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Songs:
Blue Night
Keep Your Lamp Trimmed and Burning
Empty Pocket Blues
Radio Boogie
Just Like You
Climbing Up A Mountain
Walkin' the Dog
Frank's Blues
A Voice on the Wind
Shadows In My Room
Nellie Kane
The Butcher's Dog
Walk The Way the Wind Blows
Foggy Mt. Breakdown
High on a Mountain
Colleen Malone
Life's Too Short
Won't You Come and Sing For Me

Review by Brenda Hough

Hot Rize was one of the most popular bluegrass bands in the eighties and many fans were disappointed when the band broke up in 1992. They had several reunion tours and this album captures a performance on March 6 and 7, 1996 for the "hometown" concert in Boulder, Colorado. The tape was misplaced for several years and when it was uncovered again, it was decided to release it as a tribute to the band and the late guitarist Charles Sawtelle who died in 1999.

The 20 songs in the collection show Hot Rize at its best - superb vocals and harmonies, punchy banjo runs and licks, upfront guitar leads and the fine mandolin work from Tim O'Brien. Tim O'Brien's "Climbing Up A Mountain" features the trademark harmonies, the fine interplay of instruments and the assurance of band mates who have grown into a special sound together through years of playing. Pete Wernick's banjo is heard pulsating through all the tunes and he contributed two tunes, "Just Like You" and the instrumental "Frank's Blues." There's three more rip-roarin' instrumentals - "Empty Pocket Blues," "The Butcher's Dog," and "Foggy Mt. Breakdown." Two songs feature stories of true love -"Nellie Kane" and "Colleen Malone."

Here's a treasure trove of the best of Hot Rize.