Article Contributed by Gabriel David Barkin
Published on 2026-04-21
Allen Bush: Supersilver
Allen Bush has a dream, and he’s not giving up on it. On his new record Supersilver (available on April 23), the NorCal musician sings about aging with grace and acceptance while also harnessing one’s creativity and power to keep those delayed goals and set-aside dreams alive.
After touring for ten years in the 80s and 90s as a member of The Strangers (a fixture for a time in the Bay Area and Pacific Northwest jam band scenes), Bush took a break to raise a family. That break ended up lasting about thirty years. Supersilver is a culmination of those intervening decades, during which Bush kept writing and playing, albeit for an audience that often included just his family and a small circle of friends.
The new album, Bush says, includes brand new songs as well as some seasoned compositions. “There are some old, unrecorded numbers from the wayback machine, some that were unfinished vocal notes on my phone.” Along with producer Nat Keefe (Hot Buttered Rum), Bush selected and honed nine tunes that each focus on different aspects of aspiration, longing, and love.
Bush has musical support on those nine songs from some luminaries of the Bay Area’s current jam and bluegrass scene. The Coffis Brothers from Santa Cruz comprise the core backing band on every track. Dan “Lebo” Lebowitz (ALO) plays pedal steel on a few tunes, including the inspirational and soaring “I Just Want to Sing.” Keefe’s Hot Buttered Rum bandmates Ben Andrews (fiddle) and Erik Yates (Dobro and flute) add some color here and there. Brendan Liu and Marcus Stephens of Con Brio throw in some soul-infused horn arrangements that help shape the record.
Bush’s vocals speak with truth and authority. There’s a cool, Jackie Greene’ish vibe to his delivery of the lyrics. Harmonies by Laura T. Lewis (Wolf Jett) add an aura that harkens back to 1970s Fleetwood Mac, equally sweet and strong. Check out the chorus of “Ship,” a Nawlins-inspired soul shaker, or the verses of “Light Up,” for instance.
Supersilver will be streaming on Spotify on April 23, and a few advance tracks are available now. For more information, or to order a 12” translucent silver vinyl copy of the album, visit https://bushsongs.com/store.
Bush will be touring the Pacific Northwest, Bay Area, and Colorado in the fall with shifting lineups billed as “The Allen Bush Project.”
