Tom Rush

Tom Rush

Tom Rush is an American folk singer and songwriter from Portsmouth, Vermont, born in 1941. He also performs blues material and is known for his acoustic guitar style, warm voice and spoken storytelling in concert.

Career

Rush begins performing in the early 1960s while studying at Harvard, playing clubs in the Boston area. He becomes a regular at Club 47, a key coffeehouse venue, and develops his reputation there while learning from other artists on the circuit. By the time he graduates, he has already released two albums.

He signs to Elektra in 1965 and records three albums for the label, ending with The Circle Game. That album is associated with the rise of the singer-songwriter era. In the early 1970s he moves to Columbia and tours extensively with a five-piece band, before taking a break from constant touring and recording and returning to music after time on his farm in New Hampshire.

Songwriting and influence

Rush is credited with helping bring attention to writers such as Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, Murray McLauchlan, David Wiffen and William Hawkins by recording their songs early in their careers. His own 1968 song “No Regrets” becomes a standard and is widely covered. He is also linked to the folk revival of the 1960s and the later folk renaissance of the 1980s and 1990s.

His work has influenced later artists across several genres. James Taylor describes him as one of his early heroes and major influences, and Garth Brooks names him among his top five musical influences. Rush’s songs also appear in folk, country, heavy metal and rap versions.

Club 47 and later work

In 1982, Rush turns his own concert series idea into the Club 47 series, pairing established performers with newer artists. The shows begin at Boston’s Symphony Hall and grow into an annual event, eventually expanding to multiple nights and touring other venues. Performers featured in the series include Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss, Mark O’Connor, Nanci Griffith and Shawn Colvin. The concerts are broadcast on PBS and NPR.

Columbia/Legacy releases a retrospective set in 1999, The Very Best of Tom Rush: No Regrets, which surveys his recording history from 1962 onward and includes material from Columbia, Elektra, Prestige and his independent period. It also adds a new song, “River Song”, with vocals from Shawn Colvin and Marc Cohn. In 2003 he releases the live album Trolling for Owls on his Nightlight Recordings label, including spoken stories from the performance. He later releases Voices in 2018.

Style and reputation

Rush is known for combining humour, ballads and blues in performance. His concerts are noted for expressive singing, guitar work and storytelling, and he remains recognised as an important figure in American folk music.