Hot Buttered Rum, the progressive five-piece bluegrass band out of San Francisco, California, is gearing up for a big year. With almost two decades under their belts, in 2018, Hot Buttered Rum will release their sixth studio album, Lonesome Panoramic. A follow up to 2010’s Limbs Akimbo, their self-titled release in 2014, and the trio of EPs released as The Kite & The Key in 2015 and 2016, Lonesome Panoramic was self-produced by the band; recorded at Panoramic House Studio in Stinson Beach, California, along the Panoramic Highway; and is slated for a July 20th release this summer.

As Nat Keefe, Hot Buttered Rum’s vocalist and guitarist, explained in a press release, “Lonesome Panoramic is the result of different thematic and stylistic threads that Butter has been chasing over the years: driving uptempo string band tunes, layers of dark lonesome drum grooves, letting things go, and embracing what we have.”

Hot Buttered Rum has become a staple of the progressive bluegrass scene with their quick-paced and fiery blend of bluegrass, folk, rock, and country. With the addition of drums in 2008, the group cemented itself as a music festival favorite, regularly performing nationally renowned events like Telluride Bluegrass, Newport Folk, Jam Cruise, Bonnaroo, Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, Northwest String Summit, and many, many more. Furthermore, the band’s hearty resume has led to some truly astounding collaborations, including playing with the likes of Phil Lesh, Chris Thile, Brett Dennen, Kyle Hollingsworth, and others and being named “The Official Bluegrass Band of the San Francisco Giants.”

With the release of Lonesome Panoramic on the horizon, Hot Buttered Rum has been generous enough to share with us a sneak peek at what to expect from their latest studio effort, which features cameo collaborations from ALO’s Zach Gill and Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz, The Coffis Brothers, and Rainbow Girls.

As Nat Keefe, Hot Buttered Rum’s vocalist and guitarist, noted to Live For Live Music,

I wrote “Country Tunes & Love Songs” with the Coffis Brothers, Kellen and Jamie. To me, the opening chord progression invokes the subject matter of the song, so it wrote itself. Sometimes, good songs come from when you aren’t swinging for the fences, you just put a good swing on the ball and it finds a gap. We ended up producing it with a lot of strummy twelve-string guitar, with the memory of Tom Petty whispering in our ears.

“Country Tunes & Love Songs” is the third track on the upcoming Lonesome Panoramic, marking one of the few songs on the new album on which the band’s multi-instrumentalist Erik Yates plays the dobro, rather than his trusty banjo. Tapping into the band’s more rock-oriented Americana side, the mid-tempo tune finds Keefe vocally accompanied by Kellen and Jamie Coffis (of The Coffis Brothers), who offer up blissful vocal harmonies.

You can take a listen to the Live For Live Music premiere of Hot Buttered Rum’s “Country Tunes & Love Songs” below. “Country Tunes & Love Songs” will be formally released on the band’s upcoming album, Lonesome Panoramic, which is due out on July 20th via independent release. For more information on the album or the band, head to Hot Buttered Rum’s website here. You can also check out a full track listing for the new album below.


Lonesome Panoramic Track Listing:

1. You Can Tell   2:11 (Yates)
2. Sittin’ Here Alone   3:14 (Keefe)
3. Country Tunes & Love Songs (ft. The Coffis Bros.)  4:29 (Keefe, K Coffis, J Coffis)
4. How Short the Song   3:27 (Yates)
5. Treasure Island Blues   4:46 (Yates)
6. Never Got Married   2:50  (Keefe)
7. Spirits Still Come (ft. Rainbow Girls)   4:54 (Keefe)
8. Sleeping Giants   5:04  (Yates)
9. Leaving Dallas   4:31 (Keefe)
10. When that Lonesome Feeling Comes 4:07 (Yates)
11. Mighty Fine   4:25 (Keefe)
12. The One that Everybody Knows   8:04  (Yates)
13. The Deep End (ft. ALO)   4:55 (Keefe, Yates, Lebowitz, Gill)

Guest Musicians:
Jamie Coffis – vocals (3)
Kellen Coffis – vocals (3)

Rainbow Girls: Erin Chapin, Caitlin Gowdey, Vanessa May – backup vocals (7,13)

Dan Lebowitz (ALO) – electric guitar & vocals (13)

Zach Gill (ALO) – vocals (13)

Hot buttered Rum

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