Sam Bush Archives - Bluegrass Today

Enter to open for Sam Bush in Wilmington, NC

Sam Bush – photo © Bryan Bolea

Sam Bush and the Brooklyn Arts Center are offering artists the opportunity to open for him and his Sam Bush Band on February 16 in Wilmington, NC.

Bands, small ensembles, and solo acts are eligible to enter for this opening slot, with the only stipulation being that the selected opener must complement Sam’s sound and its bluegrass roots, and require complicated sound reinforcement needs, and not include drums. The chosen act will get a 30 minute set ahead of Sam and the band.

Anyone interested simply has to fill out an online form with you or your band’s name, your email address, and a link to an audio track or video demonstrating why you are a good fit.

Entries must be received by January 31, with the winner to be announced on February 5.

Artists from anywhere are invited to submit, but there is no compensation offered for this performance.

Full details and the entry form can be found online.

Hall of Fame introduces John Hartford Days with Sam Bush

The Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame & Museum in Owensboro, KY has announced a new event next month, a two-day indoor concert and workshop event honoring the music and legacy of John Hartford.

Billed as John Hartford Days, and running January 31 and February 1, 2025, the weekend will include jamming workshops, discussion panels on Hartford’s career and output, film screenings, and evening concerts with the Sam Bush Band and special guests.

Sam will perform both Friday and Saturday night, with different guests joining him each time. Guests booked to appear are John’s son, Jamie Hartford, Rodney Dillard, Mike Compton, Alison Brown, Jim Lauderdale, and Showman & Coole from Lonesome Ace Stringband.

An after party at the Museum will also be held both nights following the evening concerts, which will also feature an opening act.

On Friday afternoon they will screen Banjoes, Fiddles & Riverboats: John Hartford and the General Jackson, a documentary which John wrote and in which he stars, and on Saturday will show Ramblin’ with John Hartford, a live performance film from 1980.

All of this, both days, is included in the $99 ticket price for John Hartford Days.

The Hall of Fame has made arrangements with The Hampton Inn & Suites Waterfront, located next door to the Museum, to offer discounted room rates with your ticket purchase.

Full details and ticket purchase options can be found online.

Tony Trischka Earl Jam video for Dooley

Down The Road Records, the new business venture from the founders of Rounder Records, has released another live studio video of a track from their upcoming project with Tony Trischka, called Earl Jam.

The focus of this unique tribute album is a set of audio recordings Trischka obtained of jam sessions with the great Earl Scruggs, recorded at his home while he was still alive and playing. Tony transcribed some 200 Scruggs solos from these files, and recorded 15 new tracks with a superstar lineup for his appropriately named Earl Jam project.

This latest video finds Tony in the studio with Sam Bush, Molly Tuttle, Bronwyn Keith-Hynes, and Mark Schatz cutting their version of The Dillards classic, Dooley. The song was a big hit for The Dillards during the 1960s, as they were featured performing it as the Darlin’ Family on The Andy Griffith Show back in the day. It’s the story of a bootlegger named Dooley, and tells of his exploits in the Ozark hills where the Dillards were from.

Bush and Tuttle trade verses, as Tony and crew change keys to accommodate their different vocals ranges, with nice three part harmony on the choruses. Tony takes a break on a verse in D, and a chorus in G, and true to the concept of these recordings, they are based on what he heard Earl play on the jam tapes.

The music video for Dooley finds Trischka and his cohorts in the studio cutting this track. Check it out.

Dooley is available now as a single from popular download and streaming services online. Pre-orders for the Earl Jam album, due June 7, are also enabled as either an audio CD or vinyl LP from Tony’s web site.

Photos from Grand Del Opry 2

Sam Bush, Tyler Childers, Del McCoury, The Del McCoury Band, and Ricky Skaggs on stage immediately following their finale performance on the Grand Del Opry 2 – photo © Grand Ole Opry by Chris Hollo

Last week the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville honored Del McCoury with a special show on November 18, which they called Grand Del Opry 2. Along with Del and his band, performances by his friends Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs, Tyler Childers, Bill Anderson, The Preservation Jazz Hall Band, and The Travelin’ McCourys were on tap. It was billed as Grand Del Opry 2 as a similar event had been held in 2019 on the occasion of McCoury’s 80th birthday.

