Sort of like a medium who can channel different spirits from the beyond, a good producer can channel the different spirits of a band.  The new “album” from San Francisco Bay Area-based Hot Buttered Rum gives you the chance to experience that in a comfortably confined space.  I put the quotes around the word album because The Kite & the Key is actually a series of 3 EP’s released over the previous 6 months.  Each has a different producer while the core of the band has remained constant.
Part 1 was produced by Railroad Earth’s Tim Carbone.  This is the progressive bluegrass sound I most associate with Hot Buttered Rum.  You Be the Fiddle goes straight to a sound I first heard with New Grass Revival decades ago and my own opening of senses around the potential bluegrass had to be so much more than a genre of traditional music.  I Wanna Know and Weary Ways also have that feel, while First Rodeo is a nice take on a country waltz.
Part 2 is a tribute to the Stanley Brothers and guided by Sally Van Meter.  It’s a traditional bluegrass album in so many wonderful ways.  Pig In A Pen had me grinning and tapping my foot from the opening pick, as did Unclouded Day.  A Lonesome Night plays more to the brothers vocals than any instrumental influence.  How Mountain Girls Can Love is as much Flatt & Scruggs to my ear as it is Stanley Brothers, but that’s nothing but a nit.
Part 3 leans to the festival jam band sound that you’re more likely to hear in one of those lovely summer afternoon live sessions. Produced by Kyle Hollingsworth of String Cheese Incident, this is the least bluegrass sounding EP of the bunch, with HBR’s new drummer taking more of the spotlight and even featuring some keyboards. Â This is all uptempo stuff and with 6 songs coming in at 37+ minutes, no one’s going to accuse the band of pandering to a pop country audience.
The core of Hot Buttered Rum has been together now for well over a decade. Â Between what they do as a band and the various side projects and sit-ins with other bands, they have an incredibly wide repertoire they can utilize. Â By working with three separate producers on The Kite & the Key they found a way to showcase that range.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.