The musical force of nature that is Sam Bush is not everyone’s cup of tea. But I’ve been a huge fan since the early 1970s when I saw Sam and the original version of his seminal band New Grass Revival onstage at the old Exit/In in Nashville with special guest Vassar Clements. After what must have been a 25-minute jam on Lonesome Fiddle Blues, I was hooked!

Fast forward fifty years and we find Sam coming back to his roots with Radio John: Songs of John Hartford. This is Bush’s heartfelt tribute to his hero and mentor, John Hartford. Sam has long credited Hartford — best known for his huge hit Gentle on My Mind — with being a pioneer of the newgrass movement and he has covered many of Hartford’s songs throughout his career, including NGR’s renditions of Vamp in the Middle and Steam Powered Aereo Plane.

The Americana UK site entices the reader to jump right into this album with the description on how Radio John — which was released in November of 2022 on Smithsonian Folkways — begins.

The album gets off to a great start with ‘California Earthquake’, a song written by Hartford back in the 1960s, when everyone first started talking about “the big one”, an earthquake that could split the San Andreas fault line. Bush attacks the song with real verve, starting with a busy, finger picked guitar, joined almost immediately by mandolin and then Bush’s vocal, “They tell me the fault line runs right through here”! The banjo joins and bubbles along and the short mandolin solo that ends the track is just perfectly judged. 

At this point, the review notes, “it’s probably appropriate to point out that this is all Sam Bush.” Yes, Bush is playing “every instrument on this track — guitar, mandolin, bass and banjo, as well as doing the vocal.”

He plays every instrument on virtually every track and his playing is faultless, regardless of which instrument he’s playing.

The album version of A Simple Thing As Love, included here as a solo performance, features Bush on various instruments.

The Americana UK review notes that this was an album born of pandemic necessity.

Worth noting that, in many ways, this is yet another lockdown project. The album was conceived prior to the pandemic but a lot of the recording was done during the lockdown periods. Bush started out recording the different instrument parts as demos for his band but the lockdowns prevented them getting together. A friend of his, the owner of Neptone records in Florida, provided Bush with a whole load of home recording equipment and offered to help engineer the recordings, making Bush realise that this could be a completely solo effort and a true reflection of Bush’s gratitude to Hartford for the time they’d spent together. Whether or not this was really doing Bush a favour is something to ponder on.

That last sentence reflects the reviewer’s belief that Bush — who produced an exceptional album with Radio John — could also have benefitted by some musical collaboration. You get a sense of that when the full Sam Bush Band performs Hartford’s wonderful and wistful ode to the country life — In Tall Buildings — live.

Now someday, my baby, when I am a man / And others have taught me the best that they can / They’ll sell me a suit then cut off my hair / And send me to work in tall buildings

So it’s goodbye to the sunshine / Goodbye to the dew / Goodbye to the flowers and goodbye to you / I’m off to the subway I must not be late / I’m going to work in tall buildings

Oh when I retire / My life is my own / I made all the payments / It’s time to go home / And wonder what happened Betwixt and between / When I went to work in tall buildings / So it’s goodbye..

There are two tongue-in-cheek songs on the album: ‘I’m Still Here’ and ‘Granny Wontcha Smoke Some Marijuana.’ 

Hartford was a talented writer who wrote about what was important to him and wasn’t deterred by the views of others. That he wrote many of these songs back in the 1960s shows both that he was ahead of his time and that country and folk music has never been shy in its choice of song subjects.

Here’s the original Hartford version of Granny, and then a live performance by Billy Strings, one of the new musicians influenced by both Hartford and Bush.

I saw John Hartford on several occasions, none more memorable than an early 1970s performance by the Aereo-Plain band. That may help explain why back in 2009 I listed Steam Powered Aereo Plane as the #1 album I’d take with me to a desert island. That assessment still stands.

The Americana Music Association has awarded Sam Bush a well-deserved Lifetime Achievement Award. Besides Billy Strings, “Punch Brothers, Steep Canyon Rangers, and Greensky Bluegrass are just a few present-day bluegrass vanguards among so many musicians he’s influenced.”

And when the recent International Bluegrass Music Association nominees for 2023 were announced, Radio John was among those included for “Album of the Year.” More importantly, IBMA will induct Sam into its Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame, where he’ll join his old band, New Grass Revival and John Hartford in that listing of Bluegrass greats and innovators.

I’ve most often seen Sam at various festivals, where his performances are annual highlights. As was true at the 25th anniversary Merlefest Festival when Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks showed up for an inspired set, you never know who will join him on stage, or what they’ll perform.

Go smoke some. Hartford (and Sammy) would approve.

More to come …

DJB

Photos of Sam Bush at Red Wing Roots Music Festival and Merlefest by DJB (naturally).