Rising Stars: Meet Jake Botts

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jake Botts. 

Hi Jake, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I’m a professional saxophonist living in East Nashville. I got started playing saxophone when I was about 11 years old. I heard a saxophonist playing outside of a San Francisco Giants baseball game and was immediately drawn to the sound and aura of the instrument. Since getting that initial spark, I haven’t slowed down! I ended up playing all throughout the remainder of my childhood, into high school and eventually moved to NYC to study Jazz Performance at the New School School for Jazz and Contemporary Music on a partial scholarship… Shortly after graduation, I moved to Nashville where I have found my musical community/niche. 

Currently, I freelance in Nashville and occasionally tour. I’ve performed and or recorded with artists such as Kelly Clarkson, John Legend, Meghan Trainor, Gladys Knight, Darius Rucker, Dan + Shay, Charles Kelley (of Lady A), Brett Eldridge, Kelsea Ballerini, and countless others. I also regularly host jazz/instrumental music events in Nashville. 

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Covid was the obvious game-changer in terms of a whole new level of struggle, however, I do feel like in this phase of the pandemic, there is a genuine thirst for music, and for some amazing reason, particularly jazz and horn-based music. All across Nashville, you see more and more jazz, funk, RnB, nights popping up over town. It sort of feels like a mini-Renaissance. I think some of it has to do with New York and California people relocating to Nashville and bringing along a desire for the types of music that are more traditionally found in those places. We’re getting to the point where there is some form of live creative music every single night of the week in Nashville. That wasn’t the case even 5 years ago when I first moved here. It’s really exciting to be a part of a musical community that is absolutely flourishing. 

Being a freelance musician is hard a hard job enough on its own. There are a myriad of challenges including getting paid in a timely manner, logistics/scheduling, being away from loved ones while on tour, doing taxes as an independent contractor, having multiple projects going on at the same time, and coordinating dozens of people’s schedules. There’s a lot more administrative work that goes into it than I would have ever guessed, but it’s well worth it in the end! 

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
One thing that I’m proud of is the fact that I always put work into being the best musician I can possibly be. I try to immerse myself in different genres of music, hang with different types of musicians and people, and always keep searching for new and exciting projects to either be a part of, or create from scratch!

In 2019, I went on a 30-city tour with Kelly Clarkson. It was truly a life-changing experience playing on such a large stage. I feel that I was able to use the momentum and energy that that tour gave me and apply it to other projects and ideas that I had. At this point, I host multiple music events in town such as Jazz Night at Cafe Roze (to my knowledge, the longest-running jazz night in Nashville), Funk Brunch at the Virgin Hotel, and a few other semi-regular events that keep myself and my peers busy and working! I’m also a part of a new Afrobeat/Funk/Soul group called Crooked Rhythm Band No. 1 that I created with trombonist Ray Mason. Overall, I’m just digging into the music that I love and trying to create opportunities to contribute to our city’s rich musical landscape. I’m constantly waking up in the mornings with such a genuine feeling of gratitude to be able to do what I do for a living!

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I’m working on my first full-length album, set to be released in the fall of 2022- Follow my Instagram for updates! 

Contact Info:

• Website: jakebotts.com
• Instagram: @Jake.botts

Image Credits
Jansen Gibson
Weiss Eubanks