Tom Rush was born
in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, and in the early 1960s attended Harvard
University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Rush hosted a weekly radio program on
the college station on which featured his own performances and performances by guests
he recruited from the local coffee houses circuit. Much of his early music
consisted of his original songs, covers of contemporary folk songs and interpretations
of Lowland Scots and Appalachian folk songs. He was already well established in
the folk circuit when by the late 1960s the scene gravitated to the
singer-songwriter genre. Ushering in that era, Rush included in his sets
several songs by Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, and James Taylor, helping them to gain recognition
early in their careers. Rush's career faded away to a New Hampshire farm in the
mid-1970s, resurfacing in 2009 with his first album in 35 years. Based again in
Massachusetts, his 25th and most recent album, 2013's Tom Rush Celebrates 50 Years of Music, includes a DVD of his 50th
anniversary concert in Boston.
Once a mainstay in the Greenwich Village music scene, Rush's
concerts in New York are now rare. He headlined the 672-seat Schimmel Center at Pace University tonight, performing solo
and with a small band (saxophonist Joe
Nearny, bassist Paul Guzzone and percussionist Marshal
Rosenberg), and introducing
mini-sets by Seth Glier and Matt Nakoa. At age 75, Rush was in
perky spirit, singing richly and expressively, playing folk and blues guitar,
and sharing his endearing stories with wry humor. The set was lullaby-soft and
gentle, with upbeat and melancholy ballads interspersed with witty story-songs
that were uplifted with extended saxophone and piano riffs. The set was
comprised of new songs and old favorites like "No Regrets" and ended
with a Bo Diddley hoedown of "Who
Do You Love" for an encore. Rush has matured tenderly and his performance
offered ripened nostalgia for the folk scene of a half century ago.
Visit Tom Rush at www.tomrush.com.
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