Thanks to the folks at Schmidt Relations and Chris Hollo, Opry photographer, we have these images of the concert to share for those who couldn’t make the show.

Looks like a great time!

Yeller Rose of Texas video from Tommy Emmanuel, with Sam Bush

Certified guitar player Tommy Emmanuel has a new single this week from his Accomplice Two album, a 16-track followup to his similarly titled 2018 project, consisting of collaborations with some of his favorite singers and instrumentalists. Guests on Two include Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, Jerry Douglas, David Grisman, Del McCoury, and on this latest release, Sam Bush.

For their duet Tommy and Sam chose a Homer & Jethro classic, their innversion of the unofficial Texas state song, which they called Yeller Rose of Texas. In their remake Homer & Jethro sang of Rose’s unattractive features and qualities, which Sam and Tommy reprise for their cut, and despite the frivolity of the lyrics, they engage in some serious picking.

Emmanuel expressed his admiration for Bush, and their shared memories of Homer & Jethro.

“I have been a Sam Bush fan since the ’70s. I love Sam’s infectious playing on either fiddle or mandolin, and he plays guitar so well too. Son of a gun! When we are both on the same festival or event, we never pass up the opportunity to jam out some tunes together, it’s always big fun for us, AND the audiences!

When we got to know each other, we discovered we had grown up listening to the same Homer & Jethro records from the ’50s. We knew all the tunes, all the words, all the licks, and ALL the jokes! So, Yeller Rose of Texas was a must for us to do as a duet. Sam knew all the Jethro parts and led me through it like a taskmaster!

What a joy it was to play and sing this song with Sam— it was hard not to crack up too much! Hope the folks out there enjoy this gem!”

The pair was captured in the studio tracking this number, which you can enjoy in this video released today, shot and edited by Joshua Britt and Neilson Hubbard for Neighborhoods Apart.

Yeller Rose of Texas, and the full Accomplice Two album, are available from popular download and streaming services online. Downloads may also be purchased directly from the artist.

Telluride 50th anniversary thoughts from the artists who played

Jen Hughes has shared some final thoughts on this year’s historic 50th anniversary of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, taken from brief interviews with 2023 performers Jerry Douglas, Bryan Sutton, Jeremy Garret, Stephen Mougin, and festival goer Greg Nadeau, who has been on site all 50 years!

We were able to catch up with some of the bluegrass family at the 50^th Telluride Bluegrass Festival, and wanted to convey some of their reflections with you about that legendary festival in the beautiful box canyon of Telluride. We are sincerely grateful that they shared their thoughts with us.

The Dobro Master: Jerry Douglas

We asked Jerry Douglas, the dobro master, who performed at TBF50 with the Earls of Leicester and the Telluride House Band, a couple of questions about the 50^th Anniversary of the festival. Here are Jerry’s reflections: touching statements imbued with his excellent sense of humor:

What does the 50^th Anniversary of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival mean to you?

The first thought I have about the 50th Telluride Bluegrass Festival is Sam Bush has been there 49 times!!! Then, I remember and count up that I have been there 40 times. Isn’t that the equivalent of a full-grown adult who should know what Shinola is by this point? This festival has been a huge part of my adult life and career as a musician. It has fed me, clothed me, and filled my life with friends I can count on all the rest of my life.

Planet Bluegrass is more than a musical event. It’s an ecosystem. We all carry thoughts about the place to different parts of the world and are considered very fortunate to have played in the shadow of those mountains. The Telluride Bluegrass Festival is revered in all the world, and through its grace, we as the stewards of the festival are guilty by a deep association. And, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Can you please share the feelings you have as you roll into the box canyon for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival?

Travel to Telluride is first affirming it is your destination, and realizing this is a sport. Acclimation is topic number one. Drink lots, not just lots, but LOTS of water before going to 8990 feet above sea level. Topic number two is what am I bringing to the audience, who know me very well, that may be new in my journey to please and challenge the Festivarians….

