Who: Hot Buttered Rum
When: Wednesday September 24, 2008
Where: Stillwater, Ashland
Time: 9pm
Tickets: $12 in Advance/$16 at the Door
Hot Buttered Rum will perform at 9pm on Wednesday September 24 at Stillwater located at 1951 Highway 66 (across from NAPA Auto Parts) in Ashland Oregon.
Hot Buttered Rum (HBR), one of the hardest-working and fastest-rising stars in the musical firmament, has become, over the last five years, a group that is infinitely greater than the sum of its parts. It began with a core of five uniquely talented musicians, writing and singing songs on the mountaintops and city streets of Northern California; five musicians who, on the night they realized they loved playing together, were sipping a warm buttery drink from which the group derived its name. Since that fateful night, the organization has steadily expanded to include a rich tapestry of fans, friends, and family, reaching from coast to coast.
Often described as a rock band playing bluegrass instruments, the band melds blues, folks, bluegrass, jazz, and rock, and the members’ varying degrees of classical training lead them to invest heavily in group composition. The widespread appeal of HBR’s music stems not only from the band’s musical versatility and prolific songwriting, but also from the magnetic chemistry the group creates onstage together. It is this chemistry that is propelling the band to ever greater success.
In the Fall of 2006, itching to release their first live album featuring the whole band, Hot Buttered Rum announced that it would be recording
a handful of shows for official release. “Live in the Northeast” beautifully reveals the true core of the live band: music that is forceful without being flashy, serious without being stuffy, intricate without being inaccessible, and diverse without being distracting. Often described as a rock band playing bluegrass instruments, no prior Hot Buttered Rum recording has so perfectly displayed the band’s bolder and heavier side. That full sound permeates “Live in the Northeast” — from the reggae-tinged “Return Someday” and psychedelica of “Desert Rat” through definitive covers of the Grateful Dead’s “Cumberland Blues” and Leo Sayer’s “Feel Like Dancin’” — winding the listener through a robust and intense set of acoustic rock.
The widespread appeal of HBR’s music stems not only from the band’s musical versatility and prolific songwriting, but also from the magnetic chemistry the group creates onstage together. It was this chemistry that drew the group together, and that holds it together still through the
rigors of their professional life, propelling the band to ever greater success.
It is this chemistry to which audiences are consistently drawn.
Hot Buttered Rum is just as comfortable plugging in at a large-scale rock festival as it is inviting the audience to enjoy its quieter repertoire at an acoustic folk session. Perhaps this is why the band has enjoyed success at such diverse festivals as the Newport Folk Festival, Bonnaroo, Grey Fox, High Sierra and the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. HBR has managed to do all of this without the use of drums, opting instead to channel their music through the guitars, mandolins, fiddles, banjos and string basses of traditional bluegrass. These, along with their occasional flutes, accordions, and other sundry instruments, are amplified with both electric pickups and microphones, giving them both volume and punch.
The band has shared the stage with some of today’s most accomplished artists, such as Phil Lesh, Bela Fleck, Ben Harper, Chris Thile, Mike Marshall and Peter Rowan, the last two of whom worked with the band on its recent critically- acclaimed studio release, “Well-Oiled Machine”. The support and encouragement the band receives from these and other musical elders is important, since HBR has such a great love and respect for American musical traditions, as well as those from Africa and Europe. Blues, folk, bluegrass, jazz, and rock permeate the group’s performances, while the members’ varying degrees of classical training lead them to invest heavily in group composition. One of the things the band enjoys most is its ability to turn on a dime and leave its audience wondering what new realms their songs will explore, while at the same time assuring them that, above all, the music’s purpose is not to impress but to entertain and to inspire.
Hot Buttered Rum is also committed to achieving its musical goals in an environmentally sensitive manner. Since 2003, the band has toured in vehicles that run on vegetable oil and biodiesel instead of fossil fuel products. Doing this has not been easy, especially in the early days. But, being in a business that requires driving thousands of miles each year, HBR knows that using alternative fuel is one of the most effective ways it can reduce its ecological footprint. The band enjoys performing for educational assemblies and benefit concerts, and many of their songs seek to raise awareness about the socially and environmentally volatile era in which we live. Above all, Hot Buttered Rum’s goal is to satisfy their audience’s minds, hearts and dancing feet with a unique and uplifting blend of progressive American music.
Tickets for Hot Buttered Rum are available in advance for $12 online at www.stillwaterashland.com or in person at Stillwater in Ashland; or for $16 at the door the night of the show. The band will play 2 sets; there will be no opening act.
“Stunning instrumental and vocal virtuosity." – Relix Magazine
“Few things rejuvenate the soul like a warm fireside drink after an exhausting day in the snow. Hot Buttered Rum has that effect. Their original songs are instantly familiar and inviting, and their easygoing versions of timeless classics (the Beatles, Hank Williams) belie the intricacy of the arrangements.” – San Francisco Chronicle
