Doing What He's Doing In The Land Of Generation X!"

As a whole, "Howlin' At The Moon" "seems to have more of a definite direction," Bush adds, and Bev Paul, Sugar Hill's director of sales and marketing, agrees.
"It's a very much in Sam's style of covering a lot of musical territory and putting his style on it," says Paul, adding that while "Glamour & Grits" was slightly "tentative," "Howlin' At The Moon" is "clearly moving full blast." Consequently, Sugar Hill is putting together a "more focused" marketing campaign behind the new album.
" 'Glamour & Grits' was Sam's first solo album in over 10 years," notes Paul. "He'd just left Emmylou's band and was starting anew on his own, so there was a lot to deal with. But this time he's definitely poised to strike."
To help launch "Howlin' At The Moon," Sugar Hill is joining in the Sam Bush Day festivities March 28 in the artist's hometown of Bowling Green, Ky. Since the celebration precedes the album's release, $2 "Bush Bucks" bounce-back coupons will be issued, to be redeemed at local record retailers when the record is released. The coupons will also be distributed during the huge April 23-26 MerleFest in Wilkesboro, N.C., where Bush will perform with the Sam Bush Band, which now includes former New Grass Revival mate John Cowan and ex-Nash Ramblers Randall and Larry Atamanuik.
The self-managed, Class Act Entertainment-booked Bush, who toured last summer as a member of Lyle Lovett's band, is now gearing up for more roadwork on his own this year, with major dates so far scheduled including the Telluride (Colo.) Bluegrass Festival June 19-20 and Winterhawk Festival July 18 in Hillsdale, N.Y. Meanwhile, Sugar Hill is exploiting Bush's love for baseball by getting "Take Me Out To The Ball Game" played during Oakland A's games while the album title and the label's 800 number flash on the scoreboard.
Print advertising from April through July targets Musician, No Depression, Dirty Linen, Bluegrass Unlimited, Bluegrass Now, New Country, and Acoustic Music, according to Paul, who also looks for Bush to maintain his TV ties with "Late Show With David Letterman" and "Late Night With Conan O'Brien" (New Grass Revival reunited on O'Brien's show to back up Garth Brooks). "We'll also service to coffeehouses and Internet cafe places, since our audience is very computer savvy," she says.
Bush played at the Gavin radio convention, held in February in San Diego, according to Paul, who notes that "a heavy teaser campaign" there resulted in heavy attention for one of the album's tracks, "Face Tomorrow." But Gavin attendee Felton Pruitt, who hosts the syndicated weekly roots/triple-A/bluegrass show "Fat Music" (an outgrowth of the now-defunct KFAT Freedom, Calif.), is especially partial to the Huskey-related cuts.
" 'Song For Roy' really blew me away!" says Pruitt, an ardent fan of Bush since early New Grass Revival. "I think it's one of the finest things he's ever written. It's straight from the heart and just grabs you, and I think the industry will stand up and say that finally there's a real true song from the soul that's not a formula song."
Pruitt, who offered "a little pirate radio station-type promotion" for "Howlin' At The Moon" at Gavin, is now running a 60-second spot for the album. "It's one of our most requested commercials," he says, "and we just can't wait for the record."