But really….

As soon as I turn the corner at Ridgeway I get this memory flood of past festivals and all the ways I have reinvented myself or threw myself out of my comfort zone to find out what these other folks were up to.

When I come around the bend and see the town checkpoint, the town comes into view, and because I have been here so many times, I start checking which businesses have stayed and which ones have gone, making way for the new generation’s needs.

I look up and see the majesty we are graced with. Those peaks and how much water is pouring over the falls will forecast the weekend and send the crowd on its path to feeding the musicians who give back to the best of their abilities. And, so goes the first few fleeting moments of a new Telluride in sight — always hoping for the next one and the recurring thought when I hit Ridgeway the next time.

Flatpicking Genius: Bryan Sutton

We asked Bryan Sutton, renowned flatpicking genius, who performed with the Telluride House Band and put on a Bryan Sutton and Friends workshop in Elks Park, the same couple questions. We were delighted to hear his reflections, which convey the gratitude we TBF-goers all have about the event.

What does the 50^th Anniversary of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival mean to you?

I know the festival is bigger than my participation in it, so to have a small part in the last 23 years along with Sam, Béla, Edgar, Jerry, Hot Rize, and others is really special. It’s special to celebrate with those folks, especially Sam, who has been there since the beginning.

Can you please share the feelings you have as you roll into the box canyon for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival?

Every TBF I’ve been able to be a part of reminds me of the great community we have in the bluegrass world. I feel like I was invited and welcomed into this scene back in 2000 when I first played with Béla, Sam, Jerry, Stuart, and Mark Schatz. Subsequent years with Hot Rize and other pals are full of wonderful memories so, fundamentally, I’m thankful this year and every year this weekend rolls around.

The Man with the Fiddle on Fire: Jeremy Garrett

Lo and behold, we were able to hit Jeremy with the same questions. Not sure how he found time to grace us with some reflections given he played three entire shows in less than twenty-hours, and threw down at Camp Run-A-Muck in the middle of the night in between. We sure were happy to hear from him and take in how he puts into words what we all TBF-goers feel.

What does the 50^th Anniversary of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival mean to you?

Anytime something has been going on as long as the Telluride Bluegrass Festival it is more than an event, it is a tradition for sure. Over the years, the Telluride Bluegrass Festival has had so many incredible performers, the who’s who of the genre. The exposure that bluegrass music has received from the festival has been wonderful!

Can you please share the feelings you have as you roll into the box canyon for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival?

The feeling that you get as you roll into the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and box canyon is best described as nostalgia, real lived in the moment. Your heart skips a beat with excitement and anticipation for the event. So many great memories have been made here, and so many friendships have been forged.

Sammy’s Ever Solid Side Man for Pickin’ and a-Singing: Stephen Mougin

What a treat to be able to have an extended visit with Stephen Mougin, who knocked it out of the park at the Saturday headliner set with The Sam Bush Band. Here is a bit of our conversation with this TBF veteran.

What does the 50^th Anniversary of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival mean to you?

It is a special time to celebrate all the folks that have played out here and the long history. I was thinking earlier about the culture that this festival has created. Being that long-standing, a lot of bands formed because of this festival – bands that we just identify as headliners at this point. It is a pretty cool thing to see the collaborations that always happen here and the annual gathering of all of our pals. It is just such a special place.

Can you please share the feelings you have as you roll into the box canyon for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival?

We always come in on a bus, and it is always really early in the morning as we roll in coming from Nashville. The entire band is always sitting in front of the bus just looking at the scene, and it just never gets old. We were all commenting on the way in this year that we all have hard drives full of photos, and they are all the same photos! Every time you come here, you whip out your phone and you take another picture of the same thing. But, it is just so special that you cannot help it. It’s so beautiful here.

What are some of the top things you look forward to every time you come to the TBF?

First and foremost, just the whole camaraderie and friends that I have here. The other bands, photographers, and media folks: we just have a relationship over all these years. It is like a homecoming in a certain way. And, I love watching certain sets. The House Band is always a thrill for me. As a kid, I heard of that event and it was a thrill to get to see them the first time. Also, of course, getting to play with Sam on Saturday night as one of the headline acts. It’s incredible. It is an amazing thing. Terrifying and amazing all at the same time!

