Article Contributed by Big Hassle Media
Published on 2026-03-26
Bay Area roots and bluegrass band Hot Buttered Rum has shared a new music video for their song “Not Falling For It,” which was released in 2025 on the band’s album Uphill Highway. “The clips are footage from protest marches of the last 115 years. The earliest are from the Women’s Suffrage Procession in 1913. The latest are from the present day,” says songwriter Erik Yates (banjo/vocals). “The right to peacefully protest is one we can’t afford to take for granted. When we see lies spilling out of the mouths of power, we have to exercise that right. The lie of the day changes constantly – it’s a moving target. One day it’s that women voting will weaken society, another day it’s that racist segregation is harmless or that spending our tax money to bomb far-off countries will make us better-off. We’re not falling for it. We know better things are possible.”
“Not Falling For It” started out as a drumbeat, sent around by HBR’s drummer Lucas Carlton, recalls Yates. “I switched off the news, wrote a simple banjo part and three quick verses. Then we took our time adding layer after layer. Jeff’s organ. Nat’s acoustic & archtop guitars. Low-tuned gourd banjo. Bryan’s upright bass, used as icing instead of cake. When it came time to add vocals, we opened the call to singers from every corner of the Bay. Audio Angel riffed through a couple times and blew the roof off. Sam Chase took the bridge on a tour of Mordor. Jimbo Scott sang three octaves under Elliot Peck’s ringing alto, and Andreas Santos’ punk-rock exclamation points chased Mya Byrne’s righteous cries. If we’d had time, we’d have had every last person we knew on the track. We weren’t able to get ’em all on there though, and, with limited time to shoot the video, we couldn’t get everyone on camera either. Sam got some studio time and those who could came on by. We had a great time shooting it. Many lighting ideas were literally thrown against the wall, and Andreas’ son Axel gamely came in to be the video’s drummer.”
Together, the song and video combine a collaborative recording process with protest footage from past and present. Featuring contributions from a wide group of Bay Area musicians, “Not Falling For It” centers on a clear message about questioning those in power and continuing to exercise the right to protest.
About Hot Buttered Rum:
Hot Buttered Rum gets its hands dirty planting songs with roots in Appalachia and branches in California. Five-string banjo and five-alarm fiddle dovetail with doghouse bass to frame the voices of the sextet’s two busy songwriters. Twenty-five years in, with fresh mud under its fingernails, HBR’s driven, danceable music continues to find its way into the hearts of fans nationwide.
