Sam Bush
(Sugar Hill)
There are acoustic guitar solos and banjo solos, and smiles on your face. It could be an original song about playing at Telluride or a traditional song about working for a rich man, but it's sung in a straight-forward baritone with some delicious high harmonies for emphasis. Pleasure is the order of the day. And then comes the mandolin solo that sends you flying into ecstasy.
Sam Bush is that mandolin player, the guy who's been on well over a hundred records during the last 35 years or more. Nobody else plays the instrument like Bush, who seems unconcerned that the mandolin traditionally works within a fairly limited series of styles. Bush can play just about anything on that little eight-stringed lute.
While he's best known as a sideman for the likes of Emmylou Harris or Lyle Lovett, or as a member of the legendary New Grass Revival, Bush has turned out eight solo albums now, showing increasing interest in stepping out as a vocalist. Circles Around Me mixes a few traditional bluegrass numbers with some country flavored pop and some gorgeous nearly jazz-like pieces. No matter the quality of the song - and the title track is a mite forgettable, while "Souvenir Bottles" is as powerful a tale of memories happy and sad of an old friend as you'll find - Bush and his hired guns give it their all; there isn't a track on the record that doesn't have something to offer, even if it's merely a good performance.
One song, "The Ballad of Stringbean and Estelle," co-written by Bush with Verlon Thompson and the great Guy Clark, is simply stunning. It's built on the facts of David "Stringbean" Akeman, once of the Grand Ol' Opry and also of Hee Haw, and the way he and his wife were murdered by burglars in their home. This prosaic concept turns mythic with emphasis on Stringbean's refusal to give up his Opry pay, the presence of way more money in the home than the burglars ever saw, and a sadly ironic twist on the fate of the overalls Stringbean used to wear.
Guest appearances by Del McCoury, Edgar Meyer, and Jerry Douglas round out the album, showing just how Bush changes his approach to fit the musicians around him. There's also a nifty bonus track, a cover of Robert Johnson's classic hokum, "They're Red Hot."
Standout Tracks: "The Ballad of Stringbean and Estelle," "Souvenir Bottles" "Junior Heywood" STEVE PICK
