Telluride Bluegrass: The “King of Telluride” Celebrates #45 at #46!

20 Jun Telluride Bluegrass: The “King of Telluride” Celebrates #45 at #46!

The 46th Annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival takes place June 20-June 23. The event is sold out, except for a few single-day tickets on Thursday. But tune in to the live Festival stream at www.koto.org. And learn more about other Planet Bluegrass festivals at www.bluegrass.com.

Sam Bush by Tony Benko – who shot all the following images minus one.

Planet Bluegrass has produced the Telluride Bluegrass Festival coming on 46 years. And this year marks Sam Bush’s 45th anniversary on the Main Stage. Here is what Festival Director Craig Ferguson has to say about that:

“For nearly a year, now, I’ve often thought about the fact that Sam will be playing his 45th consecutive time at “The House That Sam Built” here in Telluride. When I heard that he had emergency surgery a month or so ago, I instantly thought, ‘hmm, he might want a gurney’, but nothing is keeping Sam from that stage.”  I checked on him a couple weeks ago; and, it was pretty obvious: Sam F…kg Bush won’t be needing a gurney! 

“It would take a real poet two days of contemplation to begin to express how meaningful Sam’s performance is this year. And I ain’t that poet…  Suffice to say that I’m sure we’ve got another unforgettable chapter ahead of us in the evolution of SamGrass, a genre that keeps growing larger and more monumental, every year.”

Amen to that.

KING SAM, A HISTORY:

Queen Victoria ruled the British empire for 63 years, 216 days.

Elizabeth II, also of the United Kingdom, is hot on Victoria’s heels, having ruled 62 years and counting since February 1952.

The longest reign among the Emperors of Rome was that of Constantine the Great, a mere 31 years.

Locally, for an example of regal days in power, Sam Bush has no peer. And, at Telluride Bluegrass #46, Sam celebrates his 45th anniversary on the throne – rather, on the Main Stage.

Starting opening day, Thursday, June 20, Sam Bush (& friends) will be everywhere you want to be. The robust Festival schedule is a list of sets waiting to be enhanced by guest appearances by “His Highness.”

And that is as it should be.

Sam grew up (professionally) with Planet Bluegrass: the history of the Festival from tie-dyed funky to world-class hip is the history of the performer, and the musician, like the event, shows no signs of losing ground.

One of Sam’s earliest and perhaps his most famous band, the genre-bending New Grass Revival, visited town for the first time in 1974, at the 2nd annual Telluride Bluegrass Festival:

“I remember J.B. and Helen Matteotti, John “Picker” Herndon, Kooster McAllister, and Fred Shellman, the Festival’s organizers. They were all as excited as little kids about their event and about us. They had first seen NGR at the National Picking Contest in Winfield, Kansas. It became their dream to have our band at their event. Once in Telluride, ‘hospitable’ would be a light term for how they treated us. They would have given us the shirts off their backs. Instead, they gave us their smiles and their hearts. Their loving spirit spilled out into the audience. We were long-haired hippie guys trying to play our special brand of music. At other bluegrass festivals, promoters threw us up on stage at one o’clock in the morning and the older folks in lawn chairs would pack up when we came on. But Telluride was different. I don’t recall ever being treated so warmly. There may have been just over 1,000 people in the crowd, who let us know how much they liked our kind of weird. The weirder we were, the more they danced and cheered. Telluride seemed up for anything. Since then, I’ve grown up with the Bluegrass Festival. I’ve watched it grow and change as I have grown and changed. But one thing remains the same: In Telluride, the crowd is still up for anything.” 

Sam’s trademark instrumental virtuosity on the mandolin coupled with heartfelt vocals, articulate arrangements and a raconteur’s tongue-in-cheek sensibility won the day for him and his bandmates. And some things never change. Currently, the Sam Bush (or Telluride House) Band – Sam with Bela, Jerry, Edgar, Bryan & Stuart – is scheduled to perform Friday, June 20, 7:30 p.m., then again on Saturday, June 22, 7:45 p.m.

Once upon a long time ago, Sam Bush, King of Telluride, stepped right into Bill Monroe’s highly polished shoes. He is the one emerging legends such as Chris Thile, Wayne Benson, Shawn Lane, Matt Flinner, Ronnie McCoury, and Mike Marshall look up to. The one who, with the aforementioned New Grass Revival, planted the seeds for bands such as Leftover Salmon, Nickel Creek, and Yonder Mountain String Band to name just a few successors.

Sam has played with just about everyone worth playing with, from Emmylou Harris (he joined her Nash Ramblers in 1989 just after New Grass Revival shut down) and Bela Fleck to Charlie Haden, Lyle Lovett, and Garth Brooks, not to mention his heroes, Monroe, Doc Watson, and Earl Scruggs.

As a session musician, Sam has been featured on recordings by artists as diverse as Alabama, Guy Clark, Dolly Parton, Alison Krauss and Neil Diamond. Although he is best known for jaw-dropping skills on the mandolin, Sam the Man is also a Grammy Award-winning vocalist.

Sam Bush was hardwired to do the voodoo that he does: his entire family was musical. Sam’s mother’s father was a fiddler. His mom played rhythm guitar. His dad played fiddle and mandolin. Sam’s sister Clara was a guitar player and when she and his other sister Janet played folk duets at barn dances and square dances, the young prodigy played strings right alongside. Sam’s dad taught his offspring about harmony and both his parents jammed with their kids. By the time Sam graduated high school, he had already earned three national junior fiddle championships and a reputation for being a hot young mandolin player.

Once he hit the big time, Sam never looked back. He dressed like he dressed, played what he played. For him, it was – and is – all about the show. On stage, the music takes over and there is just no stopping him.

Recent accolades include Americana Music Association, Lifetime Achievement, Instrumentalist and a tribute by the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame.

All hail the King.