The other thing I love is the Elks Park Stage with the workshops and the different interesting collaborations that are not on the main stage. I think it is pretty cool to have a festival that is so huge but there is really one stage with this little Elks Park thing, so it feels like the festival breathes a little more than some. They have fantastic vendors here too. It is always world class. Planet Bluegrass just knows how to throw a party, keep everybody safe, and do a bang-up job. It is top-notch.

You mentioned the Saturday night Sam Bush Band show. Can you describe a bit more about what it is like to walk onto the TBF stage on Saturday night?

I have vivid memories of my first time here, which was 2006, walking out on the stage. I swear that I didn’t even see the crowd for about four or five songs because the stage is really tall and the mountains are so majestic. When you walk out on stage, it is hard to take it all in. You are simply surrounded by gorgeous views any way you look and, I swear, it was like four or five songs in before I even noticed that there was an audience there. I just wasn’t looking down because it is such a glorious, epic place. Also, it is wonderful and terrifying to see your friends and heroes sitting in the pit. It is very cool to look down and see Tim O’Brien, Jerry Douglas, and Béla, and all those folks just sitting there hanging out watching the show. It’s amazing.

Off stage are there any annual traditions of getting together to jam or catch-up with your musician friends?

The hotel we stay at has a lot of the other musicians there too. So, there are a lot of breakfast conversations. It’s just great. You run into the same folks year after year and talk about whatever: sometimes, it’s music gear; sometimes, it’s festivals, new albums, and all that kind of stuff. And, that is pretty special. Also, for a long time, I have been invited by the Yonder Mountain guys to sit in with them at their late-night show, and I have done that whenever I can. That is fun to go hang out and play music with our buddies. And, that’s what it is all about: sharing a community of music. It is really cool.

Anyone in particular you were really hoping to catch this TBF?

The thing I was most looking forward to was the Nickel Creek show. I was a huge fan of theirs when they hit the scene, and, of course, they have been retired for a little bit so it was really cool to see them back in action and sounding great. And, the Flecktones. Kind of the same thing. They are back out this summer. I truly believe that it is probably because of this festival that both of those bands are back out touring and doing stuff — their reason for getting back out there.

Do you have any traditions as you are about to leave Telluride?

Nothing specifically as I leave, but there are some annual things I want to make sure I do. One of the things is going up the gondola and hanging out at the top of the mountain for a while. There are a couple different restaurants I like to visit. There are a few stores too. I always spend time at the Telluride Music Store. Love those guys. They always have some amazing instruments and they are a wealth of knowledge. So, there are some things I do every year here, but not necessarily as an exit.

Perfect Attendance Award: Greg Nadeau

Sam Bush always asks on Saturday night of the TBF: who has been to the festival all four days? Well, I am asking: who has been to the Festival all fifty (50) years? Greg Nadeau has! Wow. I was blessed to chat with this Festivarian hero about his TBF reflections to date. Hard to stop smiling about the fact that Greg happened upon the TBF and it changed his life for the next 50 years . . . so far. Greg attends the TBF with his wife, Gail, who has attended 45 TBFs!

You have been to every single Telluride Bluegrass Festival?

Yes!

How did you discover the Telluride Bluegrass Festival?

I discovered it when a few of my friends and I were going to go hiking in the area, and there happened to be music going on in town. So, we stayed around and listened to a lot of the music. We did a little bit of hiking but we did more music than hiking.

What keeps you coming back?

Well, it is running into good friends every year there that we do not get to see throughout the rest of the year. It’s more about getting together with friends than the music . . . and the music is great.

Someone told me that even though the TBF did not go on in 2020 that you actually made your way to Telluride in June 2020 when the festival would have happened. Is that a true story?

Yes, we did. We met a few people who were camping there just to say they were in Telluride that week. We took a trip over from Durango to visit them for the day.

And, you stepped foot on the TBF Town Park Field?

