Long been considered one of the leading lights of the 1960s Folk revival, Tom Rush tends to dismiss that pigeonhole. With a style that embraces Country, Blues, Pop and Rock as emphatically as Folk in all its own quirky permutations, Rush has utilized a singular guitar style, a distinctive physical and literal voice, a finely tuned sense of humor, an irresistible knack for storytelling and, perhaps most importantly, a brilliant capacity for recognizing the greatness of a song, whether an original composition or the work of a fellow songwriter.
This last gift has defined Rush’s career since he began recording and touring (next year will mark the 50th anniversary of his recorded debut, Tom Rush at the Unicorn); Rolling Stone cited Rush as the architect of the singer/songwriter era, evidenced by the legendary songwriters he championed on his earliest albums (1968’s The Circle Game in particular), when he was the veteran and they were fledgling artists at the dawn of their careers, including James Taylor, Jackson Browne and Joni Mitchell.
Tom Rush performs Saturday at the Fairfield Community Arts Center. Go here to read Brian Baker’s full Sound Advice.
This article appears in Jan 12-18, 2011.
