Sam Bush – Ice Caps: Peaks of Telluride
Sam Bush’s work with New Grass Revival provides substantial evidence of his vision, both in his choice of bandmates and the breadth of his musical boundaries. This new live album, recorded at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival, combines his more recent solo work, while featuring NGR alumni Bela Fleck and John Cowan as well as other esteemed peers such as Jerry Douglas.
Bush best summarized his musical legacy in the title of a recent instrumental called “Allman Watson”, a reference to Duane Allman and Doc Watson. Bush’s music has a solid foot in the traditional camp of Watson, but he also has taken cues from Allman, as many Southern musicians have. Both Allman and Bush use their respective instruments (guitar and mandolin) to ground their playing within tradition, while also driving it with an aggressive and dynamic sensibility.
Avoiding the songwriting pitfalls that often plagued New Grass Revival, Bush instead covers material from songwriting greats such as Bob Dylan (“Girl Of The North Country”), John Hiatt (“Memphis In The Meantime”), Lowell George (“Sailin’ Shoes”) and Van Morrison (“Hungry For Your Love”). Each song gets a different treatment, ranging from intimate solo performances to expansive instrumentals to full-scale rockers. This progression connects Bush’s influences (notably Bill Monroe) with his musical career path (such as NGR’s incredible tours with Leon Russell).
Until an extensive New Grass compilation exists, Ice Caps serves as a mid-career retrospective for Bush, much as Neil Young’s Decade did for him.