Erik Yates / Hot Buttered Rum / Gin & Boots

Erik Yates & Hot Buttered Rum can provide solo, duo, trio, quartet, quintet or sextet formations, and can either skew more towards their bluegrasss/folk music roots or stretch out into rock and blues covers from the 60s, 70s and 80s. We own our own PA system and can run our own sound. Our guitarist Nat Keefe also doubles as a DJ when needed, and has all the attendant gear for that as well.

Hot Buttered Rum has been bringing high-energy shows to both public and private events for over 20 years. Clients can expect the top level of talent and an easy-going rapport, both on and off the stage. We love making people dance and smile, and it shows!

Erik Yates has been teaching, producing and performing professionally for over twenty years. He holds a B.A. in Music from Lewis & Clark College, where he met guitarist/producer Nat Keefe and started Hot Buttered Rum in 1999. As an instrumentalist, he favors the guitar, dobro, banjo or ukulele. As a writer, his material ranges from blues to folk to bluegrass and back. His songs blend the personal with the traditional, and, as a producer, Erik’s taste reflects this blend. His production credits center on artists in his San Francisco Bay Area whose material he’s worked to arrange, record and release to the public with all the panache a banjo player can muster.

Erik’s toured extensively throughout North America with Hot Buttered Rum, playing in 48 states, Canada and a number of Caribbean islands. He’s also been brought on as a journeyman instrumentalist with groups like Railroad Earth, Rapidgrass and Wolf Jett. He’s performed at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, Red Rocks Amphitheater and, most likely, the pizza joint down the street from wherever you are. In addition to his touring through domestic venues large and small, he’s also helped the Swiss celebrate their National Day in Zurich, recorded with Ghanaian virtuosi in Accra, worked as a banjo instructor at France’s La Roche Festival and, most recently, traveled to Rwanda and Zambia as part of American Music Abroad’s 2020 season. Erik continues to work with AMA to produce virtual programming with some of the many musicians he met on Hot Buttered Rum’s recent travels. He also produces a weekly webcast for Hot Buttered Rum fans, teaches tirelessly through his online studio and is hard at work on a second solo record.

We have our own small PA system and can set it up ourselves. All we require is power. We can also play acoustically, if needed.