Hot Rize, one of the most respected and influential bands in bluegrass music, is pleased to announce the release of their aptly named new record Hot Rize 40th Anniversary Bash, recorded live at Boulder Theatre, over the course of three sold out shows in January of this year.

A story with a head wound is always a good story. This story has a head wound. But it's not the best part of the story. This story is about music. Music at Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival. You'll notice I omitted the. It's not The Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival. It’s Grey Fox. We’ll get to that just like we’ll get to the head wound. But first, music. After all, that’s why we travel to the Catskills every year. But why this music? What about this music sets it apart? Truth be told, bluegrass can feel so rigid.

The rivers are full. The leaves are green. The sun is working hard to make each day longer. The only thing missing? Grey Fox! The premiere bluegrass festival of the summer is returning to The Walsh Farm in the sleepy Catskill town of Oak Hill, NY this July 19th through the 22nd. This year’s lineup will help any jamband fan to recognize our scene’s roots in bluegrass.

To return to a point in your life that you have already lived is metaphysical. Déjà vu, as most of us call it, feels mystical, even if it has a chemical explanation. Scientific evidence aside, to relive something that you have lived before is an experience that seems to connect us with something beyond ourselves. We can both be in the moment and be able to predict (or at least have the feeling that we are predicting) what is coming around the next corner. But to experience déjà vu and to be able to improve upon the actions that once were? Now that is something different altogether.

Hot Rize has not toured more than a few select festival dates and concerts since 1990.  That all changes in September as they embark on their first major tour in almost 25 years in support of their new studio album, reclaiming their unique position where tradition and innovation collide.

If the Colorado Bluegrass Community wasn’t already tried as strong, this month represented a milestone for community support. Last month’s “100 Year Flood” damaged and displaced thousands in Boulder County. The worst was the devastation in Lyons, Colorado, home of the Planet Bluegrass Ranch and much of the Colorado Music Roots community. The Ranch hosts at least two huge annual festivals onsite that after 40 years of legendary performances have built a loyal following of devotees nationwide.

Unlike the Martha White “self-rising” flour, it takes more than one ingredient, or individual, to lift the spirits of communities affected by natural disasters. On a brisk night in Boulder, Hot Rize brought together a closely linked ensemble of local musicians to do just that. Recognized as a bluegrass-haven, Boulder County hosts an array of talented musicians.

It’s not rare to walk into Macky Auditorium and feel overwhelmed by its elegance, but walking in to School of Rock playing ‘Black Magic Woman’ in all its sultry splendor on April 6th for the Nomad Theater’s benefit show added a whole new element of allure. These kids could rock it, and seeing such young folk on the stage of an old-time auditorium was a pleasing contrast to the senses.

When Yonder Mountain String Band gets the chance to play in Boulder, Colorado, they don’t pull any punches. The supposed “warm-up” show at the Boulder Theater the night before New Year’s Eve was filled with high-energy performances and dazzling musicianship that left the capacity crowd satisfied and happily exhausted by the time the music stopped at 1:30.