Premiere: Jake La Botz amuses fantastical tale of magic on new song, ‘This Comb’

There’s something to be said for letting the imagination wander where it will. We are naturally inquisitive and adventurous creatures, and when we permit ourselves, we can tap into wild and unruly stories that are damn near unfathomable under normal circumstances. Out of Chicago, blues man Jake La Botz bottles up all his own outlandish energies with a delightfully absurd tale about a magical comb on the aptly-titled “This Comb,” premiering today. “I was just a little boy back then / But I saw the power in the comb,” he sings. His raspy, stringy vocal cords operate as a proper vehicle through a land of both enchantment and grit, the waves of electric guitar lapping against his body.

“This comb is bound for glory,” he continues to stretch out the images with effervescent lacing. “This Comb,” serving as a b-side to his brand new album, is an otherworldly artifact that’s plummeted right through the cosmos and stabbed the atmosphere, eventually plopping in La Botz’s unlikely path. His words flutter up in increasingly weird theatrics: “Got more teeth than a piranha / Got more teeth than Jaws / It’s a mighty good doctor / It’s loyal in the courtroom.” As each line soars and bobs above his head, his voice roots himself in place, and the music, too, is soaked in the blood of the earth, pinning his boots to the crust.

On the song, he writes to B-Sides & Badlands over email:  “A magical comb appeared on Maxwell Street, Chicago in 1979… to save the world. I had it mass produced in China to get it to all you good people. Yes, it really is magic and I sell it at my shows,” he says.

La Botz has a long history with the dramatic. Even as a young tot on the Chicago streets, he wove his way through dark alley ways and the bustling street corners to fulfill a creative craving throbbing through gaping holes in his chest. He not only quickly became a consummate busker, turning to legendary blues players Honeyboy Edwards and Maxwell Street Jimmy Davis for mentorship, but his knowledge of the live theatre arena paired nicely with his own deep-dive into the American catalog. Also an actor by trade, with such credits as True Detective and Rambo (2008), La Botz bores himself through vast artistic muses to cull his records with a similar tone and charm. “This Comb” is the only the latest exhibit of his willingness to be altogether fearless.

“This Comb” is a b-sides to his upcoming album, They’re Coming for Me, out everywhere October 18.

Listen below:

Photo Credit: Rik Van de Wie

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