Even though they’re better known for their touring vehicle- a converted bus powered by recycled vegetable oil and biodiesel – and recently dropped the “String Band” from their moniker, there’s no hiding who Hot Buttered Rum really are. With their aptly titled second full length studio album, Well-Oiled Machine, the roots-grass band goes where fellow pickers like Yonder Mountain String Band have ventured before, successfully churning acoustic bluegrass with folk.
Produced by Mike Marshall, Well Oiled Machine features guest spots from veterans Darol Anger, Peter Rowan and Marshall himself. And rather than throwing in the typical “Blackberry Blossom” cover like every other bluegrass album, Hot Buttered Rum offer a collection of eleven ambitious originals. The results are undoubtedly earthy and heady, but the pure picking – courtesy of banjo, mandolin, fiddle acoustic guitar – grace a sense of maturity.
“Poison Oak,” floats like an Old & The Way classic, “Guns or Butter” stirs with a sermon chorus and the soulful “Waiting for a Squall” are true standout tracks. The vocals are genuine and the lyrics tender, but they’ll need another ten years of heartache and hard livin’ to give their sound a needed “McCoury” howl. Then again, touring mountain roads in that that old bus should give them plenty of early gray hairs.
