Sam Bush: Running laps around expectations

Sam Bush
Laps in Seven
Sugar Hill

I'm not sure how much stronger a first impression you could make: "Laps In Seven" starts off with an Emmylou Harris duet on a killer song penned by Julie Miller.

Not that Sam Bush needed to worry about first impressions. He's already well-established and well-loved as a musician with strong CDs and even stronger live shows. But there's no coasting on reputation here. Sam proves again that he's an absolute master on his instruments (primarily, but not limited to, the mandolin and fiddle) and it just so happens he can sing, too.

Several of the songs here will sound familiar to anyone who's been to a bluegrass festival in the last year or so. Sam typically takes his songs on the road long before he records them. So having heard some of these tracks at Sam's ass-kicking Merlefest shows, I was worried about how they'd translate to recording, especially since some of the tracks on "King Of My World" that had been my favorites live kind of left me cold on CD. With "Laps in Seven," however, I believe he comes closer than ever to capturing the vibrancy of his playing and the strength of his personality on recording. It's damn, damn close to the real deal here.

Sam's mandolin gets a breathtaking workout on "Bringing in the Georgia Mail," and more mellow (but no less amazing) treatments on "Ridin' That Bluegrass Train" (with a little help from Tim O'Brien), John Hartford's "On the Road," and the album's incredibly strong instrumental tracks. Feelin' more like fiddle? Sam's got the hookup on instrumental "New Country," with an assist (to understate it woefully) from Jean-Luc Ponty. Sometimes, if you're busy doing something else, your attention can drift away when an album takes an instrumental "break." No way with this track. I was in another room for a second when I put this CD in the stereo, and I had to come running back in to catch "New Country" in its full glory. Damn!

But despite Sam's affinity for Very Special Guest Stars, this album (just like his others) is all his own. You've got the fiery bluegrass numbers, you've got a bout with the swamp blues (on the hurricane-survivor shout-out "I Wanna Do Right"), you've got the signature Sam Bush trippy thing (instrumental "Dolphin Dance" and cover of It's A Beautiful Day's "White Bird" with Andrea Zonn), the youthful country kicks ("Where There's A Road"), the conscientious message-song("Ballad For A Soldier") and the heartbreaking-but-ultimately-kind-of-uplifting song (Darrell Scott's awesome "River Take Me" -- and the treatment here also fulfills that Sam-Bush-album requirement of vocal track that ends in a wicked jam).

All of the above make up the recipe for one tasty album, to be lapped up as eagerly as Sam's dog, Ozzie, evidently laps his water -- a simple act that allegedly was the inspiration for the CD's title and final track. Drink up!