Sam Bush

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This article is about the musician. For the member of the Bush family, please see Samuel Prescott Bush.
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Bush in concert, June 2006.
Bush in concert, June 2006.

Sam Bush (b. April 13, 1952 in Bowling Green, Kentucky) is an American mandolin player. As well as being an accomplished bluegrass vocalist, Bush also is a capable instrumentalist on guitar and fiddle. He was a founding member of the New Grass Revival and has been called a modern day Bill Monroe. Sam is one of the main attractions at the annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado. He is affectionately known as "The King of Telluride" for his perennial appearances there. Sam is also a perennial performer at the Bluegrass Festival, Merlefest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina. Sam Bush is one of the liveliest performers at the festival, and makes many guest appearances with the other artists.

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[edit] Biography

Attending the Fiddlers Convention at Union Grove, North Carolina in 1970, Bush overheard the pioneering progressive bluegrass band the New Deal String Band. Inspired by their rock-flavored approach to bluegrass, he formed the New Grass Revival in 1971.

The New Grass Revival went through numerous personnel changes, with Bush remaining as the sole original member. Bassist and vocalist John Cowan joined in 1974, with banjo ace Béla Fleck and acoustic guitarist Pat Flynn being enlisted in 1981. From 1979 through 1981, the group toured with Leon Russell, opening the shows and backing Russell during his headlining set.

Beginning in 1980, Bush and Cowan periodically jammed with the Nashville-based Duckbutter Blues Band, whose other members were blues guitarist Kenny Lee, drummer Jeff Jones, and bassist Byron House. Bush recorded his debut solo album, Late as Usual, four years later. In 1989, Bush and Fleck joined Mark O'Connor, Jerry Douglas, and Edgar Meyer in an all-star bluegrass band, Strength in Numbers, at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado. When the New Grass Revivial dissolved in 1989, Bush joined Emmylou Harris' Nash Ramblers, touring and recording with Harris for the next five years.

In 1995, Bush worked as a sideman with Lyle Lovett and Bela Fleck's Flecktones. He formed his own band, featuring Cowan and ex-Nash Ramblers Jon Randall and Larry Atamanuick, shortly before recording his second solo album, Glamour & Grits, in 1996. He released his next album, Howlin' at the Moon, in 1998, with many of the same players and special guests, including Harris, Fleck and J.D. Crowe.

In the winter of 1997, Bush and the New Grass Revival reunited for an appearance on The Conan O'Brien Show as the backup band for Garth Brooks. On March 28, 1998, Bush's hometown of Bowling Green, KY, honored him with a special "Sam Bush Day" celebration.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Solo projects

[edit] Specialty projects

(Edgar Meyer & Joshua Bell with Sam Bush and Mike Marshall)
  • Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza - Acoustic Disc (1999)
(w/ David Grisman, Ronnie McCoury, Jesse McReynolds, Ricky Skaggs, others)
  • The Bluegrass Sessions - Béla Fleck - Warner Bros. (1999)
  • Hold On, We're Strummin' - Sam Bush & David Grisman - Acoustic Disc (2003)

[edit] New Grass Revival

[edit] Miscellaneous

Bush appears on numerous country and bluegrass albums, including those by:

[edit] External links

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