Hot Rize may play only once or twice a year, but the infrequency of the Colorado bluegrass band’s concerts says nothing about the quality—the tightness—of its shows.
“When you remember that Pete and Tim and I have been playing together for 31 years in May, you understand that three-quarters of the band have a musical connection that is unique,” said Nick Forster, who plays bass and guitar. “We understand the way each other play, and we have a certain way of playing music with each other that is unlike anything else we do individually.
“It’s funny the way we get together, and it sounds like Hot Rize.”
It’s funny because each of these gentlemen — Forster, Tim O’Brien, Pete Wernick and Bryan Sutton — have significant lives outside of Hot Rize, which headlines Swallow Hill’s third annual RootsFest on Saturday at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House.
Hot Rize first came together when Forster, O’Brien, Wernick and Charles Sawtelle decided to start a band to push their own solo projects. The guys had met in the late ’70s at the Denver Folklore Center, which begat the Swallow Hill Music Association, and it wasn’t long before Hot Rize was playing all the major folk and bluegrass festivals.
The band toured and released records throughout the ’80s and early ’90s. Then, in 1999, Sawtelle died of leukemia — and Hot Rize took a back seat to the solo endeavors that would later define its members’ careers.
O’Brien is a Grammy-winner who lives and works in Nashville.
“He’s been exploring his music and his relationships with different artists a lot,” Forster said, “co-writing and playing on sessions, but also taking the time to dive into some musical self-discovery and take stock.”
Wernick, a.k.a. Dr. Banjo, lives near Niwot and plays on his own, as a duo with his wife, Joan, with his jazz/bluegrass ensemble Flexigrass and as part of Boulder-based bluegrass band Long Road Home.
“He’s also been very active in musical education,” Forster said. “Pete wrote the bible on five-string banjo. Pete’s book became the one that everybody turned to, and he’s followed that up with other books and DVDs and instructional videos.” Wernick also hosts music camps several times a year.
Sutton won a 2007 Grammy for his solo record “Not Too Far From the Tree,” and the Nashville resident has another solo record coming out this year.
“Bryan is no longer playing with Ricky Skaggs, but now he’s playing with Earl Scruggs from time to time,” Forster said. “He’s really a first-call acoustic guitar player for Nashville sessions.”
As for Forster, locals know him as the host and co-producer of syndicated radio program “etown.”
Forster unveiled his plans last summer for Etown Hall, a multi-use venue to be constructed within an 80-year-old church off Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall. Forster paid $1.4 million for the space and has been hard at work since the deal went through.
“Lately it’s all been structural engineers and architects and city permits and fundraising,” Forster said. “But I’m still playing a lot, too. I made a record with some jam guys recently — Jeff Austin from Yonder (Mountain Sting Band) and Brendan Bayliss from Umphrey’s (McGee) and Cody Dickinson from the North Mississippi Allstars and Eric, who’s a great bass player from Lyons. Bill Nershi from String Cheese (Incident) invited me to play a gig with him next month at the Boulder Theater, so that’ll be fun too.”
The last time Hot Rize gigged together was last summer’s Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Forster said he loves Hot Rize shows because “we get to visit old friends and old material, the vast majority of which none of us are playing right now.
“We’ve probably recorded 150 songs, or something like that,” Forster continued, “so we have this huge body of material that we get to dip into.”
While fans love hearing the classics — including “High on a Mountain” and Wernick’s “Just Like You” — they also wonder about new music. Forster said they’re not alone.
“It’s something that I’m always interested in, too,” he said. “While we do have a great body of material that we get to play, (writing and arranging some new stuff) would be an opportunity to keep us more honest. If we were to make a new record and write some new material and play a few dates, it’d be a good thing.”
Ricardo Baca: 303-954-1394 or rbaca@denverpost.com
Third Annual Swallow Hill Rootsfest Denver
Folk/bluegrass. Ellie Caulkins Opera House, 950 13th St., featuring Hot Rize, Shawn Colvin, Leo Kottke, Tallest Man on Earth, Gandalf Murphy and the Slambovian Circus, and Dreams, Joe Pug and the Boulder Acoustic Society. Saturday. 6-11 p.m. $30-$125. 303-777-1003,
