SAM BUSH

Sam Bush is best known as the founder and driving force behind the legendary group The New Grass Revival. Bush’s ability to make music that exceeds all expectations is evident by listening to his work over the past few years. For example: two diverse projects, Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza (with David Grisman, Ronnie McCoury and Ricky Skaggs, among others) and Short Trip Home (with Edgar Meyer, Joshua Bell and Mike Marshall), were each nominated for a Grammy, for Best Bluegrass Album and for Best Classical Crossover Album, respectively. The Short Trip Home project lead to a performance on the national broadcast of the Grammy Awards. Meanwhile, Bush stays incredibly busy recording and touring with pal / former NGR bandmate Bela Fleck (for the Grammy-nominated The Bluegrass Sessions), as well as Lyle Lovett, Left Over Salmon, Emmylou Harris, Linda Rondstadt and Dolly Parton, among others.. He recently made a guest appearance with Ringo Starr playing “With A Little Help From My Friends.”

His previous solo project, HOWLIN’ AT THE MOON (1998) was an acclaimed work as well, as were his other releases (GLAMOUR & GRITS / 1996, Sugar Hill and LATE AS USUAL / 1987, Rounder Records).

Bush made his recording debut, POOR RICHARDS ALMANAC, in 1969 when he was 17 years old, after holding title as the National Junior Fiddle Champion for three consecutive years. At age 19, he founded New Grass Revival, a band of inventive and aggressive high caliber musicians that for 18 years challenged the preconceived notions of traditional bluegrass instruments by fusing a wide range of styles that included gospel, rock , pop, reggae, jazz, country and bluegrass. NGR blazed a trail of change with their three releases on Capitol Records in the 1980s and seven before that on Flying Fish and Sugar Hill.

New Grass Revival disbanded on New Years Eve in 1989, bidding farewell appropriately enough as the opening act for the Grateful Dead’s annual holiday bash in Oakland, CA. Sam and the Revival can still boast rabid fans as diverse as their music: members of the multi-Grammy winning, multi-million-selling Hootie & The Blowfish; Alison Krauss and Union Station; and Garth Brooks, who reunited the group in the studio for his hit (and a cover of NGR’s final single), “Callin’ Baton Rouge,” and, more recently, “Do What You Gotta Do.”

After NGR, Bush went on to lead Emmylou Harris’ Grammy-winning Nash Ramblers for five years. An in-demand session player, Bush, who plays mandolin, fiddle and guitar, has recorded on albums by Leon Russell, Doc Watson, Steve Earle, Garth Brooks, Steve Wariner, Trisha Yearwood, Left Over Salmon and Pam Tillis, among many others.