Yes!

Are there any particular years or moments over the years that are your favorites?

Well, I would have to say the year Johnny Cash played. And, about 10-11 years ago when Robert Plant and his band played and Mumford and Sons played. That was a big year.

Do you have any particular traditions that you look forward to every year? Like something in particular you make a point to do each year when you’re at the TBF?

Lately, in the past 10 years or more, we’ve been coming over to camp a week before Planet Bluegrass takes over. We hang out with our good friends the week before everything gets crazy.

What does the 50^th Anniversary of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival mean to you?

It means I’m getting older! It’s another great week getting together with friends and seeing great music.

Come to Jesus video from Danny Burns, with Sam Bush

Bonfire Music Group has a final single release for Danny Burns ahead of his latest album, Promised Land, which is due next month.

Danny is an Irish-born singer who has made the transition to the US with his family, where he is pursuing his recording and performing career with an edgy bluegrass sound. Previous projects have flirted with the grass, but this next embraces it fully, with a number of singles that have been well received on our charts.

This latest, Come To Jesus, revives a Mindy Smith hit from two decades back which took a simple churchy melody, and made into a rootsy rock track. Smith is also an artist who teased at the edges of bluegrass, and Danny’s cut finds him in duet with Sam Bush on a rockin’ grass number.

Further support comes from Scott Vestal on banjo, Billy Contreras on fiddle, Tony Wray on guitar, Tim Crouch on fiddle, Josh Methany on reso-guitar, and Ethan Burkhardt on bass.

The music video finds Sam and Danny in the studio, with stand-in Chris Ward on fiddle. The song has a hypnotic groove, well worth checking out.

Come To Jesus is available now from popular download and streaming services online, and radio programmers via AirPlay Direct.

Look for Promised Land to hit August 25.

Sam Bush Band at the Dancing Bear Lodge

Suffice it to say, there’s never any such thing as a bad Sam Bush show. Bush and his compatriots— banjo player Wes Corbett, Steve Mougin on guitar, Todd Parks on bass, and drummer Chris Brown — consistently demonstrate the fact that they remain among the best bands in and around bluegrass, even with a demanding schedule that takes them across the country throughout the spring, summer, and fall, while also headlining at the most prestigious gatherings and festivals the country has to offer.

Bush and company proved that once again when their appearance at the beautiful Dancing Bear Appalachian Lodge in Townsend, TN was affected by a series of torrential downpours, forcing them from the venue’s spacious lawn amphitheater and into the more intimate confines of the restaurant’s covered dining area. After guests were served a sumptuous buffet, the tables were taken away and chairs were situated in such a manner as to guarantee some semblance of up-close proximity.

Despite the hastily compressed set-up, the band still managed to put on an impressive show, one that drew largely from Bush’s current album and tribute to John Hartford, Radio John. Beginning with the title track, the set list also included John McLaughlin (Hartford’s homage to the father of fusion name-dropped in the title), the suitably whimsical Granny Wontcha Smoke Some Marijuana, the tender ode to the working man illuminated in the beautiful ballad, In Tall Buildings, and Bush’s solo spotlight, A Simple Thing As Love, an appropriate choice given that it reflected the fact that Bush recorded the album as a whole entirely on his own.

That said, the performance proved to be an ensemble effort. The final offering prior to the encore, a medley of Leon Russell songs, stretched into an extended jam that demonstrated both how capable and credible the Sam Bush Band is as an exacting instrumental outfit. Bush himself proved proficient on his usual array of instrumentation — mandolin, fiddle, acoustic guitar, and mandocello. However he does more than simply pluck at the strings, and his frenzied solos underscored the vigor and versatility of his efforts.

Naturally then, the band’s performance was met by an enthusiastic response from the audience, and throughout the 18 song set, the band was greeted with the crowd’s constant approval. As always, Bush and the band seemed to be enjoying themselves as well, no doubt impressed with the scenic surroundings. His shout-out to the crowd in the opening moments of the concert, “Greetings music lovers,” set the tone, and when various audience members shouted their approval or offered a neighborly greeting, such as, “Welcome to Townsend,” the communal vibes were all too evident.

