Tom Rush's distinctive guitar style, wry humor and warm, expressive voice have made him both a legend and a lure to audiences around the world. His shows are filled with the rib-aching laughter of terrific story-telling, the sweet melancholy of ballads and the passion of gritty blues.

Emerging from the early sixties Boston/Cambridge folk scene as a folk-blues singer and guitarist, Tom Rush helped link folk to rock with his 1966 Elektra album, Take a Little Walk with Me, which included a side of electric cover versions of songs by Bo Diddley, Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry, as well as Tom’s first self-penned song, “On the Road Again.” His next album, 1968’s The Circle Game, was singled out by Rolling Stone as the record that ushered in the singer-songwriter era with its debut of songs by Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne and James Taylor before they had released any albums themselves. The album also featured what has become Tom’s best known song, “No Regrets,” which has been a hit for seemingly everyone (including Emmylou Harris and The Walker Brothers) except Tom; even U2 dropped in a few lines from the song in a televised 1994 Grammy Awards performance. Subsequent albums for Elektra and Columbia became showcases for other deserving songs by the likes of Bruce Cockburn, Guy Clark, Eric Kaz, and Richard Dean.

Tom Rush has been touring steadily for decades, bringing that voice and those songs to devoted audiences across the country. There have been a few live albums as welcome reminders of Tom’s relaxed, expressive baritone, skilled guitar-playing, droll humor and infallible taste in writing and choosing material.

A live CD, “Trolling for Owls,” released in 2003 captures Tom’s complete performance and includes, for the first time, some of the spoken stories that have endeared him to audiences.”How I Play (some of) My Favorite Songs,” a DVD, was released in 2005 by Homespun Tapes. It shows how he plays ten of the memorable songs and guitar arrangements that have long made him one of America’s most beloved performers. In 2009, Tom recorded his first studio CD in 35 years. Recorded in Nashville, “What I Know” was produced by Tom’s long-time friend Jim Rooney and includes original Tom Rush material, as well as harmonies by Emmylou Harris, Bonnie Bramlett and Nanci Griffith.

Today, Tom Rush lives in New Hampshire when he’s not touring. His voice has grown even richer and more melodic with training, and his music, like a fine wine, has matured and ripened in the blending of traditional and modern influences. He’s doing what he loves, and what audiences love him for: writing and playing . . . passionately, tenderly . . . knitting together the musical traditions and talents of our times.

Photo: Gwendolyn Stewart

A Tom Rush show is nothing more complex than a man, his guitar and his music. And absolutely nothing more is required. . . . [Joni] Mitchell’s “The Circle Game” and his own “No Regrets” were stunning reminders that well-crafted lyrics need no bells, whistles or synthesizers. THE RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH

He is, if anything, better than he was in the Seventies and Eighties. He relates to his audience as if he were playing for friends. KEY WEST - THE NEWSPAPER

It was Rush’s humor — his timing was Seinfeldesque — as much as his warm voice and deft guitar-playing that carried the show. The man who helped launch the singer-songwriter trend in the 1960s . . . proved again that he is probably the only man alive who should be allowed to sing Joni Mitchell songs. CHICAGO TRIBUNE