by: Meg Goggans
| Sam Bush, an acclaimed solo artist on mandolin and fiddle |
Walking into the Georgia Theatre on a Friday night in Athens holds a kind of magic. It’s a magic that is palpable, allowing it to literally rise from the ashes and continue hosting musicians and music lovers alike.
Sam Bush is one of the theatre’s most recent musicians to take its stage. Bush, who could appear at first glance to be your father, your uncle, maybe even your grandfather in certain lighting, is scruffy, rugged, and a Grammy Award winning Bluegrass musician.
Ask any of my friends and they’ll tell you, country and Bluegrass are not my favorite kinds of music. I find the lyrics and sounds repetitive and typically unoriginal, having to listen to it unwillingly as bad bar music and in Ford trucks with good ole’ Georgia boy friends of mine. That being said, I wasn’t entirely thrilled about attending a Bluegrass concert on a Friday night. However, when a friend called with a free ticket and his own good review, I conceded.
After the poppy, more contemporary Bluegrass opening act, String Theory, played for about an hour, they left the stage and Bush and the band begin setting up their equipment. The music began with a fiddle, slow and soft, and built up to the breaking of Bush’s raspy voice. We listened to tales of Georgia dust, the wild unknown, and girls from Tennessee. Bush’s live performance came as a pleasant surprise to me. While some songs did seem to linger with their heavy banjo, others (specifically the ones with clear jazz and reggae influences) flowed and I even found my own foot tapping a few times.
As the band took a short break, I learned through my more well informed friend that Bush’s nicknames include the King of Telluride and the King of New Grass, New Grass being a kind of progressive and modern take on Bluegrass. At only 57 years old, Bush has taken on a sort of leadership in pioneering the New Grass movement. Having been a fiddle prodigy since his childhood, he now blends elements of rock, gospel, reggae and jazz into his music.
Throughout the show, Bush consistently communicated to his audience between songs. He didn’t rush to crank through the set list, but enjoyed each one as he was performing. The lighting was mellow and the mood was relaxed and casual. The crowd, older than the typical college audience the theatre usually brings in on a Friday night, also chatted between songs, conversing and sipping on drinks.
As the night came to a close, Bush gave the deserved shout outs to the members of his band who shared the stage with him. With hoots and hollers from the receptive crowd, the sound of guitar plucks slowly building amplify the room. The drums rolled in and the plucking grew louder.
Finally, after a solid ten minute build up, the guitar broke into the lead and the music finally made sense to me. The crowd was there for a reason: to listen to the kind of music they love to hear by a musician who loves to play it. Perhaps it was the magic of the theatre, but Bush’s passion, talent, and his friendly conversational demeanor made his concert easy to enjoy. Even if you aren’t a typical fan of country music, the Sam Bush Band may leave even your own foot tapping.
Sam Bush Band Live at the Georgia Theatre, Athens
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