In a sense, the gig at Dancing Bear could have been considered a warm-up for the busy string of festival appearance that lay ahead. For that, the band seemed grateful. Naturally, the jaw-dropping grin that Bush always has pasted all over his face remained there throughout the evening, and even when here were a couple of fumbles such as a false start here or a need to adjust a sound level there, the pace never seemed to falter. After all, given Bush’s fifty plus years in his reigning role as “Father of Newgrass,” it’s clear that his aim is to please — tweaks and tunings aside.

So too, given the exquisite ambiance of Dancing Bear’s intimate environs, any last minute change in the arrangements was hardly cause for concern. Given the fact that Bush and his band are often viewed from the far-away realms of a festival field, the opportunity to witness them in such close proximity more than made up for any extra adjustments.

Sam Bush – a musician in motion

Sam Bush could be considered the perennial troubadour. He’s not only a regular presence at every bluegrass gathering of any significance, he’s also a steadfast session player whose contributions on mandolin and fiddle are found on any number of albums by leading lights in today’s Americana realms. As spring turns to summer, he’s preparing to tour once again with his band in tow, while also celebrating his latest release, Radio John, a tribute to his friend and mentor John Hartford.

Of course Bush’s credentials are well known. Kentucky born and bred, he pursued his passion for the work of Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys, and went on to win multiple awards before cofounding the progressive bluegrass band, New Grass Revival. With his participation, the group helped spread the parameters of bluegrass well beyond its traditional template, and into the populist realms of a new younger audience. After they disbanded, he spent five years with Emmylou Harris’ Nash Ramblers, before eventually going solo. He took home three-straight IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year awards, 1990-92, and a fourth in 2007. So too, over the span of his ultra-successful solo career, he’s released seven albums and a live DVD. Not surprisingly then, in 2009, the Americana Music Association awarded Bush the Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist.

Bluegrass Today recently had the opportunity to speak with the always-affable Mr. Bush to quickly catch up and talk about his upcoming activities.

So, Sam, it’s about to get to that busy season for you. How are you doing sir?

Hey, Lee doing all right.

You are, of course, a constant and consistent road warrior. It’s hard to keep up with you. So the first question. one has to ask is how do you do it?

Well, what we do is we travel for a living, but we also get to get out and play music a couple of hours. It’s hard to believe how long I’ve been doing this, but the music is still the rewarding part. I think we all kind of feel a new sense of renewal over the last couple of years of being able to get out and congregate again. Before, we took that for granted, how freely we get to travel about as Americans. And so at any rate, I think that I’m maybe, I’m a little bit renewed with enthusiasm for playing music and just getting out and getting to play with the band again.

It’s always so great to see you play because you always have that smile on your face. You are obviously so enthused, and it’s so evident all the time. That joy and enthusiasm never seems to leave you. You always seem so happy doing what you do.

That is my resting face. I’ve had a few health slips over the years, just enough to drive home the fact that I am fortunate to get to play music. So as long as the hands and the voice work well, I want to keep doing it. That’s a joyful thing. I’ve always been fortunate when it’s time to play, because I’m able to channel the energy of the group. So when we start the show, within a few minutes, we’ve connected as a band and that translates to the audience. People just enjoy the music. Obviously, if we’re enjoying it, then it opens the door for the audience that want to want to participate. If we look like something’s wrong, some probably is. But it’s our job to just entertain people and take you away from your other thoughts for an hour and a half or two hours.

So who’s in the band currently?

We had a new banjo player, Wes Corbett, join a couple of years ago, but other than that, it’s still Steve Mougin on guitar, Todd Parks on bass, and good old Chris Brown and his drums of renown.

This band has been together for a while now, has it not?

It’s hard for me to remember how long all the different people have been in but I think this was Chris Brown’s first job in 2001. So Chris, and I’ve been playing together, arguably, for 22 years. And he has certainly freed us up over the years to try different kinds of music. I’m thinking Steve joined around 14 years ago, and Todd maybe around around 12 years ago. So it’s obviously, a very comfortable feeling, and a warm camaraderie that we’ve got going on here. Wes is now the youngster of the group and has brought us in some new energy. When he first joined, we played about 14 shows and then had to shut down for a year due to the pandemic. So did everybody else. These these guys are highly inventive, and I always want to play with the best people.

