Before ever meeting in person, singer Rich Jones had already carved a niche for himself in Chicago’s live music scene while Walkingshoe was producing when he could as respite from his corporate day life. When a requited appreciation for each other’s work emerged over some digital diplomacy, the possibility of working together was too much to pass up and Bad Ambassadors was born. Their eclectic excellency balances Jones’ longstanding lyrical themes of discomfort from rapid change with Walkingshoe’s genre-jumping formulas and they’ll be releasing Bad Ambassadors in just a couple days.
These six original tracks find the two wicked Windy City envoys negotiating between styles reminiscent of Citizen Cope, alt-rock, shoegaze, hip-hop, and electro-funk, so before you’re fully introduced to Bad Ambassadors on Friday, get a first taste from their self-titled debut with “Up For You”!
–Jack Anderson
