Hot Rize Announces 40th Anniversary Album Recorded Live at Boulder Theatre

Hot Rize, one of the most respected and influential bands in bluegrass music, is pleased to announce the release of their aptly named new record Hot Rize 40th Anniversary Bash, recorded live at Boulder Theatre, over the course of three sold out shows in January of this year. Hot Rize (Nick Forster on bass, Pete Wernick on banjo, Tim O’Brien on mandolin and fiddle, and Bryan Sutton on guitar) were joined by longtime musical friends Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, and Sam Bush, treating Boulder to three nights of unforgettable music.

“We wanted to have a party,” says Forster. “We wanted to have a full-out bash!” And now, on August 3rd, celebrating the anniversary of the band’s 40th year together, fans worldwide are musically invited to the party, as the band selecting 19 of the best of those unforgettable performances for the new record.

Over the course of more than an hour of music on 40th Bash, Hot Rize’s broad appreciation for soulfulness and their conscientious balance between traditional and experimental bluegrass– a Hot Rize hallmark since their inception– are on shining display. That warm and glistening, award-winning sound unlocked in every song by the lead vocals of Tim O’Brien, complemented step for step in sibling-tight harmony from Forster with Wernick and Sutton joining in; their stringed instrumental prowess featuring flat-pick guitar kingpin, Sutton, is no less impressive.

Tracing a line from the band’s 1978 self-titled debut to their most recent release, When I’m Free, this collection of classics, fan favorites, and latest hits touches down on every significant entry on the Hot Rize timeline: From their signature nod to Bill Monroe with “Blue Night” and their ‘80s chart-topper, “Just Like You,” through the iconic song-of-the-year “Colleen Malone” from their IBMA Entertainer of the Year run in 1990, up to several tracks from their latest record, including “Western Skies.”

This release celebrates the many miles traveled together as a band and the many milestones that Hot Rize, together, has achieved– for four decades and counting, on stages across the globe– from the grange hall to the Grand Ole Opry– performances turning into statements of legacy and purpose. For the band, the original goal was to play their music all over, have people like it, and make a living. And then, at some point, the journey circles back home.

“I love the fact that this is not a nostalgia trip,” Forster says. “It’s a collaborative enterprise still engaged in ways that resonate for us as artists and for our audience.”

For the recording and production of the 40th Bash, the group utilized the experienced crew of Forster’s long-running syndicated eTown radio show; one of those critical outside pursuits– like O’Brien’s Grammy winning solo work and songwriting, Sutton’s online instruction and session wizardry, or Wernick’s decades of music camps and development of the Wernick Method– that have sustained the band members’ ongoing individual creative careers. Yet within Hot Rize there has been a perpetual passion and investment spread equally among the four. It’s an elastic and a glue, allowing the sojourns outside the core to pay dividends in return; always with a home to make incredible music together. “Everyone in this band has worked seriously hard to make Hot Rize shine,” declares Wernick.

Naturally, then, it’s on the Boulder stage for three nights in January of 2018, to a sold-out crowd, that these four musicians and these 40 years unite as one; to not only honor each’s contributions, and of course those two decades with their guitarist, the late Charles Sawtelle, but also to further this amazing journey. With respect for the past, gratitude for the present, and ambition for the future, Wernick, the band’s founder, fittingly sums it up. “It’s a really deep feeling of fulfillment when the thing you love smiles back at you.”

Releasing via Ten in Hand Records and distributed through The Orchard, Hot Rize 40th Anniversary Bash will be available on CD and vinyl (double LP). The band will play Ryman Auditorium on July 12th as their Nashville CD release show, as part of the Bluegrass Nights at the Ryman series.

Hot Rize On tour:
July 12 – Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, TN
July 20 – Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival – Oak Hill, NY
July 29 – Rockygrass – Lyons, CO
Aug. 31 – Delaware Valley Bluegrass Festival – New Castle, DE
Sept. 1 – Thomas Point Beach Bluegrass Festival – Brunswick, ME
Sept. 2 – Rhythm and Roots Festival – Charlestown, RI
Nov. 2 – The Sheldon Concert Hall and Art Galleries – St. Louis, MO
Nov. 9 – Peoples Bank Theatre – Marietta, OH

Related Content

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recent Posts

New to Glide

Keep up-to-date with Glide

Twitter