Jake La Botz
Jake La Botz | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | November 23, 1968 |
| Occupation(s) | Singer-songwriter, actor |
| Years active | 1990s–present |
| Spouse | Abby Brammell (2006–2008) |
| Website | www.jakelabotz.com |
Jake La Botz (born November 23, 1968) is an American blues singer-songwriter, actor, and meditation teacher from Chicago, Illinois, United States.
Early life
La Botz dropped out of high school in his early teens. He later briefly attended Shimer College, a small Great Books school then located in Waukegan, Illinois.[1]
Career
Music
La Botz learned to play the blues from the last of the prewar bluesmen living in Chicago in the late 1980s and early 1990s: David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Homesick James, and Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis.[2][3][4] He has been touring nationally and internationally for many years, and since 2006, has been known for his Tattoo Across America Tour, in which he performs at tattoo parlors across the country.[5][6][7][8] His original compositions are featured in many films and TV shows.
Film
La Botz began his acting career after catching the attention of actor, director, and independent filmmaker Steve Buscemi, who cast La Botz as a blues-singing convict in his 2000 film Animal Factory. La Botz performed two original songs in the film, "This Ain't the Way I Came Up" and "Lay Down the Bottle." In the next few years, La Botz appeared in Terry Zwigoff's arthouse film Ghost World as well as in Buscemi's Lonesome Jim. In 2008, La Botz starred in Sylvester Stallone's Rambo, in which he performed two songs from his album Graveyard Jones, "The Wishing Well" and "Tiny."[9] Other notable film appearances include Timur Bekmambetov's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter and Walter Salles's film adaptation of Jack Kerouac's On the Road, in which he performs his song "Hard to Love What You Kill."[10][11] La Botz's 2015 film credits include the lead role in The Grace of Jake, an independent film directed by Chris Hicky, and a starring role in Isaac Florentine's action movie Close Range.[12][13]
Television
In season two of the highly praised television show True Detective La Botz portrays country singing legend Conway Twitty. [14]
Theater
In the spring of 2012, La Botz starred as the satanic character The Shape in the original stage musical Ghost Brothers of Darkland County, written by Stephen King and John Mellencamp with musical direction by T-Bone Burnett, which premiered at the Alliance Theater in Atlanta, Georgia.[15][16] Over the next couple of years, Ghost Brothers went on to do two national tours, with La Botz reprising his role as The Shape.
Meditation
La Botz is a teacher in the Dharma Ocean meditation community and currently serves as co-director of Dharma Ocean New York. He has been practicing and studying meditation since 2001 within the Tibetan Buddhist lineage of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche and is a close student of Buddhist scholar, teacher, and Dharma Ocean spiritual director Reginald Ray.[17]
Discography
- Original Soundtrack To My Nightmare (1999)
- Used To Be (2002)
- All Soul And No Money (2004)
- Graveyard Jones (2006)
- Sing This To Yourself (2008)
- I'm A Crow (2009)
- Get Right (2013)
Filmography
- Animal Factory (2000)
- Ghost World (2001)
- 13 Moons (2002)
- The Grey (2004)
- Lonesome Jim (2005)
- One Night With You (2006)
- John Rambo (2008)
- Sinners and Saints (2010)
- Fully Loaded (2011)
- On the Road (2012)
- Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (2012)
- Bad Country (2014)
- The Grace of Jake (2015)
- Close Range (2015)
References
- ^ "Jake La Botz". The Days of Yore. 2012-05-14. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
- ^ Doerschuk, Robert L. (March–April 2005). "Jake La Botz: Sweet Home Chicago". No Depression.
- ^ Newman, Melinda (5 October 2006). "Coming to a tattoo parlor near you". LA Times.
- ^ Leggett, Steve. "Jake La Botz Biography". Allmusic.com. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- ^ Iwasaki, Scott (27 October 2006). "LaBotz finds fans at tattoo parlors". Deseret News.
- ^ Bliss (2 November 2006). "Pasadena's Jake La Botz took his blues on the road --- to tattoo parlors across the country". Pasadena Weekly.
- ^ "Jake La Botz's Tattoo Three-peat". Pollstar.com. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- ^ Rose, Chris (6 August 2009). "Jake La Botz brings his 'Tattoo Across America Tour' to Uptown". The Times Picayune.
- ^ "Jake La Botz to release 'most depressing album ever' as he prepares for third annual 'Tattoo Across America Tour,' performing music at tattoo parlors from coast-to-coast". Cary Baker's Conqueroo. 8 July 2008.
- ^ "On the Road". IMDb.com. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- ^ "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter". IMDb.com. Retrieved 10 March 2012.
- ^ "The Grace of Jake". IMDb.com. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
- ^ "Close Range". IMDb.com. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
- ^ "True Detective". Retrieved 6 July 2015.
- ^ Okamoto, Sandra (9 November 2011). "Atlanta's Alliance Theater announces casting for 'Ghost Brothers of Darkland County'". Ledger Enquirer.
- ^ "Emily Skinner, Shuler Hensley, Justin Guarini and More to Haunt Stephen King and John Mellencamp's Ghost Brothers of Darkland County". Broadway.com. 9 November 2011.
- ^ "Meditation in the Tattoo Chair". Beacon. 17 February 2015.
External links
- Jake La Botz official website
- Jake La Botz at IMDb