Sam Bush

The Steep Canyon Rangers will host Mountain Song Festival  Saturday, September 13 at the Brevard Music Center in Brevard NC. Boasting as strong and interesting a line-up as a one day event could offer, this festival can be said to be without headliners as every performer on the bill is a headliner. In order of appearance, the festival features The Steep Canyon Rangers, Cherryholmes, Tim O’Brien, and Sam Bush. Except for Bush, each band will perform twice. The Sam Bush Band will close the day with a ninety minute set beginning at 8:30 PM. Tickets cost $40.00 and can be purchased at a number of outlets as well as on-line.

The Whttington-Pfohl Auditorium at the Brevard Music Center is an 1800 seat open air, covered auditorium that is also the host of a wide range of other musical activities in the summer. Located on 140 acres of in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, the center contains 145 buildings used for lodging, practice, and rehersal purposes.  Read more »

It's late in the set, Sam hard into The River Take Me, and I'm in the pit and can see the screen for a change, but my fingers are freezing. Brain dump on earlier moments: Julie Miller song, his New Orleans-inspired I Want to Do Right, then the Randy Newman Have Pity on the Workingman, a fun instrumental Bananas,

The band includes Scott Vestal banjo and Byron House bass. The guitar player is new this year and this is his first Telluride. I didn't catch drummer's name, but Sam made a big deal about him.

He just explained his medical emergency on Thursday. Chest pains. Was rushed to Mercy Hospital. "There's nothing like riding in an ambulance listening to KOTO and hearing Bonnie Raitt calling you to the stage," he said. Everlything checked out fine. Thanks to the emergency crew and to the hospital nurses and docs. Two of the nurses are here tonight.

Back in the Good Old Days, second John Hartford song, remembers all the greats who aren't with us anymore. Long list with Charles Sawtelle and most recently Vassar Clements. A lot of good people done passed and gone. Fiddle solo is spacey, to show jam banders he knows how? There was a jammy number early in the set too.

Now a jazz fusion thing with Sam bowing very fast. He tahnks his road manager and sound man, and special thanks to Planet Bluegrass. Huge applause. No other festival like it, he says.

Dog drinking water in 7/4 time. Ozzie the dog. Pastor Mustard leads a parade of people around stage, while band rips into high-energy rock 'n roll. All the stops are out on his electric mando.

Chris Brown and drums of renown, steven mogen on guitars. waiting now for encore.

Peter Rowan comes out, Drew Emmitt, Yonder Mountain, pretty crowded on stage. Lots of friends but not lot of time. Just do one tune. Pedro. we met in 64 at the ryman, he was playing with mr. bill monroe. waht its all about--we're going to jam

roll in my sweet babys arms. lay around the shack. drew first, peter sings another verse, Jeff is next. adam from yonder, then vestal, electric guitar from emmitt band, house on bass, then three way mando madness with sam, drew and jeff, great encore.

A festival highlight for me was the two sets The Waybacks performed with Bob Weir, especially the Hillside stage double set with additional guests Sam Bush, Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. This was the fourth appearance at MerleFest for James Nash, Stevie Coyle and the Waybacks.

Weir brought out more Deadheads in the audience than I would have predicted, and they were rewarded with a big helping of Dead tunes, from Jack Straw and Brokedown Palace to Brown-Eyed Woman and Casey Jones. The most inspired choice for me was St. Steven. They also sourced material from Led Zeppelin (Kashmir) and The Stones (19th Nervous Breakdown), as well as more predictable selections such as The Weight and All Along the Watchtower. The encore for both shows was Like a Rolling Stone.

After one night in San Francisco earlier in the week, the MerleFest shows were the first time Weir and Waybacks had played together as an announced act. According to the interview Weir gave to PJ Finn at Martha's Vineyard Radio, he first met The Waybacks at a wedding where he was a guest and the band had been booked. He has sat in with them a few times since, and they rehearsed at Weir's home last week.

In the interview Nash said "the thing with Sam [Bush] and Kashmir took shape around 3 this afternoon. That's the great thing about festivals. You see people backstage and ask them to be a guest for your set."