Tom Rush

His 1965 album, The Circle Game, is said to have ushered in the singer/songwriter era and artists as diverse as James Taylor and Garth Brooks credit him an influence. His songs have been hits in folk, country, heavy metal, and rap tunes, but it will always be the sweetness of the ballads and the grit of the blues that people remember. He is Tom Rush, a legend with humility, a guitar hero who majored in English Lit at Harvard.

Rush began his musical career in the early 1960s, playing the club scene while still in college. Club 47 was the premier club, and he soon had a weekly gig there, learning from the legendary artists who came to play, honing his skills and developing his gigantic talent. By the time he graduated, he had released two albums.

Rush has always had the knack for finding great songs and writing his own. In the early 1970s, when folk took on a folk-rock cast, Rush branched out. He toured with his five-man band, playing concerts around the country. After five years of touring, recording and promoting his work, he retired for several years to his New Hampshire farm. He came back in 1981, selling out Boston’s Symphony Hall. Knowing that his audiences were interested in both the old and the new, he set out to create a music forum like Club 47 to allow newcomers to share the stage with established artists. A few concerts turned into the Club 47 series, featuring concerts with well-known artists like Bonnie Raitt or Emmylou Harris with (then) newcomers like Alison Krauss and Mark O’Connor. Rush took the show on the road and Club 47 events have played prestigious concert halls and been seen on PBS and NPR specials.

On Dec. 28, 2012, Rush appeared at Boston’s Symphony Hall to celebrate 50 years in the music business, but he is still releasing albums and touring, especially with pianist Matt Nakoa. A few years ago, Nakoa pointed out that Rush talked about doing a new album, but that he was “no spring chicken.” A Kickstarter campaign raised the funds for the project, which became 2024’s Gardens Old, Flowers New. “Matt went ahead and booked a great studio, lined up some brilliant players, a fabulous sound engineer, and a great video guy,” he said. “Next thing I knew, I’m sitting in an old barn in Connecticut, strumming my guitar, and having the time of my life. As always, with my record projects, the songs run the gamut from light-hearted and cheerful to sad and lonely. I’ve been accused of seeking emotional whiplash (I deny everything, I was never indicted!)”

When he is not touring, he’s at home in New England, still presenting his Rockport Sundays, kitchen table videos begun during COVID. His voice is richer and his music has matured and ripened with the blending of traditional and modern influences. He is still a terrific storyteller who is doing what he loves, and his audience loves him for it. He doesn’t worry much about mortality; he has been trying to book Symphony Hall in Boston for his 100^th birthday a decade-and-a-half away. They won’t accept a booking this far in advance.

Retirement? Doesn’t interest him. “I wouldn’t be good at retirement,” he said. “I was talking to Tom Paxton and he said, ‘What would I do, sit around and play the guitar all day?’ I get paid to travel and I do the show for free.”