Still, it’s no small accomplishment to have a band that’s held together for such a long time. It’s not only the musical chemistry but the personalities as well. The fact that you’ve managed to maintain that bond is no small accomplishment.

Well, yeah. And the crew is the same way. But that’s part of the job of being a traveling musician. A large part of your job is getting along with others. You must. You learn that in kindergarten, to play well with others. And boy, the music business really applies to playing well with others. You can’t always agree on everything, and we don’t, but we agree musically. So that’s most important. I’m very fortunate that when we wake up in the morning, everybody pretty much wakes up with a smile on their face. That’s a fortunate situation.

Tell us about your new CD, Radio John. It was mostly a solo affair, was it not? How did that come about?

I didn’t set out to make a tribute to John Hartford. It just organically happened. My wife Lynn and I go to Florida, and when we can, we try to go down to the Gulf Coast of Florida. And I always take little recording machines with me. What I would do sometimes if maybe I’d get stuck as I trying to write some new tunes is to play a John Hartford song, or some of my favorite Hartford tunes. Then I just started kind of laying them down on tape, but I wasn’t having success with my recording engineering capabilities. And so my friend Donnie Sundial, who I sometimes jam with when I’m down there, stopped by and he brought an entire digital ProTools recording rig. He brought me an extra bass. So I started recording these songs with Donnie down in Florida. And then, in 2020, Rick Wheeler, who was working with us as an engineer and tour manager, got involved. So Rick and I would get together, the two of us, and I would just overdub on the songs for hours and just work on these tunes while singing them. And it was also me making my way on banjo, which I hadn’t played in years. But certain certain things that John did I knew how to do, and I didn’t want to call one of my brilliant banjo friends and asked them to tag along, so to speak.

So is that how it evolved with you playing all the instruments?

Originally, I was just going to make some demos so the band could learn some of these Hartford songs. But then I began to realize that maybe these tunes mean much more to me than they would anyone else. I love the songs and I love John and his music. So, fortunately, Smithsonian Folkways wanted to put it out. So that’s what I mean when I say it just kind of organically happened. All of a sudden, I had nine tunes recorded that John Hartford wrote. And then I had this idea for a song called Radio John, which was his nickname as a deejay when he was a young man. At one point, we had like 20-something verses to it. So we put our song Radio John together as as a tribute to Hartford. On the first New Grass Revival album there’s a poem on the back written by a guy named Radio John, and that was Hartford.

For folks that are familiar with Hartford, it brings it all back around And for those that aren’t familiar with him, it illuminates that legacy. It’s a wonderful thing that you were able to bring his work front and center.

It may be the only John Hartford tribute that doesn’t include Gentle On My Mind, but it’s just that song had been done a lot. I actually got to record it with John, but my favorite version of it is Tim O’Brien’s. I was fortunate to get in on Hartford’s music early in my life, growing up around with the close, close proximity to Nashville, Tennessee television stations. I saw him on on the Wilburn Brothers show on Saturday afternoons, but I didn’t catch his name. I didn’t know who this handsome banjo picker was. But I noticed he could sing while he was doing an Earl Scruggs roll on the banjo and I had never seen anybody do that. So it wasn’t long before my dad and I went to Nashville, and we went into the Ernest Tubb record shop and I found a record. There’s that guy and his name’s John Hartford. I started buying his records in the in the ’60, the ones he was making for RCA where it was his guitar and banjo and fiddle. I love those records, and so I was following John all throughout his career, and then all of a sudden, he’s on the Glen Campbell show. There’s that guy. And of course, one of the records I bought had Gentle On My Mind on it. I was familiar with that song before the Glen Campbell record came out. Then we saw him at a festival and we got to meet him at Bill Monroe’s festival. He played a set with Tut Taylor, Vassar Clements, and Norman Blake, and that just blew the roof off the place. And at that point, I was hooked. I was fortunate to be able to listen to his music. All those records. I’ve got them all.

