You may have heard of Special Ed and the Shortbus, or you may not.  It doesn't really matter.  They were a string band that got together back in the early years of this century, late 2001 to be precise.  After several years of playing and touring they decided that a new name was in order.  And so with the new year of 2009 came a new name: The Hot Seats.

Bluegrass, old-timey, jug band, and anything else that might be considered string band music: these guys blend all of it together seamlessly while at the same time keeping each distinctive tradition alive in its own right.  They have an uncanny ability to play each song in the style that lends it the most meaning.  When they want to, they can sound exactly like a top notch bluegrass band, down to the singing style and solo tradeoffs, but the next instant they can be an old-timey dance band, meshing the sounds of their individual instruments together to create a sound uniquely its own.    And for their original songs they take the individual musicianship of bluegrass, the group coordination of old-timey, the jam feel of jug band, and mix it all up with elements from genres as varied as rock, jazz, swing and klezmer to create a truly amazing sound that carries on the spirit of all of these distinct traditions.  Since moving back to Richmond, I have been constantly astounded by the level of talent that seems so commonplace in the music scene here, and the Hot Seats are no exception.  Not only do they have the ability to play well, they have a knowledge of musical traditions that allows for this ability to be exercised to its fullest.

All I need to be completely entertained is great musicianship, but it is always a bonus when the band has an entertaining stage presence, and the Hot Seats do.  From using a communal standup bass to humorous anecdotes between songs, I would have been entertained even if they had been horrible musicians.  It was delightful to see Josh Bearman and Ben Belcher hand off the standup without breaking the bass line so that they could trade mandolin and banjo solos.  And it was clear that the four regular members, Josh, Ben, Ed Brogan, and Jake Sellers, as well as the guest fiddler Graham DeZarn all loved playing together.  That in and of itself is an amazing feat for a band that tours regularly and was just coming off of ten consecutive nights of shows.  For me, seeing that the musicians are having fun always adds an unparalleled level of enjoyment to a performance. 

At this point I would like to give some little description of how I go about writing an article, bear with me as I do have a point to make about the band.  At the show I typically use a small digital recorder to record the music along with a pocket notebook to jot down any thoughts I have in the moment.  I then listen to my recording of the show as I write the article, so that I can constantly be reminded of what the band sounded like.  What I would like to note here is that as I am writing this article I have had to turn off the audio recording.  The music is so good that I can't concentrate on writing.  It's the sort of music that just grabs your attention, and holds it, and there is nothing you can do about it.  To be perfectly honest I listened to the entire show two times through before I was even able to concentrate enough to write the first paragraph.  So that being said, I'm gonna stop writing this article and listen to it again.  In the meantime I would highly recommend you check these guys out.  Their next show in Richmond is New Year's Eve at The Camel.

TheHotSeats.net

MySpace.com/TheHotSeatsRVA

CharismaArtist.com

By Editing Department, Regional Editor and Author: Robin Marschak

Robin Marschak was born and raised in Richmond, but has only recently moved back after two years in California.  He loves all types of music from Jimmy Rodgers to Daft Punk to Tower of Power and all things in between.  He is currently a student at VCU and living in Oregon Hill.  Some of his favorite artists include Old Crow Medicine Show, Mark Campbell, and Steve Earl.  Other than listening to music and writing, Robin's hobbies include eating, sleeping, and an occasional guilt induced fit of exercise.  You can follow his adventures in local music on Twitter @robinmarschak, or hear some of the non-local music that he enjoys at either last.fm/user/beerdo231 or blip.fm/beerdo.

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