Hot Rize

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Hot Rize
Hot Rize in 2004: Pete Wernick, Nick Forster, Tim O'Brien, Bryan Sutton
Background information
OriginColorado, United States
GenresBluegrass, progressive bluegrass, folk
Years active1978–present
LabelsSugar Hill Records, Flying Fish
Members
Past members
Websitewww.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]

History[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

Studio albums:

Live albums:

  • So Long of a Journey (2002, recorded 1996)
  • Hot Rize/Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers Live — In Concert (1982)
  • Hot Rize 40th Anniversary Bash (2018)

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b "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". No Depression.
  8. ^ a b 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.

External links[edit]