Hot Rize

Last updated
Hot Rize
Hot Rize-by Eric Frommer.jpg
Background information
Origin Colorado, United States
Genres Bluegrass, progressive bluegrass, folk
Years active1978–present
Labels Sugar Hill Records, Flying Fish
Members
Past members
Website www.hotrize.com

Hot Rize is an American bluegrass band that rose to prominence in the early 1980s. Established in 1978, [1] Hot Rize has appeared on national radio and TV shows, and has toured most of the United States, as well as Japan, Europe and Australia. [2]

Contents

History

Hot Rize started performing January 18, 1978, with Tim O'Brien on mandolin and fiddle, Pete Wernick on banjo, Charles Sawtelle on bass and Mike Scap on guitar. [3] Scap left the band with Nick Forster (electric bass) joining in April, thereby allowing Sawtelle to switch to acoustic guitar. [4] That established the four-man line-up that lasted over 20 years: O'Brien on mandolin, fiddle and lead vocals, Forster on electric bass, harmony vocals, and emcee work, Sawtelle, on guitar and occasional lead vocals, and Wernick as "Dr. Banjo". [1]

Their first, self-titled album was recorded in 1979 with follow-up Radio Boogie, released in 1981. [5]

The band issued six studio albums before disbanding in 1990. That year they received the first Entertainer of the Year Award issued by the International Bluegrass Music Association. The following year, their album Take It Home received a Grammy Award nomination, and a song from the album, "Colleen Malone", won Song of the Year from the IBMA.

From 1991–98, the band played several reunion dates each year. Following the death in 1999 of Charles Sawtelle, Hot Rize re-grouped in 2002, adding Bryan Sutton to play the guitar. [6]

In 2014, Hot Rize released its first studio album with Sutton, When I'm Free, on Ten in Hand Records, and set out on their first major tour in over 20 years in support of the record. [7]

When touring, Hot Rize often incorporates a performance as a Western swing band called Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers. [8]

Origin of the band name

The band takes its name from the leavening ingredient found in Martha White flour and cornmeal products. [8] Hot Rize often performs the theme song to the now defunct "Martha White Biscuit and Cornbread Time", a radio show in the late 1950s and early 1960s on Nashville station WSM featuring Flatt and Scruggs. [9]

Discography

Studio albums:

Live albums:

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Béla Fleck</span> American banjo player

Béla Anton Leoš Fleck is an American banjo player. An acclaimed virtuoso, he is an innovative and technically proficient pioneer and ambassador of the banjo, playing music from bluegrass, jazz, classical, rock and various world music genres. He is best known for his work with the bands New Grass Revival and Béla Fleck and the Flecktones. Fleck has won 17 Grammy Awards and been nominated 39 times.

Martha White is an American brand of flour, cornmeal, cornbread mixes, cake mixes, muffin mixes, and similar products.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim O'Brien (musician)</span> Musical artist

Timothy O'Brien is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to singing, he plays guitar, fiddle, mandolin, banjo, bouzouki and mandocello. He has released more than ten studio albums, in addition to charting a duet with Kathy Mattea entitled "The Battle Hymn of Love", a No. 9 hit on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts in 1990. In November 2013 he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Grass Revival</span> American progressive bluegrass band

New Grass Revival was an American progressive bluegrass band founded in 1971, and composed of Sam Bush, Courtney Johnson, Ebo Walker, Curtis Burch, Butch Robins, John Cowan, Béla Fleck and Pat Flynn. They were active between 1971 and 1989, releasing more than twenty albums as well as six singles. Their highest-charting single is "Callin' Baton Rouge", which peaked at No. 37 on the U.S. country charts in 1989 and was a Top 5 country hit for Garth Brooks five years later.

Pete Wernick, also known as "Dr. Banjo", is an American musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Del McCoury</span> American bluegrass musician

Delano Floyd McCoury is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respectively. In June 2010, he received a National Heritage Fellowship lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts and in 2011 he was elected into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame.

eTown is a 501c3 non-profit broadcast organization based in Boulder, Colorado. eTown is a nationally syndicated multimedia and event production company. The eTown radio broadcast can be heard on National Public Radio, community radio stations, and commercial radio. The program has a variety show format featuring live musical performances, interviews with musicians, authors, and other public figures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bryan Sutton</span> American musician (born 1973)

James Bryan Sutton is an American musician. Primarily known as a flatpicking acoustic guitar player, Sutton also plays mandolin, banjo, ukulele, and electric guitar. He also sings and writes songs.

