernice's Tavern - Chicago, IL
Aug. 10th - Chuck's Fest - Chicago, IL
Aug. 11th Rodney Rose - 252 Tattoo - Cleveland, OH
Aug. 13th - 21 Nickels - Watertown, MA
Aug. 14th - The Brendan Behan Pub - Boston, MA
Aug. 15th - Googie's Lounge - NYC, NY
Aug. 17th - Banjo Jim's - NYC, NY
Aug. 21st Steve Woison - Electric Tiki Tattoos - Long Island, NY
Aug. 22nd Billy "The Kid" - Liberty Tattoo - Skippack, PA
Aug. 23rd Krooked Ken- Black Anchor Tattoo - Denton, MD
Aug. 24th Peggi Hurley - Ancient Art Tattoo - Rehoboth Beach, DE
Aug. 28th Doc Dog - Las Vegas Tattoo Co. - Tampa, FL
Aug. 29th Rob, Mike, and Dave - Anthem Tattoo - Gainesville, FL
Aug. 30th Danny Knight- Tried and True Tattoo Expo - Orlando, FL
Sept. 1st Jason Thomas - The Ink Spot Gallery - Jackson, MS
Sept. 2nd Rikki Bailey - Garage Art Studio - Longview, TX
Sept. 3rd - Texas Players - Longview, TX
Sept. 6th Painless Mike and Evil Dave - Incision Tattoo - Phoenix, AZ
Sept. 7th Cathy Montie - Absolute Tattoo - San Diego, CA
Sept. 8th - Redwood Bar (w/ C.W. Stoneking) - Los Angeles, CA
Sept. 10th Mark Mahoney - Shamrock Social Club - Hollywood, CA
ARTWORK BY JASON SWEET www.freaksandgeekstattoo.com
I was on the road for the month of August playing some of the most interesting tattoo studios in America...read below for details...
Photo by Nicole Weingart: www.nicoleweingart.com
These were the dates:
Aug. 2nd Po Boys Bourbon Street - Peoria, IL
Aug. 3rd Jason Smith - House of Ink - Jacksonville, IL
Aug. 4th Jayme - Sycamore Marketplace - Kokomo, IN
Aug. 6th Jason Morgan - One Shot Tattoo - Cincinnati, OH
Aug. 7th Alex Higgins - The Tattoo Factory - Chicago, IL
Aug. 9th - Bernice's Tavern - Chicago, IL
Aug. 10th - Chuck's Fest - Chicago, IL
Aug. 11th Rodney Rose - 252 Tattoo - Cleveland, OH
Aug. 13th - 21 Nickels - Watertown, MA
Aug. 14th - The Brendan Behan Pub - Boston, MA
Aug. 15th - Googie's Lounge - NYC, NY
Aug. 17th - Banjo Jim's - NYC, NY
Aug. 21st Steve Woison - Electric Tiki Tattoos - Long Island, NY
Aug. 22nd Billy "The Kid" - Liberty Tattoo - Skippack, PA
Aug. 23rd Krooked Ken- Black Anchor Tattoo - Denton, MD
Aug. 24th Peggi Hurley - Ancient Art Tattoo - Rehoboth Beach, DE
Aug. 28th Doc Dog - Las Vegas Tattoo Co. - Tampa, FL
Aug. 29th Rob, Mike, and Dave - Anthem Tattoo - Gainesville, FL
Aug. 30th Danny Knight- Tried and True Tattoo Expo - Orlando, FL
Sept. 1st Jason Thomas - The Ink Spot Gallery - Jackson, MS
Sept. 2nd Rikki Bailey - Garage Art Studio - Longview, TX
Sept. 3rd - Texas Players - Longview, TX
Sept. 6th Painless Mike and Evil Dave - Incision Tattoo - Phoenix, AZ
Sept. 7th Cathy Montie - Absolute Tattoo - San Diego, CA
Sept. 8th - Redwood Bar (w/ C.W. Stoneking) - Los Angeles, CA
Sept. 10th Mark Mahoney - Shamrock Social Club - Hollywood, CA
ARTWORK BY JASON SWEET www.freaksandgeekstattoo.com
Click below to listen or buy "Graveyard Jones" featuring original studio versions of the two songs sung on screen in the Stallone movie Rambo...also available at itunes and all the major download sites:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/jakelabotz4
"La Botz avoids the mainstream like a Dracula avoids the dawn..."-MACON TELEGRAPH
"Blues man 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 Blind Arvella Gray) and beside Delta-blues originator “Honeyboy” Edwards. That lovely, lurid background forged a musical power that, as heard on his current CD, Graveyard Jones, demonstrates not only an innate mastery of the blues, but also displays what he calls a “condensed rock & roll mythology.”" -L.A. WEEKLY
"“Graveyard Jones” is one of the year’s most original releases — midnight blues as philosophical myth..." -PASADENA WEEKLY
"La Botz is skilled at crafting talking-blues numbers that are pure poetry. His storytelling roots lie deep in the Delta and Piedmont, and his material is at once timeless and totally fresh." -CHICAGO SUN TIMES
"The songs pierce and scrape at the listener’s skin like the needle of a tattoo gun, his harsh, grainy rasp—not unlike Tom Waits’—spewing forth blunt, morbid narratives about threadbare lives and the nearness of the grave." -NASHVILLE SCENE
"Dont miss alert: Blues veteran Jake La Botz, an L.A. denizen via Chicago and a musical descendant of Son House, Tom Waits, Skip James, and Honeyboy Edwards, returns with 'Graveyard Jones' (Charnel Ground 108). La Botz...is one of today's darkest and most original writers. 'Jones', like several of his previous efforts, is a sonic roller-coaster ride; he spans country blues, Rolling Stones grooves ('Grandma's Photographs'), and off-kilter Waits sounds ('Graveyard Jones'), elsewhere doing his own thing ('Something On My Mind'). La Botz's superb dry vocals and expert fingerpicking anchor the band on idiosynchratic, compelling compositions." -BLUES REVUE MAGAZINE
