Artist Spotlight: The Michael Botte Band

Throughout my childhood, my father was always singing. He led the local church choir and made appearances in local music theatre productions.  I was the only kid on the block who knew “Fiddler on the Roof” or “The Sound of Music”.  I never touched a guitar until age 25 (circa 1995) when I tried to play it for a few weeks, got frustrated, and threw it out a 2^nd story window.

When I lived the Bay Area (Oakland CA) from 1998-2002, I met a guy named Sebastian Beltrami (from Melbourne, Australia and who is still one of my best friends today) who taught me how to play.  I met up with a few local musicians and formed a “garage band” but we never left the garage.

From 2003-2004, I backpacked around the world and would play guitar in India with other musicians in exchange for dinner.  That was an absolute blast!  Unfortunately, I never picked up the guitar again until 2020 when Covid-19 (quarantine hit).

My daughter had recently enrolled in a local music school “Let There Be Rock School” outside of Philadelphia and she asked me if I was ever going to play music again.  Because I had ample time on my hands, the Michael Botte Band was born.  I released an EP in 2021 called “Radiate” along with a few other singles that were self-produced.  I was proud of what I made but it wasn’t until I met my producer Bob Beals who is the owner/founder of Sound Foundation Studios that my dreams started to come true.  Bob was able to take my vision and turn it into reality.  I will forever be grateful for his musicianship, guidance, and friendship.

Be listening for one of Michael’s latest songs, ‘New Sun Rising’ on our Hitbound segment!

Connect with the Band on Facebook or Twitter.