Search - Hot Rize :: Traditional Ties

+ 1/2 Stars...Superb Traditional Bluegrass

Steve Vrana | Aurora, NE | 01/05/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After several albums of excellent traditional bluegrass on the Flying Fish label, this was 1985's debut release for Sugar Hill. As the title implies, the band doesn't alter its approach here. Fully half of the songs are traditional ("Hear Jerusalem Moan," "Lost John," "Leather Britches," "Working on a Building," "John Henry" and "Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning") with one Flatt and Scruggs classic ("If I Should Wander Back Tonight"). Among the remaining five numbers, all but one ("Montana Cowboy") are band originals. Peter Wernick co-wrote the instrumental "Frank's Blues," which gives him and the late Charles Sawtelle the opportunity to shine on banjo and guitar respectively. Lead singer Tim O'Brien (fiddle, mandolin) wrote "Hard Pressed," "Walk the Way the Wind Blows" (later a huge hit for Kathy Mattea the following year), and "Footsteps So Near" (the latter co-written with bass player Nick Forster). Hot Rize would release a few more albums before breaking up in the early Nineties, with O'Brien having the highest profile solo career. But for more than a decade, these guys produced some solid bluegrass (and old-timey country as their alter egos Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers), and this album is one of their best. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED"