Photo: Gabriel Gurrola
He’s one of the most iconic players of the last century, with songs that made a lot of people vibe in his own personal way. Besides being a great singer, Mr. Rush is also a great composer, writing some of the most interesting and developed songs of the counter-culture era. He has a strong bond with some little-known song writers who came to fame after the impressive magnetism of Tom Rush, like Joni Mitchell and James Taylor, authors of songs like “Something in the Way She Moves” and “Sunshine, Sunshine”.
In fact, most of his album “The Circle Game” has songs by these great song writers who never had the light spotted on them when Rush decided to record their songs. Of course, the album was a great hit and those songs, which many people felt were written by the “star”, were actually great musical pieces created by these two “forgotten” minds.
Their contribution to Tom Rush’s fame was not forgotten by this singer and author, since he always mentioned them as an immense and crucial part of his career. Actually, in many interviews, he has always mentioned how important their touch was to helping him create some of the music he composed after that crucial album. Eventually, his fame rose so high that he could write about anything and also compose whatever he wanted, and of course, fans would go with it.
But he didn’t misuse this gift of his, and created an aura in folk, country and what was later called “folk-rock” music, which extends to this very day, keeping that movement that wanted to change things around back in the 50’s quite beating. In fact, he recently played to a full house on Martha’s Vineyard, delving deep into a lot of people’s nostalgia with a large portion of his repertory, including many Joni Mitchell and James Taylor compositions.
The eternal folk-rock
Even when many people thought back then that this movement would be just a hiccup, more than 60 years later, Tom Rush has found a way to keep it very much alive. This movement, which had a lot of support from a growing number of 60s teens and young adults, created the foundations on which a lot of great modern genres set foot, like grunge, pop-rock, and even Christian rock, had a great deal of this artist s work.
Some of Rush’s work is quite alive on streaming platforms like Spotify, with millions of listeners to some of his most famous songs, like “No Regrets”, “Urge for Going”, “The Circle Game”, and many others. Also, his seventeen albums are a must for many people wanting to know what folk-rock is about; a genre that vibes between a very soft version of rock and one that has the ability to inspire and, of course, induce a lot of people into a “chill” status like no other type of music can.
That’s why concerts of great musicians like Tom Rush have such an appeal and end up with a “sold out” status in most of the settings you can find in the US, from Martha s Vineyard to Alaska. It’s quite a tribute to a man s career that went from “covering” a lot of friends’ songs, to creating quite a collection of folk-rock albums, which include everything from the most advanced sound effects, to the composition of complex guitar solos that truly show what he´s capable of delivering.
What’s next for him?
Following his performance on Martha’s Vineyard, he played to a packed house in Neiffer, Pennsylvania at the Philadelphia Folk Festival, one of the best venues for folk-rock. With thousands singing along with him, he ended up stating that at such events he feels at home, with a glass of wine in his hand, on the most comfortable couch there is.
He’ll also be performing at The Links at Worthington on September 4th, as well as at the Tucson Music Hall later this year on November 19th. After a lengthy tour, he will conclude this year in Barnstable, Massachusetts, on December 7th at the Cotuit Center for the Arts, one of his favorite venues. These concerts will continue through 2023, with six dates already confirmed in Florida, Maine, and North Carolina.
It’s quite an impressive agenda for a man that is pushing 82 years old next year, especially knowing that he gives all he has in all his concerts, with a crystal clear voice that still astonishes most of his audience, particularly those that know that Tom Rush played for their grandfathers and fathers alike, in a career not only known as one of the longest in the world, but also the most creative any other musical artist has had in history.
Most critics couldn’t believe their ears when back in 2018 he launched his last album, called “Voices”, which actually made it big as a fresh and renewed style for a long-known folk musician. It wouldn’t be strange that he is recording something new. Even when his body is 81 years old, his mind and soul seem to run on a different path.
