Sam Bush picks, grins at Park

The Park Theater stage was graced by bluegrass royalty Friday night as Sam Bush appeared at the historic venue.

Bush, a bluegrass pioneer and founding member of New Grass Revival, brought his considerable talents to McMinnville where a crowd of over 340 were treated to his virtuoso skill on a variety of instruments. Bush's accomplishments include four International Bluegrass Music Association Mandolin Player of the Year awards and the 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award for Instrumentalist by the American Music Association.

In addition to his time with New Grass Revival, Bush has enjoyed stints with Emmylou Harris' Nash Ramblers, Lyle Lovett and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. He was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2006. He is also in the International Bluegrass Music Association Hall of Fame as both a member of New Grass Revival and a solo artist, one of only six people to achieve that feat. In 2010, legislation was passed in the Kentucky Senate proclaiming Bowling Green as the "Birthplace of Newgrass" and Bush as the "Father of Newgrass."

Ahead of Friday's show, Bush appeared on 105.3 WOW Country's The Justin Reed Show to reflect on his career and to promote his Park appearance. Bush credited his Bowling Green roots and his proximity to Nashville and the ability to pick up WSMV Channel 4 as part of the Nashville viewing area as instrumental to his development as an artist.

"Getting to see all of that (music-related shows on Channel 4) and getting to come down to Nashville to go to the Grand Ole Opry as a kid, not everybody grew up getting to do that, so I feel pretty fortunate," Bush said.

"Callin' Baton Rouge," a 1994 No. 2 hit for Garth Brooks, was recorded in 1989 by New Grass Revival which played and sang on Garth's version.

"All we had to do was play the part we already knew," Bush said. "It was a fun session. Garth said he always felt like that was a top 10 record. It was our current record, but our band was breaking up at the time, so Capitol pulled our promo on it. We never made it into the top 10 with it, but it sure was a song everyone loved, and I'm glad we got to record it."

Of his long list of accomplishments and his two spots in the IBMA Hall of Fame, Bush said, "It's kind of hard to believe. I guess I'm fortunate to have kept aging and lived long enough to be in on all this ... It's just wild to think that I've been able to live this long and was influenced by the originators of the styles of bluegrass. I was able to hear the Stanley Brothers and Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs and Jim and Jesse and the Osborne Brothers live. It kind of blows my mind a little bit that I'm one of the people in the Bluegrass Hall of Fame along with the people I grew up admiring."

During his WOW Country appearance with Reed, who served as the evening's emcee, Bush promised those attending Friday's show "a good, positive-energy show," and that's exactly what he and his band delivered.

"We try to give a positive experience to the listener," Bush said. "There is plenty of instrumental music. Within our instruments, there is a pretty wide variety of styles. It might be reggae-style one business and country and bluegrass the next. At the end of the show, we drag out our electric instruments."

The show pleased both the audience and Park Theater management alike, which was proud to bring another act of Bush's caliber to McMinnville.

“When a legend like Sam Bush comes into the theater, you prepare yourself to be amazed and he did not disappoint,” Park Theater Manager Joe Harvey said. “it was a great night for fans and the theater. This is a show that will not be forgotten anytime soon.”

Bluegrass fans will have reason to revisit the theater as it begins its second Park Theater Bluegrass Series featuring The Grascals Jan. 16, Yonder Mountain String Band Feb. 4, Pitney Myer April 2 and East Nash Grass April 29. Tickets are available individually or as a four-show package at mcminnvilleparktheater.com, the Park Theater box office at 115 W. Main St. or at the door before each show.