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Artist
New Grass Revival
12+ albums
bluegrassnewgrassacousticcountryamericana
about
New Grass Revival was a progressive bluegrass band from 1971 to 1989. The founding members were Sam Bush (mandolin, fiddle, guitar), Courtney Johnson (banjo, guitar), Ebo Walker (Harry L. Shelor Jr.) (b. October 19, 1941) (upright bass) and Curtis Burch (guitar, Dobro), all from Louisville and western Kentucky, except Burch who was from Brunswick, Georgia. They met as members of the Bluegrass Alliance, and when Lonnie Peerce left the group with ownership of the name, they reformed as the New Grass Revival (Bush has credited Walker with coining the term, "new grass"). After the release of their first album, released untitled, and as "New Grass Revival", "The Arrival of the New Grass Revival", and "Today's Bluegrass", Walker left the band. Butch Robins briefly joined the band, but being a talented banjoist he balked at playing bass, and was replaced in 1974 by John Cowan, a bass player with a background in soul music, who also shared lead vocals with Bush. In 1981, following a two-year tour with Leon Russell, Johnson and Burch left the group. Bush and Cowan decided to continue performing, and added New Yorker Béla Fleck and Californian Pat Flynn, a session guitarist, to the group. This lineup was stable for the remainder of the band's existence. Their last concert was December 31, 1989, opening for the Grateful Dead at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, California. The breakup has been attributed to Fleck's desire for a solo jazz career. Bush, Fleck and Cowan have all
