Hot Rize on Mountain Stage

Darlene and I were at the recording of a Mountain Stage show in Morgantown WV last night, there portion as well as the Red Knuckles were very enjoyable as you would expect. However there was a lot barely tolerable parts of the show also from the other quests. Now I remember why I stopped listening on a regular basis. I definitely is a musical VERIETY show.

If you are not aware Bryan Sutton has replaced the late Charles Sawtelle in Hot Rize, with this exposure look for Bryan to be a strong contender for IBMA guitar player of the year. What has not not previously know is that Red and The Trailblazers have a new bass player, Swade.

Thanks to Fred Bruckman we a fine picture of Hot Rize, as well as Red Knuckles and The Trailblazers, including a rare successful photo of Swade.

Note: Swade was not forthcoming as to the spelling of his name, this is my guess.

Hot Rize getting the band back together -- for longer this time

By Alex Stein, For the Camera


Hot Rize has been playing music for 32 and a half years, almost exactly half as long as some music historians date the beginning of bluegrass. "It all started with Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys," says banjo player Pete Wernick, who co-founded Hot Rize in 1978, with fiddle player Tim O'Brien, Nick Forster on bass, and, shortly thereafter, guitarist Charles Sawtelle. "The Blue Grass Boys were the seminal band in 1945," says Wernick. "That's 65 years ago. Which puts Hot Rize in the interesting historical position of almost exactly straddling the line between bluegrass and newgrass."




The core of the band stayed together, helping to pioneer bluegrass beyond its acoustic roots toward a newer sound, until 1999, when Sawtelle passed away after a long battle with Leukemia. "We distinguished ourselves early by the way we dealt with our instruments," says Forster. "I played an electric bass. Pete was one of the first to use a phase shifter. That tipped the audiences off that we were up to something different."



The band reformed in 2002 with Nashville session guitarist Bryan Sutton. By beautiful coincidence, Sutton had been a fan of Hot Rize as a teenager and is, at 31, almost exactly that age that Wernick had been when he helped found Hot Rize.



Sutton can remember the first time he saw Hot Rize play. "It was 1989 at a festival in Denton, North Carolina. I was 15 going on 16. Like at most bluegrass festivals, the performers were accessible and hung out at the record tables and backstage. I took some photos. Not with them. Of them. But, somehow the story got around that there is a photo of me, taken at that time,



Hot Rize with Charles, Pete and Tim. That's one of those stories people want to believe. It is a good story. It should be true. That photo should exist...



Read more: Hot Rize getting the band back together -- for longer this time - Boulder Daily Camera http://www.dailycamera.com/music/ci_16438120#ixzz13qXmkrTQ/

DailyCamera.com

Hot Rize on Mountain Stage - Ticket Info

Hot Rize will be part of a Mountain Stage taping in Morgantown WV, November 7, ticket info is below.

November 7 at 7 pm


WVU Creative Arts Center - Morgantown, WV

Doors 6:30pm Show 7:00pm

Advance Tickets $15.00

At the Door $20.00

Available ONLY CAC Box Office,

304 293 SHOW


Tickets from Ticketmaster


Hot Rize
Red Knuckles & the Trailblazers
Stan Ridgway

Hot Rize Reunites for First Tour In Over A Decade

Tim O’Brien, Nick Forster, Bryan Sutton and Pete Wernick, otherwise known as Hot Rize, has reunited for their first US tour in over a decade, including recent high-profile performances at Bonnaroo and Telluride. The band is recording new music for the first time in 20 years, beginning with a rearrangement of “Wichita Lineman.”
“The world is ready for a revisit from Hot Rize,” says banjo player Pete Wernick, who launched the band in 1978 with Tim O’Brien

