HOT BUTTERED RUM

HOT BUTTERED RUM
LONESOME PANORAMIC

No Label
No Number

Hot Buttered Rum brought their high energy into the studio for the band’s sixth studio release, Lonesome Panoramic. As tasty as the band’s name implies, the self-produced disc was recorded at Panoramic House Studio in Stinson Beach, Cal., with a beautiful view of the western Marin County coastline. That backdrop is significant because the 13 original cuts are inspired by the northern California landscape.

“Lonesome Panoramicis the result of different thematic and stylistic threads that Butter has been chasing over the years: driving up-tempo string band tunes, layers of dark lonesome drum grooves, letting things go, and embracing what we have,” says Nat Keefe, guitarist/vocalist/songwriter. Fellow tunesmith/vocalist Erik Yates plays mainly five-string banjo, but he also switches to acoustic and resonator guitars. Bryan Horne lays down solid rhythm on upright bass and fiddler/harmony vocalist Zebulon Bowles brings his charismatic touch to the project.

The first couple of tracks, “You Can Tell” and “Sittin’ Here Alone,” are more in the traditional bluegrass vein with guitar, fiddle, banjo, bass, and Jim Stafford switching from drums/percussion to mandolin for the solid rhythm foundation. This collection travels the roadway of genres with “Country Tunes & Love Songs” (a mid-tempo rocker), the velvety string trio for “How Short The Song,” and the lively ragtime boogie gospel of “When That Lonesome Feeling Comes.” (www.hotbutteredrum.net)BC