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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 belie the intricacy of the arrangements.
Hot Buttered Rum lives for songs. The band’s three songwriters — Aaron Redner (fiddle mandolin and vocals), Nat Keefe (guitar and vocals) and Erik Yates (banjos, guitars, woodwinds and vocals) — spin tales about the good times, the bad times and the roads in between, and belt them from the heart in three-part harmony. Bryan Horne’s athletic standup bass and Lucas Carlton’s tasteful percussion combine with the acoustic instruments to create what is California’s own acoustic music and what the band describes as high-altitude bluegrass.
Hot Buttered Rum is a band that backs up its words with actions. With roots steeped in traditional bluegrass, they simultaneously create a unique new sound by stretching the boundaries of the bluegrass and Americana traditions and infusing elements of world music, jazz and rock ‘n’ roll, ultimately making their style of bluegrass undeniably hip. The group’s music is in absolute balance with both the new and the old. While they often explore the more progressive side of bluegrass, they also bring us back to a world where acoustics are not replaced by electronics.
From an accordion to a double bass (named “Dark Chocolate”), their wide acoustic array combined with close vocal harmonies and fast, hard playing, shows why HBR has established themselves as pioneers of the genre’s most recent revolution. Their music appeals to traditional bluegrass aficionados, as well as the most discerning folk audiences and dance-hungry jam-band fans. They feature hot pickin’ and singing with a mix of original and traditional songs played with lots of energy.
“We definitely are interested in trying to mix it up every night,” Redner says.
Hot Buttered Rum lives for a good time. The group’s onstage chemistry fuels the lovefest that is a live HBR show. On stage, the band’s true musical evolution is revealed. Leaving all musical boundaries at the door, each Hot Buttered Rum show is an energetic musical journey. The true core of their live show is that it is forceful without being flashy, serious without being stuffy, intricate without being inaccessible and diverse without being distracting.
At the center of Hot Buttered Rum is the enduring camaraderie of five best friends. The band was conceived on a backpacking trip of high school and college buddies in the High Sierra. On the night they realized they loved playing together too much to ever stop, the quintet were sipping a warm buttery winter drink from which the group derived its name. What was dreamed up on mountaintops and around campfires has found its way into the hearts, minds and bodies of thousands.
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. This chemistry enables them the ability to turn on a dime and leave its audience wondering what new realms their songs will explore, while simultaneously assuring them that the music’s purpose is not to impress but to entertain and inspire.
Hot Buttered Rum and Tea Leaf Green play the Crystal Bay Club Saturday, April 6. The show is $23 in advance and $25 the day of the show for those 21 and older. For more information, call (775) 833-6333. For more information on Hot Buttered Rum, visit hotbutteredrum.net.