"Inhabiting the same dark recesses of the blues as the late Screamin' Jay Hawkins or John Campbell, Jake La Botz's gravelly growl of a voice creates a funereal sound that evokes satanic fears and can make your skin crawl. His new, third CD, "Graveyard Jones," at times is as much a Halloween soundtrack as blues exploration. It's the sort of music one might expect to hear while visiting a voodoo priestess in a back alley of the French Quarter. ...Despite the rough edges to his voice, La Botz is actually a tremendous singer. Expressive, passionate, and with an innate melodicism." - NORTH COUNTY TIMES (San Diego)
"Sometime car-dweller and indie movie actor La Botz dreams up bizarro electric blues, rocking just as hard on sentimental pieces. As the album's title suggests, there's a good deal of morbidity and mortality obsessed over here, but it's one lively-sounding funeral." -LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
"His raspy voice spins beautiful, gritty narratives. I'm totally hooked." -HARRISBURG PATRIOT NEWS
"...the L.A-based singer/songwriter is actually quite a flying-under-the-radar treasure..." -NASHVILLE ALL THE RAGE
"Graveyard Jones is a simultaneously grimy and reflective look at America's underbelly." -CLEVELAND SCENE
" If you like your blues served up raw, without a lot of window dressing, Jake La Botz has the recipe you've been looking for." -TURBULA.NET
"On the title track of his latest album, the itinerant blues troubadour combines his creaky vocals with a solitary, meandering organ run and echo-laden plucking to evoke the Halloween-ready spookiness of Screaming Jay Hawkins and the hoodoo blues of the late John Campbell." -LONG ISLAND PRESS
"La BOTZ'S music may be on the fringes, but that is only because the mainstream is so out of touch with art born from American roots. His tunes are plain and homespun, and often darkly humorous. Bob Dylan is an obvious influence; so too are Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits and a legion of bluesmen. On record, his vocals are weather-beaten and gravelly, in sharp contrast to his gentle speaking voice." -L.A. TIMES
"It's not often Hollywood can be called on to highlight great Blues music but we have to credit Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs), and his film "Animal Factory" (starring Willem Dafoe), for bringing Jake La Botz to our attention - an exceptional singer/songwriter who grew up playing with many of Blues' greatest, including Jimmy Davis and Homesick James, on Maxwell Street. Keeping that company as a teenager, it's a given the music is authentic roots-based, but the chilling drawl on both 2004's "All Soul And No Money" and 2006's "Graveyard Jones" is something you can't craft; no matter the company you've kept. It's this grave vocal that emphasises the pain and sorrow on songs such as 'The Grey' ("All Soul And No Money"); a grim take on death so intense it leaves you bordering on emotional mess. On both collections Jake evokes many of traditional and contemporary Blues' most revered acts, from Skip James to Tom Waits, yet his take (incorporating country/folk/rock/gospel and even punk) is highly original. At times uncomfortable, at times moving, at times empowering, at times upsetting…in fact all the fundamentals Hollywood never seems to deliver anymore and it's fair to say this music is far more gripping and engrossing than any Hollywood Blockbuster! Give the movies a miss this weekend and get lost in Jake's world!" -BLUES MATTERS MAGAZINE (England)
"...animated, jagged guitar playing and equally energetic, distinctive vocals and songwriting."- NASHVILLE CITY PAPER
"Blues man 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 Blind Arvella Gray) and beside Delta-blues originator “Honeyboy” Edwards. That lovely, lurid background forged a musical power that, as heard on his current CD, Graveyard Jones, demonstrates not only an innate mastery of the blues, but also displays what he calls a “condensed rock & roll mythology.”" -L.A. WEEKLY
"“Graveyard Jones” is one of the year’s most original releases — midnight blues as philosophical myth..." -PASADENA WEEKLY
"La Botz is skilled at crafting talking-blues numbers that are pure poetry. His storytelling roots lie deep in the Delta and Piedmont, and his material is at once timeless and totally fresh." -CHICAGO SUN TIMES
"The songs pierce and scrape at the listener’s skin like the needle of a tattoo gun, his harsh, grainy rasp—not unlike Tom Waits’—spewing forth blunt, morbid narratives about threadbare lives and the nearness of the grave." -NASHVILLE SCENE
