Hot Rize
Reprinted from Bluegrass Unlimited Magazine
April 1984, Volume 18, Number 10
Ralph Emery talks to guest Tom T. Hall as we return from a commercial break on the Nashville Network’s “Ralph Emery Show”:
Ralph: What do you think of when you hear Hot Rize, Tom?
Tom: Martha White products, Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs and good bluegrass music.
Ralph: Well here with some of that good bluegrass is a band that names themselves after the secret ingredient in Martha White’s Flour—Hot Rize. Introducing Tim O’Brien, Peter Wernick, Charles Sawtelle and Ick Forster.
Tom: Ick? No that’s Nick Forster.
Emery to prompter: Marilyn, move your hand. You’ve got it over the “N.” Anyway, folks, here’s Hot Rize …
It’s sometimes not easy for a bluegrass band; not even on national TV. It is getting easier though for the talented, Colorado-based members of Hot Rize as they kick off their fifth year on the road.
This group of friends from Boulder, Colorado, known for their solid instrumental sound and O’Brien’s rich, multi-scaled lead singing, haven’t looked back from the first day they picked their way into the world of professional bluegrass music five years ago. And this year’s agenda includes several national television and radio appearances, two new albums, with two more on the way, and performances with most major bluegrass festivals nationwide including four shows with their favorite, Bill Monroe.
Like Monroe, Hot Rize found its success playing traditional bluegrass fare. They play that traditional music, however, with a flair for innovations. Forster has always played an electric bass, to give their music more of a driving sound he says, and Wernick, known also as “Dr. Banjo,” pioneered the use of a phase-shifter from the outset, but they pride themselves on being able to experiment within the limits of the traditional bluegrass sound.
“I think our success has come from the fact that people want to hear bluegrass played with soul and drive,” Forster said. “Our music is modern enough to be interesting and traditional enough to be respectful of old traditions. It’s a balance.”
“And we are all very dedicated to bluegrass music,” O’Brien added.
You have to be dedicated to make a living playing bluegrass and living as far away from the accepted mecca of bluegrass—the east coast.
“Being from Colorado can be hard on you,” said Wernick, as he remembered the early days in the band’s career. “We started with a ten-year-old Cadillac and a trailer.” Seventy-thousand miles later, they decided to buy a bus; a big step for a fledgling bluegrass band, but one they have never regretted.
“We did a lot of traveling early on, especially during our first two years, when we weren’t making that much money,” Wernick continued. “We went on a lot of trips that were not that productive. Of course, if you are trying to make it, you have to get out and play everywhere you can.”
“Right from the beginning we were living beyond our means,” added Forster. “We started going on a lot of east coast tours, and we bought a very good PA system because we knew how important a good sound system is to making a band sound professional. Buying a bus was something we really couldn’t afford either, but we had to have it to retain our sanity.”
The group also hired Frank Edmonson as a sound man and driver, and says Sawtelle: “We are still living beyond our means. We think it will pay off in the future, though, because we believe in the future of bluegrass music.”
The future of bluegrass music is becoming a hot topic these days; one country music magazine even bemoaned the possibility that bluegrass festivals are gasping for their final breath. But Hot Rize members believe in a healthy bluegrass future, and they say that tradition will be its salvation.
Searching out and studying the old compositions and sounds of the original greats is as much a part of the Hot Rize day-to-day routine as practice. It is not at all unusual to hear the recording of a Monroe or Stanley Brothers classic coming from their buses’ tape player.
“We listen to a lot of Bill Monroe as we travel around the country,” Wernick said, “including the live performances of the ’50s. We don’t just listen, we study it.”
Wernick, O’Brien, Sawtelle and Forster all take pride in the fact that, although they believe in a strong bluegrass tradition, their music doesn’t sound like anyone elses —old or new. While most bands which have a strong sense of tradition stick to playing the originals with numbing predictability, Hot Rize seems to grow within the traditional bounds of the music without losing that original flavor.
“Most of our songs have a simple structure,” Wernick said. “We don’t hardly have any complicated arrangements in our entire repertoire. I think that gives us much more ability to get to the guts of the music. I’m personally as happy playing a one or two chord song as any. Some of our songs— ‘Shady Grove,’ ‘Sally Ann,’ ‘John Henry’—are some of the most down-to-earth songs you will ever find. It is not that they haven’t been done, but if we choose our own individual way of playing that song—maybe with an interesting new twist or a better tone —it is harder to play than a song with a lot of complexities. When you let one or two chords ring and ring, it pushes you to the limits within a confined musical area.
“I think that is one of the reasons bluegrass has been around and appealed to listeners for so long,” he continued. “The good players over the years have been able to make innovations within the traditional musical boundaries.”
