Hot Pickin 57s

Scruggs to Johnny Rodriguez, Johnny Cash to John Denver, Blue Highway to Bob Wills, and more..
“Y’all Sounded Amazing!” --Holly Tucker, finalist on The Voice and three-time Texas Country Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year
Hot Pickin 57s is a 4-piece band featuring acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo, mandolin and upright bass, along with lead and harmony vocals. They can also play as a trio or 5-piece band. Their debut self-titled CD was released in October 2017, and an EP entitled Hot Picks in October 2019. Hot Picks is being played on over 30 folk and bluegrass radio stations across the US and Canada. The band plays all over Texas, so whether you're planning a corporate event, festival, house concert, wedding, private party, rodeo, gala, or booking a club, they’d love to help make your event a success. Hot Pickin 57s is a Moontower Entertainment artist. The band formed in January 2016, and had a terrific year with shows at Luckenbach, 30th Annual Grapefest, a 290 Texas House Concert sponsored by the Texas Heritage Music Foundation, among many others, with continued success ever since. The seeds for the band were planted in 1997. Max was 10 years old. He heard Bill Monroe on Austin City Limits, loved it, and his family started going to hear bluegrass at Artz Rib house in Austin, Texas. After taking some lessons Max started playing out a bit and got to do some shows with other area pickers. Max, an award winning flat picking guitarist, returned to Austin after graduating from Berklee College of Music and began several projects, including Hot Pickin 57s. Max has played on stage with Sierra Hull, Mark Cosgrove (David Bromberg band), Beppe Gambetta, Howard Kalish (Texas Swing Music Hall of Fame), Jon Kemppainen (Squirrel Nut Zippers), among others. Shawn Spiars has been playing the 5-string banjo and performing for audiences for over 30 years. Since earning an Associate-of-Arts degree in Bluegrass Music from South Plains College in 1982, he has performed with numerous bands throughout Central Texas including Hard to Make a Living, Sabine River Bend Bluegrass, Blue Country Grass, Randy Collier & Grassland, and now Hot Pickin 57s. His driving melodic banjo style borrows elements from banjo legends Earl Scruggs, Don Reno, and Alan Munde. Mike Montgomery started classical violin training at age 10, and was also immersed in Old Timey and Bluegrass music. While he continued to study violin at college, his love of science led him to a PhD in Astronomy from the University of Texas at Austin. Since graduating, Mike has been working as a professional astronomer, and his research has taken him to Vienna, Cambridge in the UK, and finally back to Austin. Since his return, he has played with Whit Smith's Hot Jazz Caravan, and artists such as Alan Munde, Billy Bright, and Eddie Collins, and now Hot Pickin 57s. Mike also sings harmony vocals. Vance Hazen rounds out the band on upright bass and lead & harmony vocals. Born in Montana and raised in Ohio, he has toured all over the U.S., Europe and Japan. Vance has played with Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash, Bob Appel, Rosie and the Ramblers, Amanda Cevallos, Devin Jake, and others.