The Sam Bush Band sit down for a One On One Session at City Winery New York on April 5th, 2018. Watch the full session here: https://youtu.be/c07GAtw7Hgg For more info visit: https://www.sambush.com/ Audio & Video by: Ehud Lazin
Setlist:
Everything Is Possible
Where's My Love
Sam Bush is an American bluegrass mandolin player considered an originator of the Newgrass style. If joy were a person, he’d bring both peace and frenzy. He’d be full of music, light, and energy that soothes even as it stirs us up. Eyes closed, wire-rim glasses in place, mandolin pressed against his ribs, joy would be Sam Bush on a stage.
The Father of Newgrass and King of Telluride has long since established himself as roots royalty, revered for both his solo and sideman work, which includes time with Harris, Lyle Lovett, and Béla Fleck. But instead of kicking back and soaking up honors such as an Americana Music Association Lifetime Achievement Award and suite of Grammys and International Bluegrass Music Association trophies, Bush still strives relentlessly to create something new.
Bush took about four years to record the latest installment in that legacy. “It’s still important to me that all of the songs fit together on an album,” he says. “I’m well aware that people buy individual tracks digitally, and that’s good. But I still think of it as an album––a body of work. And I’m really satisfied with these songs. It’s taken a while, but I sure am happy with them.”
Recorded partially at Neptone Recording Studios in Destin, Florida, and Bush’s longtime go-to the Sound Emporium in Nashville, Storyman sounds like the best of friends swapping tales and jamming for the sake of jamming because that’s exactly what it is. Bush’s voice, which sounds strong and familiar throughout Storyman, is often overlooked because of the sheer ferocity of his playing––an omission that actually points to the brilliant suppleness, ease, and warmth of his vocals, which instead of drawing attention to themselves are always fully in service of the song.
Written with Jeff Black, “Transcendental Meditation Blues” recounts a long 1978 ride Bush took on a sweltering, broken-down Greyhound to see a girl named Lynn in Louisville. Today, Lynn and Bush have been married for 31 years, and the glimpse into their early courtship––layered over rolling strings––is relatable, toe-tapping, and sweet. “When I finally got to Louisville, there was Lynn, sitting in her little orange VW waiting for me,” Bush says. “You know you’re in love when you ride the Greyhound bus.”
The wryly funny “Hand Mics Killed Country Music” brings Emmylou Harris and Bush together again. Harris contributes harmony vocals on the song, which the two co-wrote. It’s a straight-ahead honky tonk shuffle––the first that Bush has ever recorded on one of his solo albums––complete with steel guitar and a trio of fiddles. “I thought the song really needed that great, old-time piano, like Pig Robbins. Then I thought, ‘Well, call Pig Robbins! Not a younger player who can sound try like him!’” The iconic session player accepted the gig and guided the bluegrass- and jazz-trained musicians through the art of creating a shuffle.
“Carcinoma Blues” has co-writer Guy Clark’s fingerprints all over its lean lines and inimitable combination of cleverness and heart. Clark and Bush have both had their bouts with cancer, and Bush wanted to write about the experience, directly and holistically. “We wrote it from the points of view of both the patient and of the loved one, who’s watching the patient go through it,” Bush says. Echoes of Jimmie Rodgers’ “TB Blues,” which Bush says “scared him as a kid” reverberate throughout the track.
Bush and Steven Brines wrote “Lefty’s Song” by letter correspondence in the 70s: The two mailed lyrics and music back and forth between Barren County and Lexington. Brines died in the 80s, and Bush lost the tape capturing the song for almost 40 years. “I couldn’t believe I found it!” he says, obviously thrilled. The true tale of a small-town newspaperman who falls in love with a traveling actress but can’t leave his deaf and mute brother behind, the song features guest vocals from Alison Krauss and a happy twist at the end.
The entire Sam Bush Band co-wrote instrumental “It’s Not What You Think,” which got its title from a disagreement about the location of the one beat. Co-penned with banjo player Scott Vestal, “Greenbrier” grew from a phrase that Bush woke up with at 4 a.m. one morning. Jon Randall Stewart started strings-soaked throwback “Bowling Green” on his own then took it to Bush because of the subject matter. “Jon Randall came over to my house and said, ‘Man, I got a song––it’s kind of about your dad,’” Bush remembers. “He played what he had, and he teared me right up. I said, ‘Come on, now!’” The finished product is an autobiographi
