 Sam Bush has been playing mandolin since he was 11. One of the pioneers of newgrass, he will be performing at Music on the Mountaintop Saturday. Photo by David McLister
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by DEEANNA HANEY
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
With three Grammys, seven solo albums, a new one on the way and national recognition for his achievements on the mandolin, Sam Bush is nothing less than a musical legend. Bush is well known as one of the originators in the contemporary genre of bluegrass, known as “newgrass,” and continues as a beacon for the movement as the front-runner of the Sam Bush Band.
Bush will headline the Music on the Mountaintop festival Saturday in Boone.
“Sam Bush is the perfect crossover musician,” festival organizer Jimmy Hunt said. “His music and personality are very similar to our overall goal with the festival, not to mention he is one of the most amazing artists on the planet.”
The Appalachian recently had the opportunity to speak with the unpretentious “King of Newgrass.”
The Appalachian: Keller Williams is playing Music on The Mountain top as well. Will you be sharing the stage with him at any point?
Sam Bush: You know, [I] don’t know yet because really, a lot of
times when people jam at festivals it’s really more of a
spur-of-the-moment thing. You see each other and you might not have
seen each other in quite a while. Sometimes it lends itself to jamming.
If I’m not jamming I would be listening.
TA: What first introduced you to bluegrass music?
SB: Me and my sisters grew up in a musical household where my
mom and dad loved music; they were farmers and music was part of our
life. My mom played guitar, my dad played the fiddle and a little bit
of mandolin, and so we managed growing up, as close to Nashville as we
did, to get connection to WSN radio to listen to the Grand Ole Opry, as
well as Nashville TV stations. There were all sorts of country music
shows and a lot of times those shows would feature bluegrass. Because
we had a mandolin in the house I kinda got interested in the mandolin
and I noticed that bluegrass was where all of the great mandolin
players were, so I guess the love of the mandolin instrument led me to
bluegrass. And, of course, Bill Monroe was a mandolin player and I
studied his music more as well as many others. But I started playing
mandolin when I was about age 11 and then started on the fiddle
probably about age 13. In high school I would be the youngest guy in
bluegrass bands and then somewhere along the way I started playing
electric guitar for fun and then I would be the oldest guy in the rock
bands. So, growing up in that time period, in the 60s, was a great time
to hear all kinds of new music.
TA: You have gained recognition for playing the mandolin, fiddle and guitar. Is the mandolin your favorite?
SB: It is, yes, and even though I’m equally comfortable on the
fiddle as well, it’s something about the mandolin because I get to play
rhythm, and of course over the years I developed as a singer. It’s a
lot more fun to play rhythm on the mandolin while you sing.
TA:
You have become known as “The King Of Newgrass.” Could you explain the
term “newgrass”? And how does it make you feel to have this title?
SB: Well, it’s basically a new way of approaching music using
what would be old traditional bluegrass instruments such as banjo,
guitar, mandolin, bass, fiddle. Just basically going to make new sounds
using old instruments of bluegrass. In other words, instead of just
playing traditional songs that have been handed down over the years,
you write your own tunes and take your influences from many places,
jazz, rock ‘n’ roll, reggae, and folk music and country. So all of that
kind of mixed in, that’s what you call newgrass, but playing it with
the same drive and intensity of bluegrass music.
I’m only one of many people who, you know, helped to start a new kind
of bluegrass. For instance, there is a band from Chapel Hill called the
New Deal String Bands…and I heard them back when I was a senior in high
school and you know, they already started the newgrass kind of music
where you take rock songs and kind of make them bluegrass, so there are
many people. We all have our influences but, you know, it’s flattering
to be called that, but I must say that I think I am just one of many
people who have gone in this direction.
TA: You have a new album coming out called “Circles Around Me.” What makes this stand out from the rest of your albums?
SB: Well, of course I’m always interested in the fusion of
electric and acoustic instruments. That’s what I’ve done on my last few
before this one. Now, with “Circles Around Me,” it was kind of as if
without using the phrase “full circle,” cause I can think of about
four, five, six albums that are called “full circle” by people, but it
is sort of back to my newgrass/bluegrass roots, so to speak. In some
ways I’ve recorded certain songs that are more traditional bluegrass
than I may have ever recorded under my own name before and my band, the
band that will be appearing with us in Boone: Scott Vestal on banjo,
Byron House on bass, Chris Brown – not the rap guy – on drums and our
guitar player Stephen Mougin. These guys are well-versed in many styles
of music and one of them in bluegrass, so I decided that this time we
should show our bluegrass roots and relax. Some of [the songs] I wrote
and a couple of others are traditional kind of tunes and features two
vocal duets with the bluegrass great Del McCoury and there is one tune
where I play an occasional trio with Jerry Douglas on dobro and Edgar
Meyer on bass. But it’s really more acoustic. I didn’t play any
electric instruments on this record. I just played the mandolin and the
fiddle. There is a song that was written by Jeff Black and myself
called “Circles Around Me,” and it seemed like an appropriate title
because we have kind of gone back to our newgrass/bluegrass roots on
this record.
TA:
Congratulations on being selected by the Americana Music Association
for the Lifetime Achievement for Instrumentalist Award. How do you feel
about that?
SB: I hope that means I get to keep playing after that. That’s a
pretty neat thing and, of course, Americana music really encompasses
everything from Bill Monroe to Bruce Springsteen even, so I’m pretty
flattered. It’s going to be a good night.
TA: If you could perform with anyone dead or alive who would it be?
SB: Well, I’m pretty fortunate; I get to do that a lot. The band
that I’m playing with, that is my first choice. But if we’re talking
about alive or dead: Django Reinhardt, Clarence White. I get to perform
with Doc Watson sometimes, but he’s still up on the list. If I could
play with Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, Bill
Monroe, my list is pretty wide and my interests are pretty wide-range
as far as directions in music, but I like everything.
TA: Well, you should know that you have a huge fan base in Boone.
SB: The whole state of Carolina has been really good to me and
we are really looking forward to it. We had a great time at the
festival last year and their presentation was done in a good way. They
are trying for this to be a so called “green festival,” and there is a
lot that can be recycled that doesn’t have to be in one big trash pile
at the end of the festival so they should be applauded for that. So we
are really looking forward to it.
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