Jake La Botz
Check out the new North Country Song Sessions video featuring Jake La Botz, where Eli and Jake hunkered down to play some music on a cold winter day in St. Paul, Minnesota!
Jake La Botz. Photos by Eli Gardiner, 2026.
Jake La Botz, songwriter, meditation teacher, and actor (True Detective, Rambo, The Grace of Jake), has recently added “fiction author” to his resume! His debut book, Your Place in This World, a novella and story collection, will be released April 14th via the University of Wisconsin’s award-winning Cornerstone Press.
2026 also marks the 20th anniversary of Jake’s infamous and unconventional Tattoo Across America Tour where he performs solo at tattoo shops throughout the U.S. He’ll be reviving this unique tour to play his patented "gospel-noir" tunes and read tales from his new book, but this time it will be an international event: The Tattoo Across the Globe Tour!
In the video below, Jake shares the song "Hope the Sunshine." Though he wrote this song during the last winter of the pandemic, he mused that it “could've been written for now.” Have a listen!
Jake La Botz’s 20th Anniversary “Tattoo Across the Globe Tour” Schedule:
April 21: Kenosha, WI - The White Lilac
April 22: Chicago, IL - Cary’s Lounge
April 23: Kokomo, IN - Kokomo Arts Pavilion (sponsored by Genesis Recovery)
April 24: Cincinnati, OH - One Shot Tattoo
April 25: South Shore, KY - Snakeoil Tattoo
April 26: Bidwell, OH - Ohio Tattoo Museum
April 27: Pittsburgh, PA - Island Avenue Tattoo
April 28: Cleveland, OH - 252 Tattoo
April 29: Rockford, IL - 6 Finger Tattoo
May 03: St. Paul, MN - The Dubliner
May 21: Las Vegas, NV - The Punk Rock Museum
May 22: Fallbrook, CA - Little C’s Tattoo
May 23: Reseda, CA - Pamela Des Barres’ House
May 24: West Hollywood, CA - Shamrock Social Club
May 27: Salem, OR - All American Tattoo
May 28: Portland, OR - Freaks and Geeks Tattoo
May 29: Seattle, WA - Rain Line Tattoo
June 25: Gunzenhausen, DE - Gorilla Biscuit
June 26: Nuremberg, DE - Honeytrap Tattoo
June 27: Bremen, DE - TEO
June 28: Buitenpost, NL - Paviljoen MeM (sponsored by Rinto's Tattooshop)
June 29: Ghent, BE - Missy Sippy
June 30: Eindhoven, NL - Dragon Tattoo
July 01: Paris, FR - Baby Jane Tattoo
July 02: Rouen, FR - Terrasses du Jeudi
July 05: Cologne, DE - Em Drügge Pitter
About the filmmaker / series creator
Eli Gardiner (Gardiner Productions) is a songwriter, photojournalist, and video creator. You can catch him playing shows all over the Midwest with his band or as a solo performer, and he also captures video and photography for local musicians and nonprofits. His passion is Storytelling through music and pictures.
