Bio
It didn’t take long after Tim O’Brien, Pete Wernick, Nick Forster, and Charles Sawtelle first appeared onstage together in 1978 for the bluegrass music world to realize that the Colorado band, Hot Rize, was something special. And by the time they bowed off the stage as a full-time act in 1990, they’d not only climbed to the top of that world as the International Bluegrass Music Association’s very first Entertainers of the Year, but their stature was recognized across the board, with a nomination for a then-new bluegrass Grammy, a four-star album review in Rolling Stone, tours across four continents, and a legion of up-and-coming, broad-minded young musicians ranging from String Cheese Incident to mando monster Chris Thile learning their songs and singing their praises.
In 2025, Hot Rize was inducted into the Bluegrass Hall of Fame. The three surviving members of the 1978 band (Tim, Pete, and Nick, all in their 70s) accepted the honor along with their newest member (since 2002), Bryan Sutton.
The reasons for the acclaim were, and remain, obvious. Steeped in bluegrass tradition through long hours on the road spent listening to the genre’s giants—their very name was a knowing nod to Flatt & Scruggs’ long-time flour mill sponsor—Hot Rize’s music was and is equally informed by a taste for the music of Leadbelly and Freddie King, swing, old-time Appalachia, and more in ways that mirror the broad sweep of Bill Monroe’s influences. And while their respect for tradition was easy to hear (and, thanks to their suits and vintage neckties, easy to see), the fresh elements they brought, whether in Sawtelle’s guitar eccentricities or Wernick’s deployment of an effects pedal on his banjo, were enough to earn them the suspicion of some audience members—and the devotion of many more.
Hot Rize’s Western Swing alter-ego sidekicks, Red Knuckles & The Trailblazers, were generally part of all stage shows starting in 1980 and deserve mention, though Hot Rize members prefer not to talk about them.
When Hot Rize retired from full-time touring in 1990, it was natural for members to go on to distinguished careers of their own. For bassist, emcee and multi-instrumentalist Forster, that meant building a blend of environmental concern and musical curation into the influential nationally-syndicated radio show, eTown; for lead singer, mandolinist and fiddler O’Brien, recognition as an award-winning Americana and bluegrass master of singing, songwriting, and record production; for Sawtelle, a thriving career as guitarist, engineer and producer for a host of artists; and for (“Dr. Banjo”) Wernick, acclaim as a presenter of bluegrass jam camps and banjo camps, genre-bending ("flexigrass") bandleader, 15-year president of the IBMA, and starting in 2010, director of the Wernick Method network of bluegrass jamming teachers.
Even after retiring, Hot Rize turned out to be the band that refused to disappear. Occasional reunion shows, like the 1996 one captured for the acclaimed So Long Of A Journey album (2002), kept the flame burning, and when Sawtelle passed away in 1999, the surviving members brought brilliant guitarist Bryan Sutton on board—himself an already-acknowledged master—and carried on with more appearances, two albums, and a 30-festival year in 2015, bringing their classic songs and captivating stage show to new generations.
“21st century Hot Rize” released its first album with Bryan Sutton on guitar, When I’m Free (2014) with all-new original material, winning an IBMA Album of the Year nomination. The band celebrated its 40th anniversary in January 2018 with a three-night stand at the Boulder Theater including three legendary long-time collaborators: Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, and Sam Bush. The resulting recording, 40th Anniversary Bash was released as a 2-LP vinyl album.
In 2022, Hot Rize headlined the 50th annual Rocky Grass Festival in Colorado, as the “hometown band” whose members performed at the festival as early as 1975, the festival’s third year. Prior to their set, the band’s induction into the Colorado Music Hall of Fame was announced on stage by representatives of the Hall of Fame.
Subsequently, video tributes to Hot Rize were produced by both the Colorado Music Hall of Fame and the Colorado Music Experience.
Hot Rize performances (from January 1978 to the September 2025 Bluegrass Hall of Fame induction) have spanned 48 years, more than half of the 80+ - year history of bluegrass music.
On The Rize – Landmark Bluegrass Band Still Hot After All These Years
Bluegrass Unlimited‘s cover story from 2010 provides a detailed, insightful look at Hot Rize by band historian John Lehndorff.