(mandolin, fiddle, lead vocals) and Nick Forster (electric bass, vocals) and guitarist Charles Sawtelle. “In the rare times we’ve reunited for one-off performances, we’ve seen a level of enthusiasm that’s been hard to ignore.” Following the untimely passing of Sawtelle in 1999, the quartet reorganized in 2002 with Grammy winner and five-time IBMA Guitarist of the Year, Bryan Sutton. “I’m so happy to be playing with Hot Rize. I’ve been a fan since seeing them as a kid when they came through North Carolina,” adds Sutton. “It’s a joy to share the music.”
“A first, the four of us set out to play a summer’s worth of gigs – that was all we had committed to,” says Forster. “But we kept going, playing everywhere we could. We grew up together and created music we’re really proud of – over 100 recorded songs, mostly original or new arrangements of traditional music. Now – 32 years later – we’ve all evolved as musicians, but we still have the Hot Rize sound; something only the four of us can make, something Bryan is now a part of.” Full article here.

Note - The November 7, Wheeling WV appearance listed in the full story, will be a taping of the public radio show Mountain Stage. Details will be announced.

Hot Rize Fall Tour Coming Together

Rumored Wheeling WV show confirmed.

A long-anticipated Hot Rize fall tour is coming together with shows coast to coast: Seattle, Portland, Boulder, New York, Alexandria, VA, Wheeling, WV, and others. Word on the streets is that Red Knuckles & The Trailblazers will be sighted at the shows, too.
Hot Rize started its season in June with shows at The Station Inn in Nashville, the Bonnaroo Festival, and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. They're now gearing up to visit Denmark in August.
 

Source Dr. Banjo (Pete Wernick.)

Hot Rize Sell Out Station Inn, Prepare New Album

By: Eamon McLoughlin

About a mile from the razzmatazz of CMA Music Festival on Thursday night (June 10), deep in the deepest darkest gulch of Nashville, the legendary Station Inn hosted the legendary bluegrass band, Hot Rize. Featuring Tim O'Brien, Nick Forster, Pete Wernick and newest member Bryan Sutton (the band came out of a 10-year retirement in 2002), the band turned in a silky smooth show to a packed house.

You cannot dislike a band that features O'Brien's vocals (in my very biased opinion), but Hot Rize has always had a very unique musical chemistry. Everything seems to slot into place exactly how it should when these guys play together. It's that unexplainable magical spark which makes people go on the road together for years, throwing caution and security to the wind. Forster has a vocal blend with O'Brien that has a sibling quality -- think Everly Brothers. Wernick has a rhythmic style of playing that seems to keep everyone grounded and Sutton adds a gleam in the guitar department that surely leaves original member Charles Sawtelle in stitches if he happens to be looking down upon us ...

All this was clear to the sold-out crowd at the Station Inn that night as the band paced its way through a set that included "Colleen Malone," "Nellie Kane," "Trimmed and Burning" and many more hits from their catalog. Despite O'Brien claiming to have a sore throat, their singing was still fantastic and the quality of songwriting has always been second to none with these guys. The biggest cheer of the night came when Forster announced they are going into the studio this summer to record a new album. Sutton's exquisite guitar playing might just be acting as the catalyst to get these guys back in the mind frame of a hot 'current' band rather than a reformed band with a collection of hits. More here.

Note- Nothing in writing yet but rumors persist that Hot Rize will be appearing in Wheeling WV, later this year.

Colleen Malone, Hot Rize, Happy St. Patrick's Say

Announcing: Hot Rize at Bonnaroo! Plus: Two special new Jam Camps‏

FRI. JUNE 11th

Catch Hot Rize's debut at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival. Pete and bandmates Nick Forster, Tim O'Brien & Bryan Sutton join an exciting roster of performers for this multi-stage camping festival held on a beautiful 700-acre farm in Manchester, Tennessee. Some of the best performers in rock, jazz, Americana, hip-hop, electronica, bluegrass and more will be there. For its peaceful vibe, near-flawless logistics, and unrivaled entertainment options, Rolling Stone named this revolutionary entertainment experience "one of the 50 moments that changed the history of rock and roll."--AND--SUN. JUNE 20th Hot Rize returns to the legendary Telluride Bluegrass Festival,nestled in a spectacular box canyon deep in the Colorado Rockies. Hot Rize started a string of 12 consecutive appearances there in 1978 and has returned sporadically since their disbanding in 1990, a total of more appearances at the festival than any other band. Every Hot Rize show at Telluride warms fans' hearts and makes history! (These renegade sons of Western music (at right) are expected as well.)

