US Booking/PR - Charisma Artists
UK Booking - Brookfield Knights
“The focus and polish is an interesting counterpoint to the band’s satiric approach to music-making, that absurd aesthetic that now includes short films and tune-filled plays. Anything but the normal stuff.” - Style Weekly, 2008
“Virginian quintet (The Hot Seats) thrive on diversity . . . The action is virtually non-stop, the musicianship superb, with fiddle, mandolin, banjo and guitar coalescing with humour and speed and powered by a communally owned and played double-bass, drums and washboard.” - The Glasgow Herald, 2008
“The young five man acoustic band play with verve, vigour and a true feel for the roots of their chosen idiom. Which stilted critic-speak completely fails to convey the sheer fun and laughter of the show. If you like this sort of music, you must go. Everyone else should go and those who leave without having had a good time are just not the sort of people whom I would want to meet.” - BroadwayBaby.com, 2008
“BLUEGRASS, old-time, skiffle, jug band … stir them up vigorously, throwing in elements of zany vaudeville , add some unpredictable tics, then stand back and watch Special Ed & the Shortbus go.” - The Edinburgh Scotsman, 2008
“Their shows are veritable litmus tests for a crowd's sense of humor. If you've ever answered yes to Frank Zappa's question "Does humor belong in music?" then The Hot Seats are for you. They're straight-up nuts when they pick and sing, and if you can get past the lovely freakishness of their stage act, you'll find some real talent backing up the zaniness." - Haymaker Productions (www.haymaker.com), 2003
"Slightly disturbing dada-esque Va.-based string band that’s one part Beefheart freakout and two parts trad jug-band.” - Connect Savannah, Savannah, GA, 2006
“When you see better-known names pointing their cell phones towards the stage after calling friends and tell them ‘listen to this’ as a band they’ve never encountered before holds a big audience made up mostly of other first-timers spellbound, it’s a sign that something special is in the air. And that’s what happened when the . . . Hot Seats exploded onto the stage . . . One moment, it’s like listening to Spike Jones and his City Slickers, the next, Dan Hicks and the Hot Licks. And, when they choose to take that turn down a well-trodden bluegrass trail, those in the crowd who recognize the subtleties between good and great, turn and nod at each other ” - Maverick Magazine, 2007
The Bio
The Hot Seats were formed eight years ago (2002) in Richmond, VA as a good-time band between new friends, many of whom were exploring a genre unknown to them on equally novel instruments. It started with weekly gig, rapidly followed by trips out of town, festival appearances, longer tours, new music, new influences, competition-winning performances (both individually and as an ensemble) three critically acclaimed trips to the UK, and five albums.
With each year and step forward, the band has honed a focus on the traditions from which it draws, and a tongue-in-cheek irony more comparable to Jonathan Swift than to South Park. The band, while retaining the irreverence and fun loving character of its inception, does not resemble much the ragtag ensemble of the summer of 2002. For these reasons, they are the Hot Seats, a name that connotes the frenetic frenzy this band can whip up, and one they feel represents their musical intentions, as well as their desire to share this music with a larger audience.
These intentions are to keep the role of traditional musician as entertainer and commentator alive and kicking. Homer and Jethro, The Skillet Likkers, George Formby, Harry Reser, Woodie Guthrie, Gus Cannon, Phil Ochs, Tommy Jarrell, Arthur Smith, Uncle Dave Macon, Frank Zappa – these are pools from which The Hot Seats draw. Their original music is simultaneously hard to classify and instantly identifiable, combining the virtuosic soloing and tightness of bluegrass, the band-driven rhythm of old time, the jerky bounce of ragtime, and the swagger of good old rock and roll. Add some eastern melodies, a few modernist ideals, and an uncanny feel for comic timing, and you begin to approach this sound.
While striving to push tradition forward, the band takes great pride in their ability to play within a tradition style as well as without. Ultimately, the Hot Seats are most concerned with making the music that they want to hear and playing in the manner that is most entertaining to themselves; the fact that audiences and critics alike have embraced it is almost a wonderful coincidence.
The band's first release under the new name, Retreat To Camp Candy Temptation Island highlights the band’s flexibility, moving between bluegrass, ragtime, oldtime, jugband, and Klezmer with ease, injecting humor and sharp witted commentary along the way. Featuring a mixture of original songs and tunes (including the part song, part theatrics “Sleepover Party”, a live favorite for years) and traditionals pulled from the depths of the public domain, Retreat to Camp Candy Island is evidence of the band's dedication to treat stringband music as a modern form, open to current themes and sensibilities, as well as a tradition that is deserving of preservation.