Hot Rize can make innovations within traditional musical boundaries other than bluegrass as well. During their shows (if permitted) they take a break leaving the stage to their “warmup” band. They disappear from the stage, tuck their pants into cowboy boots, put on cowboy hats and sunglasses and become Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers.
The Trailblazers play that traditional country and western sound of the 1930s and ’40s: Lefty Frizzell, Ernest Tubb, Jimmie Rodgers, Webb Pierce, Hank Williams and more, pulling surprisingly appreciative reaction from most bluegrass fans.
“We were rather hesitant at first whether Red and the boys would go over in bluegrass circles,” noted Wernick, who plays the ‘electric table’ (steel guitar) as Waldo Otto for the Trailblazers, “but almost everyplace we have played the people said ‘give it a try.’ It always goes over well.”
“I think it is because people miss that music,” added Forster, who is also known as Wendell Mercantile playing lead guitar. “Traditional country was having its heyday about the same time bluegrass was having its first heyday back in the 1940s. Very few bands play it anymore. That’s too bad; it has such a pure musical sound.”
Rounding out the Trailblazers are Sawtelle as Slade on the bass and O’Brien as Red playing the rhythm guitar and singing lead. The Trailblazers went into the studio last year and produced an album which has been a big success. Such a success in fact, it leads to speculation as to whether the Trailblazers are stealing some of Hot Rize’s popularity.
“No,” Wernick said.
“I can’t hardly imagine Red becoming more popular than us,” O’Brien speculated. “They don’t even have a car. They would have to travel with us.”
“They (the Trailblazers) don’t even know how to set up a sound system,” Forster said.
“They don’t even have a sound system,” Wernick said. “There is no way they could go on their own without Hot Rize.”
“I think the combination of traditional bluegrass and traditional country is unique,” Forster added. “In a way, having the Trailblazers with us is such an important thing. With them playing and adding a different twist to the music, we don’t have to try to ‘soup up’ our music … like adding a steel guitar to a bluegrass song. I guess the Trailblazers help preserve Hot Rize’s sound.”
As Hot Rize is named after the secret ingredient in Martha White’s Flour, the Trailblazers are named after Martha White’s Trailblazer dog food. With all the corporate recognition, it would seem the band has a more than passing relationship with the company.
“It’s strictly platonic,” Wernick said.
“It is kind of a mutual acknowledgement,” added Forster. “At first they were kind of curious about who these guys were, traveling around the country, singing their commercials and naming themselves after their flour, but they said it was all right; just keep it clean.”
“Actually we would have never been able to play the National Grocer’s Convention without their help,” Wernick said. “We were on the bill with Jimmy Dean and Tammy Wynette. Jimmy Dean went over better than us … or Tammy.” The Martha White company also asked Hot Rize to play during their portion of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville.
“We were treated nice there,” O’Brien said.
“It’s very flattering. We have been treated nice by just about everybody we have dealt with,” Forster noted.
“I must say, Gary Oelze (manager of the Birchmere) in Virginia has been more than a good supporter,” Wernick added. “Right from the word go he opened his doors to us. In the beginning when we were afraid we wouldn’t draw a very good crowd, he would always put us at ease and say ‘see you next time’ as we left.”
“For that matter, we were hired for our very first gig on the east coast at Bluegrass Unlimited’s festival at Indian Springs, Maryland in 1978,” he continued. “And Missouri, where we played our very first festival ever, at Eminence, has been good to us over the years.”
A lot more people are being good to them this year. They will be playing on the Prairie Home Companion (a nationally-syndicated show on public radio stations) and plan to be on “Austin City Limits” (a nationally-televised stage show from Austin, Texas) soon. Also in the works are two new Hot Rize albums — one live and one recorded in the studio—and a single by O’Brien on Flying Fish Records. The Trailblazers have plans for a new album and Wernick and O’Brien will be cutting the soundtrack for a Public Broadcasting System wildlife special.
“We are aiming for more national exposure in the coming year,” Wernick said. “The wildlife special is a little foot in the door for a whole new area. We are trying to make it big enough for the whole band. Who knows? Maybe even a weekly Hot Rize Wildlife Special is in the future, or playing behind Carl Sagan on “Cosmos.”
The only thing for certain is that Hot Rize will continue to spend more than half the year on the road playing their special blend of bluegrass.
“You know,” Wernick said, “I think we are luckier than most bands. In the beginning of our career, a guy, who was instrumental in the rebirth of bluegrass, said that we had to learn to play some songs that, even though we didn’t like them, were big hits with the crowd. We all just kind of looked at each other. And I guess we are luckier than most bands because we haven’t had to play any music that we don’t like.”
