Sam Bush bringing something old, new, borrowed and bluegrass to Moonshiners Ball
A Tuesday afternoon phone call finds Sam Bush shopping from home – record shopping, that is.
His planned object of purchase? “Liberation Time,” a new album by jazz guitar titan John McLaughlin, whose 1970s fusion band, the Mahavishnu Orchestra, was one of the many electric inspirations that rubbed off on the mandolinist/fiddler. The Bowling Green native, Kentucky Music Hall of Famer and 50-year veteran of bluegrass/newgrass innovation even acknowledged McLaughlin outright in 2004 with a fusion/bluegrass mash-up tune titled “The Mahavishnu Mountain Boys.”
Such genre hopping has long been second nature to Bush, from his ’70s and ’80s tenure with the groundbreaking New Grass Revival to the long-running, multi-stylistic band bearing his name that will headline this weekend’s Moonshiners Ball in Rockcastle County.
“There has always been a sense of adventure to this music,” Bush said. “Between New Grass Revival and, I think, the David Grisman Quintet, people were starting to like where we were taking our instruments and how we were keeping an open mind about what we could play on them.”
Bush has been such a visible ambassador of bluegrass-rooted experimentation for so long that it has become easy to accept the mix of string band instrumentation and progressive compositional ideas he and generational brethren like Bela Fleck and Jerry Douglas have pioneered as a genre unto itself. But it’s not until you experience a full concert performance by Bush and his band, as Central Kentucky audiences were able to during a show at the Georgetown’s Cardome Renaissance Center in June, that the full stylistic scope of their music comes into view.
In addition to his own expert songs, Bush covered music penned or popularized by Buck Owens, John Hartford, J.J. Cale, Jeff Beck, Merle Travis, the late Louisville song stylist Tim Krekel and, of course, Bill Monroe. With a troupe of equally adventurous bandmates – drummer Chris Brown, bassist Todd Parks, guitarist Stephen Mougin and banjoist Wes Corbett - making the jump from vintage bluegrass to headier jam tunes (including all the rock and jazz leanings falling in between) yielded a natural and often quite singular sound.
In one of the Bush band’s wilder joyrides, the original grass-driven tropical tune “Bananas” effortlessly bled into a cover of the Allman Brothers Band staple “Whipping Post.” There was no jagged, abrupt transition between the two works. They instead flowed with almost eerie melodic symmetry.
“These are things that keeps us interested,” Bush said. “Within the five of us, we have so many influences. Chris and Todd are well-versed in jazz and jazz-rock fusion while Stephen and I are steeped in old bluegrass, as well as newgrass.
“One night during ‘Bananas,’ I just played the riff from ‘Whipping Post’ and Todd and Chris knew exactly what to do. Then I started singing the first verse and, sure enough, it worked. Putting ‘Whipping Post’ in the middle of an original tune I wrote makes things a little more fun for the audience, too. I mean, ‘Whipping Post’ is almost like the ‘Rocky Top’ of rock ‘n’ roll. Everybody knows it. It’s just fun for us. And honestly, if we’re have fun playing this music, it transfers into joy for the audience.”
Nash Ramblers and Emmylou Harris
Of course, Bush’s half-century career has never been limited to his own projects. He has collaborated through the decades with such varied artists as Lyle Lovett, Joshua Bell, Leon Russell, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and many others. But one of his most prized alliances was his early ’90s tenure as a member of the Nash Ramblers, the acoustic troupe that performed extensively behind Emmylou Harris. Their only recorded work, until this year, was a Grammy-winning 1992 concert album, “At the Ryman.” Last month, an archived live set, “Ramble in Music City,” surfaced. “Ramble” was recorded in 1990 at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center in Nashville with an entirely different setlist than the “Ryman” record. Its release obviously delights Bush.
“The record is such a joy,” he said of “Ramble. “I’m not sure the band even knew they were being recorded that night. But Emmylou is in such good voice. That is the voice America fell in love with.
“It’s funny, people would refer to the Nash Ramblers, because of our instrumentation, as bluegrass. Well, not us in the band. We considered it an acoustic country music band, one using bluegrass instruments. I’m just so happy the record came out. We had so much joy for five years in that band. After New Grass Revival (which disbanded in 1989), I needed a break from responsibility. Emmylou gave me that.”
Bela Fleck new album
Bush will get to further revisit his bluegrass roots alongside Fleck, Douglas, guitarist Bryan Sutton, fiddler Stuart Duncan and bassist Edgar Meyer later this fall. While the ensemble of decades-long friends gathers annually as the “house band” for the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, their November tour dates will support Fleck’s new “My Bluegrass Heart” album.
But more than who he is actually making music with, be it his own band or a pack of longtime cohorts, Bush is just happy to be performing again after the COVID-19 lockdown shuttered the concert history for over 15 months.
“The great part about playing with the same musicians for a number of years is you reach a comfort level. We achieve our togetherness goal quickly, so once we establish our circle of communication, it transfers into the audience. When that starts coming back to you, that’s when you feel the instant reward of a live audience.
“Now, that being said, during the pandemic, when we were locked down, Chris Brown and I would talk on the phone. We both said to each other one day, ‘Gosh, this is the first time since we were kids learning to play our instruments that we haven’t gotten together with a buddy to pick.’ That’s one of the joys of learning to play music – to get together with your pals to see who knows what. So we missed getting to share that so much. That’s why it’s so great to be back in the whole saddle.”
Moonshiners Ball
Performing: The Sam Bush Band, Moon Hooch, Joe Hertler and the Rainbow Seekers, The Commonheart, Rainbow Girls, Nane, Magnolia Boulevard, Frigidkitty, The Ark Band and others
When: Oct. 7-10
Where: Rockcastle Riverside, 4211 Lower River Rd. in Livingston
Tickets: $25-$180
Online: themoonshinersball.com
COVID-19 policy: Patrons will be given a rapid COVID-19 test before entering the festival grounds regardless of vaccination status. The tests take approximately 15 minutes to process. For anyone who tests positive, refunds will be available or their tickets may be rolled-over to the 2022 Moonshiner’s Ball.
This story was originally published October 5, 2021 at 6:00 AM.
