Sam Bush to bring bluegrass to Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH – Sam Bush has been called a master artist, a maverick musician, the Energizer Bunny of Bluegrass and Nashville’s hardest-rocking mandolinist. On Saturday, Nov. 9, Calliope: The Pittsburgh Folk Music Society will bring the high-energy and freewheeling music of the Sam Bush Band to the stage at the Carnegie Lecture Hall.
Bush is best known for his seamless mix of styles and exuberant live performances. At age 19, Bush founded New Grass Revival, a band of inventive and aggressive high-caliber musicians that spent 18 years challenging the world’s notions of traditional bluegrass by fusing it with a range of styles that included gospel, rock, pop, reggae, jazz and country.
Today, Bush is one of the most important bridges between traditional bluegrass and the large new wave acoustic music audiences. His performances weave an electric blend of musical genres and stellar vocals in altogether energizing and uplifting performances.
Bush has recorded and toured with such artists as Bela Fleck, Lyle Lovett, Garth Brooks, Steve Earie, Steve Wariner, Trisha Yearwood, Dolly Parton and Pam Tillis, among many others, and is hailed by fans as “The Mayor of Telluride,” for his standing date at the legendary annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival.
“It’s amazing how someone can play so far above your head, but it’s so perfectly right that everybody gets it,” said legendary bluegrass fiddler Alison Kraus when talking about Bush. “Absolutely one of the finest musicians to exist in the history of the world. I want to be him now.”
Opening for the Sam Bush band will be The Flying Cunninghams, the bluegrass-based band that has been dazzling Pittsburgh audiences for 20 years. The rock-solid rhythm of brothers Tom and Steve on guitar and bass provide support for the sizzling fiddle of “Flying” Sue Cunningham and her inspired improvisations. The group also includes master mandolinist Anthony Hannigan and the drumming of Mark Weakland.
The Sam Bush Band will take the stage at Carnegie Lecture Hall on Saturday, Nov. 9. Tickets are on sale now for $28.
This show is part of the 2002-03 Calliope concert series, which includes an exciting line-up of folk, world, Irish and other types of traditional, roots music concerts.
Tickets for the Sam Bush Band or other Calliope concerts are available through ProArts Ticket Service at 412-394-3353 or www.proartstickets.org. Contact the Calliope office at 412-432-0333, CalliopePA@aol.com for membership information or visit www.calliopehouse.org.