New Jam Camps in Kentucky & Colorado!

Pete has recently confirmed his Bluegrass Jam Camp in Kentucky: June 22-24 at the International Bluegrass Music Museum in downtown Owensboro. The museum is the world's only facility dedicated to the history and preservation of the international history of bluegrass music -- a great match for the camp!Following camp on June 24, Pete & Joan Wernick will perform at the Museum's ROMP Festival, featuring bluegrass legends, a Blue Grass Boys reunion, and top talent.April 16-18 is Pete's Intermediate Jam & Band Skills Camp -- a real 'Colorado Bluegrass Getaway' -- at the beautiful Sylvan Dale Ranch, right on the banks of the Big Thompson River near Loveland. (Pictured below). Click here for the specifics on this exciting new camp!

Other 2010 Camps:March 26-28--Boulder, CO, Jam Camp at the Boulder InnApril 26-29--Boomer, NC, Jam Camp pre- MerleFest, includes Intermediate TrackMay 11-13--Gettysburg, PA, Jam Camp pre- Gettysburg Bluegrass FestivalJune 3-6--Olivet, MI, Midwest Banjo Camp. (Pete on a large faculty of leading teacher/players: http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102978792191&s=2319&e=001WqxnsRMDKAzXkLolBMiJQxfFENeyCv-WASyZu6nSp19Gc8e5viugy7OPJG8TsyuHXcMH-QzW_8RgMsRd38w8lDPc4u93ETF0f789IjaW9QBlU0trQJBqog==)
(Note: There have been a number of inquiries about the Oak Hill, NY camp. Pete is not performing at this year's Grey Fox Festival, so won't be holding the camp this year. It's hoped there will be a camp in 2011 in conjunction with a performance at the Festival.)

Click here to visit the Camps page on DrBanjo.com!

Hot Rize: From Old Grass To New Grass

Great story on the history of Hot Rize from Jam Base.

By: Kathy Foster-Patton

...O'Brien goes a little further to enumerate their goals at the time. "We wanted to play traditional bluegrass with our own stamp on it, but we wanted to try to fit into the genre and pay tribute to it, really," he says. "We also wanted to explore other areas and one of those was doing a little bit of comedy with the Trailblazers and another was writing songs. We mostly walked inside the line of the bluegrass borders but we went outside it a little bit here and there..." Read more...

Kathy Mattea and Hot Rize to Host IBMA Awards

Kathy Mattea and Hot Rize to Host 20th International Bluegrass Music Awards

Nashville, TN...Grammy®-winning country artist Kathy Mattea and the legendary bluegrass band, Hot Rize will co-host the 20th annual International Bluegrass Music Awards on Thursday, October 1, at 7:30 p.m. at Nashville's historic Ryman Auditorium.

According to show co-producer Cindy Baucom, "Kathy Mattea and Hot Rize are a perfect fit as our hosts. With their long musical history, the chemistry between them gives us the elements for a fun show."

