Hot Buttered Rum w/ Chicken Wire Empire

Though they're inspired more by The Grateful Dead's twangy, jammy tributes to Americana than bluegrass' Appalachian forefathers, Hot Buttered Rum is nonetheless one of the more traditional modern bluegrass (“newgrass”) acts, a San Francisco quintet that may exaggerate the genre's sharp tones, but never plays them for novelty. Of course, the group brings its own ideology to the music. It's doubtful, for instance, that Bill Monroe would have written a jam about biofuel, as Hot Buttered Rum did for the title track of their 2006 disc, Well-Oiled Machine. The group's 2009 album, Limbs Akimbo, takes them even further from their string-band beginnings, incorporating eclectic rock and jazz influences.