New York, NY (Top40 Charts/ Shore Fire Media) "Good things do not have to come to an end!" - Garrison Keillor on Prairie Home Companion
Despite a 24-year break from the recording studio, Hot Rize have returned at the top of their game on 'When I'm Free,' out today on Ten In Hand/Thirty Tigers. The Wall Street Journal calls it "classic."
Last week the band - Nick Forster, Tim O'Brien, Bryan Sutton, Pete Wernick - kicked off their biggest tour in decades with a performance on Prairie Home Companion's season opener and sold-out shows back where they first formed, in the mountains of Colorado. As longtime fan Garrison Keillor exclaimed during the program, "Good things do not have to come to an end!"
Watch the band perform "Colleen Malone" on Prairie Home Companion:
The band's tour continues through December, including appearances on World Cafe, WGN Midday, and at the Grammy Museum in LA (more details tba).
Praise for 'When I'm Free':
"Always pushing boundaries, 'When I'm Free' ranges from tracks reminiscent of the band's original sound ("Come Away") to gospel-laden harmony ("I Am the Road") to the blues-tinged first single ("Blue Is Fallin'")" - Garden and Gun
"
Classic" - Wall Street Journal
"The album clearly measures up to the best the band had to offer in their heyday from the late '70s until 1990" - The Bluegrass Situation
"After 24 years away, the legendary bluegrass group [has] picked up where they left off." - Esquire
"Historic" -
Music City Roots
"The project should satisfy longtime listeners - due to the band's determination to honor their traditional roots - while keeping an emphasis on strong songwriting and obvious rapport." - CMT
"
Amazing" - PopMatters
"With their return, the band - which have been called the link between traditional and modern bluegrass - effortlessly demonstrate what note-perfect bluegrass is and can be." - Marquee Magazine (4.5 stars)
