At the center of Hot Buttered Rum is the enduring camaraderie of five best friends. The band was conceived on a backpacking trip of high school and college buddies in the High Sierra. What was dreamed up on mountaintops and around campfires has found its way into the hearts, minds, Hot Buttered Rum lives for songs. Songs to sing in the shower. Songs to crank through your earbuds at the Secretary of State. Songs to name your babies after, and then make more babies to. The band’s three songwriters—Nat Keefe, Erik Yates and Aaron Redner—spin tales about the good times, the bad times, and the roads in between, and belt them from the heart in three-part harmony. Bryan Horne’s athletic standup bass and Lucas Carlton’s tasteful percussion combine with the acoustic instruments to create what is California’s own acoustic music. Says the San Francisco Chronicle: "“Few things rejuvenate the soul like a warm fireside drink after an exhausting day in the snow. Hot Buttered Rum has that effect. Their original songs are instantly familiar and inviting, and their easygoing versions of timeless classics (the Beatles, Hank Williams) belie the intricacy of the arrangements.”