John Bottomley 1960 – 2011

We received some sad news this week. John Bottomley, a long time friend of the band, unexpectedly died near his home in Brakendale, BC. We met John in the early 90’s and had the pleasure of releasing John’s brilliant album Library Of The Sun on Latent. He was an inspired songwriter, singer and performer. I have many fond memories of nights spent in Toronto clubs, listening to John and his smokin’ band tearing the place up. His live version of Gordon Lightfoot’s song “The Way I Feel” was our inspiration for the version that we recorded for the 2003 Lightfoot tribute album, “Beautiful”. Alan hooked up with John a couple of years ago and played bass on his most recent album and our friend and frequent collaborator, Joby Baker, produced the album at his studio in Victoria. I’ll best remember John for his music. It inspired me. When I first heard his song She Lay Down By The Water  it grabbed me in all the right places and made me want to share it with the world….long red bottle of wine…bye John.