<i>Red on Blonde</i> 1996 studio album by Tim OBrien

Red on Blonde is a 1996 album of Bob Dylan covers by contemporary folk/bluegrass musician Tim O'Brien. The title is a reference to Dylan's 1966 album, Blonde on Blonde and Tim's alter-ego during his Hot Rize days- Red Knuckles, leader of the Western Swing outfit, Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers.

<i>Sluz Duz Music</i> 1985 studio album by Peter Ostroushko

Slüz Düz Music is the debut album by American multi-instrumentalist Peter Ostroushko, released in 1985.

<i>The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo</i> 2009 studio album by Steve Martin

The Crow: New Songs for the 5-String Banjo is a 2009 album by Steve Martin, featuring Dolly Parton, Vince Gill, Earl Scruggs, Tim O'Brien, Tony Trischka and Mary Black. It contains 15 songs and is the first album focusing on Martin as a musician. Martin's 1977 comedy recording Let's Get Small, however, did feature him briefly playing the banjo during some of the comedy bits, and The Steve Martin Brothers devotes one side to banjo playing, including earlier renditions of some of the music presented here. It was first released on January 27, 2009, as an Amazon.com exclusive and then released to retail stores everywhere on May 19, 2009. On January 31, 2010, the album won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album at the 52nd Grammy Awards.

Courtney Johnson was an American banjo player, best known for his work as an original member of the band New Grass Revival. Influenced by Ralph Stanley and his Clinch Mountain Boys, Johnson is often considered to be an inventor of the newgrass style of banjo playing, polished and improved later on by such personalities as Béla Fleck, Alison Brown, Scott Vestal of Sam Bush Band and Jens Krüger of Kruger Brothers.

<i>Hot Rize</i> (album) 1979 studio album by Hot Rize

Hot Rize is a debut album by the progressive bluegrass band Hot Rize.

<i>Radio Boogie</i> (album) 1981 studio album by Hot Rize

Radio Boogie is a second album by the progressive bluegrass band Hot Rize.

<i>Traditional Ties</i> 1986 studio album by Hot Rize

Traditional Ties is a third album by the progressive bluegrass band Hot Rize. It was the first Hot Rize album released by Sugar Hill Records, following the band's earlier releases with Flying fish records. Critic Thom Owens called the album "arguably their best effort ever".

<i>Untold Stories</i> (Hot Rize album) 1987 studio album by Hot Rize

Untold Stories is a fourth album by the progressive bluegrass band Hot Rize.

<i>Take It Home</i> (Hot Rize album) 1990 studio album by Hot Rize

Take It Home is the fifth album by the progressive bluegrass band Hot Rize.

Charles Sawtelle was an American bluegrass musician and a member of the band Hot Rize. Sawtelle died on March 20, 1999, from leukaemia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tim O'Brien discography</span>

Tim O'Brien is an American country and bluegrass musician. In addition to his 22 solo albums and his recordings with Hot Rize, he has been featured as a performer on many albums by other artists.

Joe Mullins is an American banjo player, vocalist, band leader, and radio broadcaster. He plays bluegrass and gospel music.

References

  1. 1 2 "Hot Rize on Mountain Stage". NPR. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 2013-09-17.
  2. G. Brown (2004). Colorado Rocks! A Half-Century of Music in Colorado. Pruett Publishing. ISBN   978-0-87108-930-4 . Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  3. Kimmel, Dick (2004) [Originally published in Bluegrass Unlimited 13, March 1979]. "Hot Rize: Pete Wernick's secret ingredient". In Thomas Goldsmith (ed.). The Bluegrass Reader. University of Illinois Press. pp. 239–245. ISBN   978-0-252-02914-1 . Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  4. Hot Rize at AllMusic . Retrieved 23-9-2013.
  5. Review of Radio Boogie at AllMusic . Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  6. Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (4 ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN   978-0-19-531373-4 . Retrieved 23 September 2013.
  7. "When I'm Free By Hot Rize" [ permanent dead link ]. No Depression.
  8. 1 2 Reid, Gary B. (2012). "Hot Rize". In P. Kingsbury, M. McCall & J. Rumble (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Oxford University Press. pp. 968–970. ISBN   978-0-19-992083-9 . Retrieved 17 September 2013.
  9. Samuelson, Dave (2012). "Martha White Flour". In P. Kingsbury, M. McCall & J. Rumble (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Country Music. Oxford University Press. pp. 1281–1283. ISBN   978-0-19-992083-9 . Retrieved 23 September 2013.