Hot Rize, the iconic Boulder-based bluegrass band that helped reshape the genre in the late 20th century, will be inducted into the Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame this September, the International Bluegrass Music Association announced last week.
Formed in 1978, Hot Rize was known for its mix of tradition and innovation — tight harmonies, sharp suits and original songwriting, as well as a sense of humor embodied by its retro-country alter egos, Red Knuckles and the Trailblazers. The original lineup featured Pete Wernick (banjo), Tim O’Brien (mandolin/fiddle), Charles Sawtelle (guitar) and Nick Forster (bass and emcee), with flatpicking guitarist Bryan Sutton joining in 2002.
“Hot Rize is deep in my bones,” Forster told longtime Hot Rize chronicler and Boulder journalist John Lehndorff. “It’s a sound that none of us can make by ourselves. When the four of us are together, it sounds like Hot Rize.”
Lehndorff wrote in 2020 that Hot Rize “became the template for modern bluegrass groups and mentors to the next generation,” influencing artists from Chris Thile to Colorado’s own Leftover Salmon and Yonder Mountain String Band. Their hits — including “Colleen Malone,” “Nellie Kane” and “Just Like You” — are now bluegrass standards.
The band won the IBMA’s first Entertainer of the Year award in 1990 and performed on national TV, “A Prairie Home Companion,” and festival stages across the U.S., Europe, Japan and Australia. Though they disbanded as a full-time act in 1990, they continued to reunite for select shows and released a well-received album, “When I’m Free,” in 2014.
The Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place Sept. 18 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.