Sam Bush "Ice Caps: Peaks of Telluride" by William Michael Smith

They can call it the Telluride Bluegrass Festival if they want, but anyone who comes to Sam Bush's cd "Ice Caps: Peaks of Telluride" with Flatt-and-Scruggs, Beverly-Hillbillies-theme expectations had best grab a pair of ear plugs, take a double dose of valium with a Jagermeister chaser, and hold tight to whatever religious comfort they can, because this is not a your grandpa's bluegrass record. Far from it, Pilgrim. Bush has been an experimenter ever since he formed the slightly over the edge New Grass Revival way back when hippies walked the earth in tie dies and bell bottoms, and the fourteen musical selections included on this compilation of Bush's Telluride performances from 1989 through 1999 show just how far Bush has chosen to push his personal musical envelope outside boundaries of bluegrass. One of our most accomplished studio musicians and touring hired gun sidemen, Bush covers an amazing amount of ground with this cd. He gives fresh interpretations of public domain blue grass traditionals like 'Lee Highway Blues' and pays reverent homage to bluegrass legend Bill Monroe by playing 'Big Mon' almost note for note like the original recording. But the real attraction of "Ice Caps" is Bush's ability to interpret a wide range of contemporary artists whose names and work do not exactly conjure up images of blazing banjos, string ties, and the Grand Ole Opry. Sam Bush seems to delight himself by taking a song from one genre and playing it another. Bush and Nashville's acknowledged dobro maestro, Jerry Douglas, give an incredibly rich folk interpretation of Bob Dylan's "Girl of the North Country" that strays far from the original Dylan/Johnny Cash duet. While Bush's voice soars, both men fire off enough sparks from their instruments to leave most pickers shaking their heads and thinking of pawning their instruments. Douglas's solos are absolutely without equal. If you are thinking that a Dylan country-folk number or a Bill Monroe bluegrass scorcher is no stretch for an artist of Bush's caliber, you would be right. But after a solid rendition of Nashville songwriter Jeff Black's ethereal and subtlely spiritual "Same Ol' River,' Bush takes off to places where bluegrass usually fears to tread. Bush covers 'Angel To Be' by New Orleans' funk-rockers, The Subdudes, with John Magnie, the 'Dude's accordionist, sitting in. The ensemble somehow manages to effectively fuse bluegrass sensibilities with swamp funk. Progressing with the Louisiana theme, Bush drops the grass and goes deep into blue on Sonny Landreth's 'Speak of the Devil.' John Randall Stewart gives a tense, blistering electric guitar treatment that must have left a number of the bluegrass purists in the audience shaking their heads in wonder at what the world has come to. Bush stretches out on electric mandolin and gives Stewart a push with each solo. Bush's liner notes describe the solos on John Hiatt's 'Memphis in the Meantime" as "smoking." This cd is worth the price just for the picking on this cut and 'Girl from the North Country.' Hide the women and children, giants are at play here. Douglas wails on lap steel like some Louisiana delta slide guitar Zen master while Bush and Stewart keep the inspirational heat on. If the Nashville passport police ever find out about this, Bush and Douglas will have to apply for citizenship in Texas or Louisiana. Halfway through the record, you find yourself wondering what other musical boundaries there are that can be crossed ­ or just totally ignored, but Bush isn't even close to finished with synthesizing and distilling. Reaching back to his hippie roots, Bush and former New Grass Revival bassist John Cowan give a stirring Irish-tinged rendition of Van Morrison's 'Hungry for Your Love' and do an amazing segue into an almost bluegrass version of Little Feat's 'Sailin' Shoes.' The playing is exquisite, but the real treat is the interplay between the two voices on these numbers. The purists in the audience must have thrown in the towel when mandolinist Bush picked up an electric guitar and proceeded to tear hell through Leon Russell's 'I Put a Spell on You' like some Carl Perkins reincarnation. "Ma, help me, them boys are playin'.. ROCK and ROLL!!!" Heavenly saints preserve us. And then, the planets align and it gets really weird as Bush and banjo picker Bela Fleck have what Bush describes as a "you had to be there moment" and tear into the only known bluegrass version of K.C. and the Sunshine Band's disco monster hit, "Celebrate." No doubt this less than two minute cut has turned many bluegrass purists to stone as effectively as any fatal glance back at Gomorrah. Can Armageddon be far off when a bluegrass band plays disco? This record isn't about lyrics, though each song certainly stands on its merits. This compilation of incomparable and at times spontaneous live performances is about soaring in the cosmos beyond the limits and boundaries, somewhere in free space where there are no genres, only the best of music. Contact William Michael Smith at: wms-at-rockzilla.net

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