Jake La Botz - Sunnyside [LP]

2017 release. Jake La Botz's story seems entirely too cinematic to be true. On his album Sunnyside, Jake's songs are heavily informed by his life, one that wraps shades of Merle Haggard, Charles Bukowski, Jim Jarmusch, and Sid Vicious all in one. La Botz learned from pre-war blues masters such as David Honeyboy Edwards and Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis, but Sunnyside makes a sonic move well beyond string blues. Sunnyside was produced by Jimmy Sutton at Hi-Style Studios in Chicago, whose previous production work includes albums for JD McPherson and Pokey LaFarge. The rock 'n roll groove is paramount throughout, propelled by driving bass and drums, ethereal piano, and doo-wop inspired gang vocals. This isn't your dad's blues music - it's rough hewn by La Botz's stories from the more shadowy corners of America, with an unforgettable atmosphere that hangs like thick smoke and lingers long after the first listen.