"Dont miss alert: Blues veteran Jake La Botz, an L.A. denizen via Chicago and a musical descendant of Son House, Tom Waits, Skip James, and Honeyboy Edwards, returns with 'Graveyard Jones' (Charnel Ground 108). La Botz...is one of today's darkest and most original writers. 'Jones', like several of his previous efforts, is a sonic roller-coaster ride; he spans country blues, Rolling Stones grooves ('Grandma's Photographs'), and off-kilter Waits sounds ('Graveyard Jones'), elsewhere doing his own thing ('Something On My Mind'). La Botz's superb dry vocals and expert fingerpicking anchor the band on idiosynchratic, compelling compositions." -BLUES REVUE MAGAZINE
"Inhabiting the same dark recesses of the blues as the late Screamin' Jay Hawkins or John Campbell, Jake La Botz's gravelly growl of a voice creates a funereal sound that evokes satanic fears and can make your skin crawl. His new, third CD, "Graveyard Jones," at times is as much a Halloween soundtrack as blues exploration. It's the sort of music one might expect to hear while visiting a voodoo priestess in a back alley of the French Quarter. ...Despite the rough edges to his voice, La Botz is actually a tremendous singer. Expressive, passionate, and with an innate melodicism." - NORTH COUNTY TIMES (San Diego)
"Sometime car-dweller and indie movie actor La Botz dreams up bizarro electric blues, rocking just as hard on sentimental pieces. As the album's title suggests, there's a good deal of morbidity and mortality obsessed over here, but it's one lively-sounding funeral." -LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS
"His raspy voice spins beautiful, gritty narratives. I'm totally hooked." -HARRISBURG PATRIOT NEWS
"...the L.A-based singer/songwriter is actually quite a flying-under-the-radar treasure..." -NASHVILLE ALL THE RAGE
"Graveyard Jones is a simultaneously grimy and reflective look at America's underbelly." -CLEVELAND SCENE
" If you like your blues served up raw, without a lot of window dressing, Jake La Botz has the recipe you've been looking for." -TURBULA.NET
"On the title track of his latest album, the itinerant blues troubadour combines his creaky vocals with a solitary, meandering organ run and echo-laden plucking to evoke the Halloween-ready spookiness of Screaming Jay Hawkins and the hoodoo blues of the late John Campbell." -LONG ISLAND PRESS
"La BOTZ'S music may be on the fringes, but that is only because the mainstream is so out of touch with art born from American roots. His tunes are plain and homespun, and often darkly humorous. Bob Dylan is an obvious influence; so too are Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, Tom Waits and a legion of bluesmen. On record, his vocals are weather-beaten and gravelly, in sharp contrast to his gentle speaking voice." -L.A. TIMES
"It's not often Hollywood can be called on to highlight great Blues music but we have to credit Steve Buscemi (Reservoir Dogs), and his film "Animal Factory" (starring Willem Dafoe), for bringing Jake La Botz to our attention - an exceptional singer/songwriter who grew up playing with many of Blues' greatest, including Jimmy Davis and Homesick James, on Maxwell Street. Keeping that company as a teenager, it's a given the music is authentic roots-based, but the chilling drawl on both 2004's "All Soul And No Money" and 2006's "Graveyard Jones" is something you can't craft; no matter the company you've kept. It's this grave vocal that emphasises the pain and sorrow on songs such as 'The Grey' ("All Soul And No Money"); a grim take on death so intense it leaves you bordering on emotional mess. On both collections Jake evokes many of traditional and contemporary Blues' most revered acts, from Skip James to Tom Waits, yet his take (incorporating country/folk/rock/gospel and even punk) is highly original. At times uncomfortable, at times moving, at times empowering, at times upsetting…in fact all the fundamentals Hollywood never seems to deliver anymore and it's fair to say this music is far more gripping and engrossing than any Hollywood Blockbuster! Give the movies a miss this weekend and get lost in Jake's world!" -BLUES MATTERS MAGAZINE (England)
"...animated, jagged guitar playing and equally energetic, distinctive vocals and songwriting."- NASHVILLE CITY PAPER
You will be able to find the tracks in the billiard room, in the third map.
The music is broadcasted through a music system in this room, which is located in the New-York docks.
The music is broadcasted through a music system in this room, which is located in the New-York docks.
