Jake La Botz

From the venue:

Jake La Botz’s new album, Hair on Fire, balances the wisdom and patience of his decades of Buddhist training with the grit and vigor of his Chicago upbringing to create a sound that’s at once unabashedly vintage and decidedly present. The writing is raw and direct here, cutting straight to the heart of things with honesty and urgency, and the performances are similarly spare and unvarnished, fueled by lean, spacious arrangements centered around La Botz’s well-worn vocals. Add it all up and you”ve got a spiritually enlightening dose of neo-noir American roots from a writer who’s unafraid to wear his soul on his sleeve, an alternatingly dark and hopeful collection that tips its cap to everyone from Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen to Nick Lowe and Elvis Costello as it ruminates on compassion and vulnerability, strength and surrender, growth and redemption.