There have been a few years where hosting duties were split between a number of co-hosts, but this marks the first year that a full band has served in that capacity. Hot Rize consists of Pete Wernick, Tim O’Brien, Nick Forster and Bryan Sutton.

Professional members of the IBMA are through the second round of three ballots in 17 categories, with awards announced and distributed at the show. It will be held on October 1 at the Ryman Auditorium during IBMA’s week long World Of Bluegrass event.

This is always a gala affair, and a feel-good night for bluegrass music. The Bluegrass Blog will be on hand again this year providing live blog coverage, and posting photos from the show.

We encourage anyone who cares about bluegrass music to make a point to attend the Awards Show when you can make it fit your schedule.

I totally loved Grey Fox this year and I think the new site (Walsh Farm in Oak Hill, NY) is fantastic. I really do prefer it to the old site. I’ve already congratulated Mary Doub and I think they accomplished a miracle by finding a new location and pulling together all the logistics to make the transition so easily.

The biggest highlight for me over the weekend was Hot Rize’s 30th Anniversary concert. They sounded unbelievable. The magic of Nick and Tim’s voices together and their expert MC work is the stuff that legends and the highest level of professionalism is all about. Charles was dearly missed but having Bryan Sutton in on guitar is such a treat. Don’t even get me started on how wonderful Red Knuckles was.

They were in rare form that night. Jerry Douglas was on stage as their manager gesturing to the crowds to applaud following every song. A mystery guest on fiddle who suspiciously looked like Sam Bush came out and they did a cowboy swing version of White Rabbit and Jerry pranced around the stage wearing a rabbit mask. All this and a very rare and exotic red moon emerged in the pitch black sky while they were on. It was magical. Red Knuckles did more than an hour playing for the dance tent later that night and the crowd couldn’t stop dancing and howling for more. Jay Ungar’s former wife (I forget her name) was on stage with them singing some numbers. It was something I’ll remember forever. I must say that Pete Wernick’s Red Knuckles MC work has gotten even funnier over the years – he too was in rare form.

• Abigail Washburn with Bela and the Sparrow Quartet – mindblowing!
• The Infamous Stringdusters – unreal – they converted the unanointed
• The David Grisman Bluegrass Experience – he’s such a master and hearing straight ahead bluegrass was awesome; Jim Nunally is a rhythm machine!
• The Gibson Brothers – they are at the top of their game – they did a vocal workshop with Dan Paisley that was superlative

Really, all the bands were tremendous. It was broiling hot. The surrounding area by the festival is gorgeous mountain ski country in NY State and offered beautiful scenery.

WFDU was one of the sponsors for the festival this year, which was a great honor.

The IBMA offered a seminar that was attended by more than 100 fans/musicians for 2 days. The seminar was entitled “Taking Your Band to the Next Level” and offered advice for bands on how to better market and promote their bands. I was a panelist and my topic was ‘Promoting Your Band to Radio’. Other keynote panelists included Ken Irwin and Bev Paul. Nancy Cardwell of the IBMA put the seminar together.

There are already some great clips all over You Tube from the festival. It was fantastic!

Pete provided this overview of how it all went down.

It wasn’t exactly a surprise wedding. It was planned months ahead, but due to Steve’s celebrity, he was concerned about paparazzi disrupting things, and asked that it not be discussed at all in advance, as word about such things tends to travel fast.

In brief, Steve got in touch with me some months ago about providing music for the wedding (at his home in Beverly Hills). I asked if he wanted me to get some musicians from the area, or just “whoever I want.” He said to get whoever I want. When I asked, what would you think of having Hot Rize, he said, “I’d kill for Hot Rize.” Thank goodness that wasn’t necessary. Bryan Sutton, who generally plays guitar with us, was not available, so we got David Grier, who did just fine of course.

Steve and his wife Anne gave a lot of thought to the music they wanted, and they took my suggestion to use Romance Is a Slow Dance, a great song of Tim’s, to begin the ceremony. Then Tim fiddled a beautiful Irish air as the bride and her father came forward. The ceremony, performed by “Reverend” Bob Kerrey (former U.S. Senator), was followed by a rousing banjo tune.

Steve had indicated that if Hot Rize was there, “it would be a sin” not to have us do a mini-set for the guests. He added, “as in, I would go to hell.” So following dinner, Steve introduced us and we did five songs including Blue Night, High on a Mountain, and a song I wrote for Steve and Anne, This is Our Time. For the last two tunes, we were joined by Steve on banjo, and played Steve’s tune The Crow and finished with Foggy Mt. Breakdown. We were very well received, with the guests applauding for solos and many nice comments afterwards. In attendance were such notables as Tom Hanks, Diane Keaton, Carl Reiner, Eugene Levy, and Martin Mull. Steve and Martin both participated in the jamming that went on into the night.