The members of Hot Rize have a long association with IBMA. In fact, they took home the Entertainer of the Year trophy at the very first International Bluegrass Music Awards in 1990. Pete "Dr. Banjo" Wernick served as president of IBMA from 1986-2001. Tim O'Brien, who followed as president from 2001-2004, was also named Male Vocalist of the Year in 1993 and 2006. Bryan Sutton received the IBMA award for Guitar Player of the Year in 2000, and then every year from 2003-2006. The entire group, including bass player/ renowned public radio etown host Nick Forster, took top honors for Song of the Year in 1991, for their performance of "Colleen Malone."
Kathy Mattea, the beloved singer of classics like "Eighteen Wheels and A Dozen Roses" and "Where've You Been," says her current album, Coal, with its streamlined acoustic format and focus on coal mining stories from Appalachia, was "a re-education in singing" for her, as she studied legendary female vocalists like Hazel Dickens in preparation for recording. "It's an album that re-shaped the way I think about music, reminding me of why I love it so much in the first place," she said. The album remained on Billboard's Bluegrass Album chart for 26 weeks in 2008-2009, including 2 weeks at #1.
Like Mattea, O'Brien--a Grammy-winning artist in his own right--is originally from West Virginia. They have recorded together a number of times over the years, and Tim went on the road with Kathy's band in 1990, the same year their duet, "The Battle Hymn of Love," peaked at #9 on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks chart.
Mattea studied voice in school, taking up the guitar in junior high when she discovered folk music. She joined the Pennsboro bluegrass band while she was a student at West Virginia University, but ended up leaving college to move to Nashville. Kathy worked odd jobs and waited tables in Music City while honing her musical skills, and in 1983 she landed a deal with Mercury Records. Her self-titled debut was released in 1984, and the follow-up From My Heart appeared the following year. In 1986 her third album on the Mercury Records label, Walk the Way the Wind Blows (with the title cut written by O'Brien), proved to be her critical and commercial breakthrough.
A string of hits followed, including a cover of Nanci Griffith's "Love at the Five and Dime," "Train of Memories," "Goin' Gone," "Burnin' Old Memories" and the Larry Cordle-penned "Lonesome Standard Time," among others. Kathy won the CMA Award for Single of the Year in 1988 for "Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses" and took home a Grammy for "Where've You Been" in 1990. She was named CMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 1989 and 1990.
Hot Rize, one of the most uniquely entertaining and influential contemporary bands in the history of bluegrass, was formed in Colorado in 1978 and named after the secret ingredient of Martha White Self-Rising Flour--the product Flatt & Scruggs promoted early in the '50s and '60s. The original band included Tim O'Brien, Pete Wernick and Charles Sawtelle. Mike Scap, the group's first guitarist, departed after three months and was replaced by Nick Forster on bass, with Sawtelle switching from bass to guitar.

The group recorded a series of critically acclaimed albums from 1979-2002, and they appeared frequently on national radio and television programs in the '80s. Performing in nearly every state as well as in Europe, Japan and Australia, their stage show became as popular as their music--which combined soulful bluegrass with their wacky but musically slick alter-ego country swing band, "Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers." Several of their songs went to #1 on Bluegrass Unlimited's National Bluegrass Survey chart--"Walk the Way the Wind Blows," "Colleen Malone" and "Just Like You."

After 12 years of full-time touring and recording, the group disbanded amicably in 1990, but they reunited several times for selected dates and short tours during the 1990s due to popular demand. Sadly, guitarist Charles Sawtelle was diagnosed with leukemia in 1994 and passed away in 1999. The classic group's span with the same four musicians lasted 21 years, and the remaining shows they played in 1999 were dedicated to Sawtelle's memory, with Peter Rowan or Jeff White filling in on guitar. The live album So Long of a Journey was released in 2002, and the band started performing together occasionally with Bryan Sutton, one of Nashville's leading session players, on guitar.

The International Bluegrass Music Awards are determined by the professional membership of the association and recognize outstanding achievement in the bluegrass genre. The show is syndicated to more than 300 radio stations across the country and around the world, and will be broadcast live on Sirius XM Satellite Radio. National Sponsors for the show include Martha White, GHS Strings, Bluegrass Music Profiles, Sugar Hill Records and Deering Banjos. Tickets may be purchased from IBMA at 888-438-4262 or online at http://e2ma.net/go/2226232367/2026114/75864120/5785/goto:http://www.ibma.org/. For information on becoming a radio affiliate for the International Bluegrass Music Awards, email Jill Crabtree at jill@ibma.org, visit http://e2ma.net/go/2226232367/2026114/75864119/5785/goto:http://www.ibma.org/ibma.awards/broadcast.affiliation.asp or call 615-256-3222.