Hot Buttered Rum

Whether you call it "newgrass" or "jamgrass," that mythical musical intersection where Bill Monroe fronts Phish is attracting more and more converts. Bands like Railroad Earth, Two High String Band, Yonder Mountain String Band and New Monsoon are making the ten-minute mandolin jam a reality as they blend rural American music with neo-hippie performance aesthetics. Into the fray comes Hot Buttered Rum, the San Francisco-based quintet that promises a "high altitude acoustic experience" and lists Charlie Parker, Jerry Garcia and Jascha Heifetz as their influences.

Vocalist/fiddler/mandolinist Aaron Redner is the group's front man, but with four other singers and/or songwriters, each being a crack instrumentalist, a Rum show is a more communal experience, with each player adding touches of folk, rock and reggae to the fiddle-and-tin-whistle mix. Their latest CD and second studio effort is Well Oiled Machine, named in honor of the band's converted tour bus, which is powered by a mixture of recycled vegetable oil and bio-diesel fuel.