Steve arranged that all guests receive a copy of the band’s So Long of a Journey CD as a party favor. As they filtered out and the party wound down, we continued to play informally, with Steve and Anne asking for one more rendition of Romance Is a Slow Dance.

The next morning we headed for LAX, and I made it all the way to Elkins, WV for Bluegrass Week at the Augusta Heritage program, which is where I’m writing this from!

In closing, I’ll say it is truly an honor for Hot Rize to be appreciated in such a high class way by such a respected figure of American culture as Steve Martin. People ask me what sort of person he is, and I can say in all honesty that he is one fine gentleman, with the wonderful quality of showing interest in other people and making them feel appreciated. Almost impossible to fathom that, given his irreverent style of humor, but it’s true. I also am often asked about whether Steve might do one thing or another for “the bluegrass cause,” and I can only say time will tell. Naturally if he has any desire to do that, I will be glad to facilitate!

When the guests arrived – including film luminaries like Tom Hanks, Diane Keaton, Eugene Levy and Carl Reiner – they realized that they were actually to be the guests at Martin’s surprise wedding to Anne Stringfield, his girlfriend of the past three years.

A reunited Hot Rize was on hand to provide the bluegrass music, with original members Tim O’Brien, Pete Wernick and Nick Forster joined by David Grier on guitar. They not only entertained after the wedding dinner, but also provided the music for the ceremony itself.

O’Brien sang his song Romance Is A Slow Dance to start the ceremony, and played the traditional Irish air, Sheebeg and Sheemore on fiddle for the processional. Wernick played a jaunty version of Cripple Creek on the banjo as the newlyweds recessed.

After dinner, Martin introduced Hot Rize for a short set, during which he joined them on stage with his banjo, performing his tune The Crow, and a double banjo version of Foggy Mountain Breakdown.

Congratulations to the happy couple. A marriage consecrated by bluegrass music is bound to take, yes?

Scruggs’ segment starts off with Rob Ickes leading the band through Foggy Mountain Rock, followed by a version of John Hardy. Nick Forster then interviews Earl about how he came to develop his groundbreaking banjo style, which Earl describes in his typically understated and unassuming manner. He also speaks about the early days performing on the road and on TV with Flatt & Scruggs, and how he came to be associated with The Beverly Hillbillies.

After the discussion, the band returns to play The Ballad Of Jed Clampett and Foggy Mountain Breakdown. The music is fine, of course, but for many Scruggs-o-philes, the interview may be the more enjoyable part of the show.

There is a direct link to the audio on Wernick’s site, or it can accessed directly via the Etown archives. Access to the archives is restricted to registered users on the Etown site, so if you feel that you are “getting over” by using Pete’s direct link, you can register and get the audio from this and other Etown programs.

Speaking of Wernick’s web site and Hot Rize…

Pete now has two bits of sample video up at Dr.Banjo.com taken from the recently released Hot Rize concert DVD, shot in 1987. One is the band performing Keep Your Lamp Trimmed And Burning, and a song from their bus mates, Red Knuckles & The Trailblazers doing One Woman Man.

These are Quicktime files of one entire song each, and may take a few minutes to download or open in your browser.

It features a concert performance at the Kentucky Center for the Arts in Lousiville, KY from July of 1987, with the original members of the band – Tim O’Brien, Pete Wernick, Charles Sawtelle and Nick Forster. Interviews with the band are included, and Red Knuckles & The Trailblazers also make an appearance.

The DVD runs just under an hour, and is offered for $20 plus $5 shipping.

Pete says that the DVD will include 19 songs, plus interviews, but no solid release date can be given at this time. It will be sold for $20, and it will surely show up on the Dr. Banjo online store as soon as it is released, which is expected to be soon.

Hot Rize was a very popular act on the bluegrass circuit during the 1980s, playing a hyrbid sort of music that was right at home on older Flatt & Scruggs or Bill Monroe material, and on their own more contemporary music as well. The additional of The Trailblazers to the show, which involved the Hot Rize boys quickly changing clothes mid-set and adopting new characters as a slightly dim, but surely serious honky tonk hillbilly band, was a huge hit as well.

They disbanded in 1990 at the height of their success, having recently been named as IBMA’s first Entertainer Of The Year, when Tim O’Brien left to pursue opportunities outside of Hot Rize. Tim has, of course, remained a fixture in our music, while Pete Wernick continued on teaching and performing, and Nick Forster found a home with etown on on National Public Radio. Sadly, Charles Sawtelle passed away in 1999 after battling leukemia for a number of years.

In addition to four Hot Rize CDs that are still available on Sugar Hill, there is also one from Red Knuckles & The Trailblazers, Shades Of The Past.