Sam Bush

• Name — Sam Bush • Birth Name — Charles Samuel Bush • Born — 13 April 1952 • Birthplace — Bowling Green, Kentucky, U.S. • Genre — Progressive bluegrass • Occupation — Musician, singer • Instrument — Mandolin, fiddle, banjo, guitar • Years Active — 1963–present • Label — Flying Fish, Sugar Hill, Ridge Runner • Past Member Of — * Bluegrass Alliance • New Grass Revival • Strength in Numbers • Nash Ramblers • Website — sambush.com

Born in Bowling Green, Kentucky, Bush was exposed to country and bluegrass music at an early age through his father Charlie's record collection, and later by the Flatt & Scruggs television show. Buying his first mandolin at the age of 11, his musical interest was further piqued when he attended the inaugural Roanoke, VA Bluegrass Festival in 1965. As a teen, Bush took first place three times in the junior division of the National Oldtime Fiddler's Contest in Weiser, ID. He joined guitarist and vocalist Wayne Stewart, his mentor and music teacher during Sam's teen years, and banjoist Alan Munde (later of Country Gazette) and the three recorded an instrumental album, Poor Richard's Almanac, in 1969. In the spring of 1970, Bush attended the Fiddlers Convention at Union Grove, NC, and was inspired by the rock-flavored progressive bluegrass of the New Deal String Band. Later that year, he moved to Louisville and joined the Bluegrass Alliance. In the fall of 1971, the band dissolved and reformed as the New Grass Revival. 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 Revival 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 Late Night with Conan O'Brien 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. Following Howlin' at the Moon in 1998, he released Ice Caps: Peaks of Telluride in 2000, which was a live recording. In 2004, Randall left Bush's band and Brad Davis took over harmony vocals and guitar duties. In 2006, Bush released Laps in Seven. The release was significant because it marked the return of the banjo to Bush's recordings, played by Scott Vestal. The guitarist, Keith Sewell, performed on the recording, but shortly after took a job with the Dixie Chicks. Bush sought a new guitarist for his recordings and road band and found Stephen Mougin. In 2007, Bush released his first live concert DVD, titled On The Road. 2007 also marked the first time he had been chosen to host the International Bluegrass Music Association Awards. Bush contributed to two bluegrass tribute albums to the British Progressive Rock band the Moody Blues – 2004's Moody Bluegrass: A Nashville Tribute to the Moody Blues, and 2011's Moody Bluegrass TWO...Much Love. Bush provided the lead vocal for the Ray Thomas song "Nice To Be Here" on the latter album. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee.

As well as being an accomplished bluegrass vocalist, Bush also is an accomplished instrumentalist on the mandolin and fiddle, winning the title of National Fiddle champion at fifteen years of age. He was a founding member of the New Grass Revival and has been called a modern-day Bill Monroe, or as Sam would tell.... if Bill was the father of bluegrass then I could be the mother because Monroe would say: 'here comes that mother now!' Bush also recalls meeting Mr. Monroe as a young teen. After demonstrating his mandolin technique Monroe offered the advice: "stick to the fiddle". • Illustration — With Byron House, March 27, 2007. Bush is one of the main attractions at the annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Telluride, Colorado and plays the eight p.m. set on Saturday night as well as many guest appearances throughout the weekend. He is affectionately known as "The King of Telluride" for his perennial appearances there (and Emmylou Harris the "Queen of Telluride"). Bush also toured in Harris' band, The Nash Ramblers. Additional collaborations include recording and live performances with Doc Watson, Linda Ronstadt, Dolly Parton, Ann Savoy, Tony Rice, Peter Rowan, Russ Barenberg, David Grisman, Mark O'Connor, Edgar Meyer, and in "Strength in Numbers", a band consisting of Béla Fleck, Mark O'Connor, Edgar Meyer, Jerry Douglas, and Sam Bush. Strength in Numbers was a collaboration born from jam sessions at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. The music on their CD release entitled "The Telluride Sessions" was all instrumental and recorded live, showcasing the individual talent of each player and their ability to improvise. During 2000–2008 there were many variations of the Strength in Numbers band, also known as "Bluegrass Sessions", always including Jerry Douglas, (Dobro), and usually bassist Byron House, also from Bowling Green, KY. Other musicians include Gabe Witcher (fiddle), Bryan Sutton (guitar), Tim O'Brien (fiddle, mandolin, guitar, vocals) and Darol Anger (fiddle). The Sam Bush Band tours extensively, appearing at many small venues and large festivals such as the Strawberry Music Festival (Memorial Day and Labor Day), Rockygrass (late July), and every spring at the Americana Festival, MerleFest in Wilkesboro, North Carolina.

• Year — Album — Chart Positions — Label • US Bluegrass — US Country — US Heat • 1977 — Together Again For The First Time (w/ Alan Munde) — — — — — — — Ridge Runner • 1985 — Late as Usual — — — — — — — Rounder • 1996 — Glamour & Grits — — — — — — — Sugar Hill • 1998 — Howlin' at the Moon — — — — — — • 2000 — Ice Caps: Peaks of Telluride — — — — — — • 2003 — Hold On, We're Strummin (w/ David Grisman) — 7 — — — — — Acoustic Disc • 2004 — King of My World — 2 — 64 — — — Sugar Hill • 2006 — Laps in Seven — 2 — — — — • 2009 — Circles Around Me — 3 — — — 47 • 2016 — Storyman — 3 — — — — • 2022 — Radio John — 2 — — — — — Smithsonian Folkways

• On the Road (2007) Sugar Hill

• Norman Blake/Tut Taylor/Sam Bush/Butch Robins/Vassar Clements/David Holland/Jethro Burns - HDS 1975 • Down South - Doc & Merle Watson - Sugar Hill 1984 • Riding The Midnight Train - Doc Watson - Sugar Hill 1986 • Drive – Béla Fleck – Rounder Records 1988 • The Telluride Sessions by supergroup Strength in Numbers – MCA 1989 • Short Trip Home – Sony Classical 1999 • (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 • Soulgrass – Bluegrass and Jazz Fusion 2005 • Goin' Home: A Tribute to Fats Domino 2007, performing "Rising Sun" with Marc Broussard

• New Grass Revival (Hollywood, 1972) • Fly Through the Country (Flying Fish, 1975) • When the Storm Is Over (Flying Fish, 1977) • Too Late to Turn Back Now (Flying Fish, 1977) • Barren County (Flying Fish, 1979) • Leon Russell & New Grass Revival (Paradise, 1981) • Commonwealth (Flying Fish, 1981) • On the Boulevard (Sugar Hill, 1984) • Live in Toulouse (Sugar Hill, 1984) • New Grass Revival (Capitol, 1986) • Hold to a Dream (Capitol, 1988) • Friday Night in America (Capitol, 1989) • When the Storm Is Over/Fly Through the Country (Flying Fish, 1992)