So in a way, you’ve brought it all full circle.

It’s like Lynn Lynn said. John’s music deserves to be remembered.

And you’re a big part of that now.

Again, I didn’t really set out to do it. It just sort of organically happened. And now that has, I’m happy it did.

You are a very competent one man band.

Well, thank you. It was very time consuming. And and when you’re overdubbing everything by yourself, sometimes you’ll be happy with what you’ve done, but then you put on the next instrument and you find out you have a slight timing problem in one of your other tracks. Sometimes you have to go, okay, now I’ve gotta fix that mistake. Oh, wait, that wasn’t a mistake ’till I did this. Oh, no. All right. So it can be a tough job. Most of the time, you have a producer who can talk to the artist. But in this case, you’ve got to go to the mirror and talk to yourself. You can drive yourself crazy fixing every mistake. But I’m sure I didn’t fix every mistake.

So what’s coming up for you recording-wise? Do you have another record in the planning stages?

I kind of do. I hope to get back in the studio before the end of the year.

With all that you’ve achieved in your career, all the awards, all the accolades, what’s still on your bucket list? What do you strive for that you have achieved already?

Just getting up tomorrow is a good ambition. Unbelievably to me, I turn 71 this month, and so really, the realistic thing is, I have to work to accommodate aging hands. I know, someday my hands will not want to keep working on the instrument. It’s funny, I’ve never enjoyed playing or singing more than I do now. But it comes with its own challenges. And, of course, as my hands age, I have to keep working on my technique. I’m just still trying to get better with my playing and singing. That’s my goal. When I when I feel like I can’t get any better, I’ll have to take a good look at that and as to when to retire. But I hope it’s a long time from now.

Radio John: Songs of John Hartford – Sam Bush

It’s rare to find any artist so determined to pay homage to another that they devote an entire album to the songs of that particular predecessor. Pop music artists Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Leonard Cohen have received that steady show of devotion, as have Bill Monroe and The Stanley Brothers in bluegrass, but beyond those few, it’s hard to find any singular example of entire albums given over to one person’s work, or for that matter any performer that’s willing to share that degree of heartfelt homage.

Consequently, Sam Bush can be credited with showing such a degree of absolute admiration for his friend, mentor, and bandmate, John Hartford, that he devotes an entire effort to select songs from Hartford’s catalog. While most people know Hartford for penning Glen Campbell’s signature song, Gentle on my Mind, the bulk of his work remains well below the radar as far as the mass populace is concerned. That’s a shame, because as much as any other aritst, Hartford helped bring roots music to the fore while establishing a timeless template based on contemporary credibility.

Bush, of course, is no slouch himself. As one of the cofounders of the progressive bluegrass ensemble New Grass Revival, he too played a major role in taking tradition forward and widening its appeal as far as its populist credentials were concerned. Notably too, Bush plays every instrument on each of the new album’s ten songs, the only exception being the title track – the only non-Hartford song on the record – which finds him bringing his Sam Bush Band on board. In a sense, Bush is endeavoring to share the spotlight, given his astute abilities on fiddle, mandolin, guitar, bass, and banjo. The two instrumentals, Down and John McLaughlin, actually allow him to play off his own relentless riffing courtesy of the fact that he’s driving each song in sync.

That said, Hartford’s work ultimately takes ceter stage, just as it’s intended. So too, the material runs a gamut, from revelry to reflection. At times, it’s autobiographical, as expressed in the title track and the telling I’m Still Here. In a larger sense, it finds room for both mirth (Granny Wontcha Smoke Some Marijuana) and musing (California Earthquake, No End of Love, Morning Bugle). Hartford’s particular persona defines the music entirely, whether it’s defying the tedium of the work-a-day world (In Tall Buildings), or his other life, as a riverboat pilot navigating every bend and stretch of the mighty Mississippi (the title track).

By giving voice to Hartford’s musical mantra, Sam Bush has provided his hero and friend with the ultimate tribute. With Radio John on Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, he’s found a position on the dial midway between commitment and creativity.