Today, Bush, the only artist who has performed at 26 of the 27 legendary events, is considered more than simply the "magic" the festival producers were looking for. Sam Bush has, in fact, become the "cosmic glue" that has defined the festival's maverick spirit from the very start.

His latest release on Sugar Hill Records, Ice Caps: Peaks Of Telluride, is on one level a documentation of his important role at the festival. Culled from performances through the 1990s, Ice Caps makes it abundantly clear why he is regarded so highly at the festival (he's been dubbed "Mayor of Telluride" and "King Sammy"). But more important than the history is the celebration. Ice Caps captures Sam Bush's joyous way with music: a seamless blending of styles ranging from gospel to rock, pop to reggae, jazz to country, folk too, and of course, bluegrass.

Over the course of 16 tracks (two which feature hysterical commentary/introduction by Telluride staple Pastor Mustard), Bush glides through Bob Dylan's "Girl of the North Country," blazes through Bill Monroe's "Big Mon" and hammers the groove of John Matt's "Memphis in the Meantime." Other highlights are Jeff Black's "Same Old River," as well as self-penned instrumentals "Spooky Lane," "Stingray" and "The Ice Caps Are Melting." Few so-called "bluegrass" artists would (or could) tackle Kool & The Gang's "Celebrate" with the gusto Bush does. And in true Telluride spirit, Bush is joined on stage by some of the greatest players in the world, including former NGR bandmates Bela Fleck and John Cowan, dobroist Jerry Douglas, guitarists Darrell Scott and Jon Randall Stewart, bassist Byron House, drummer Larry Atamanuik and former Subdudes' member John Magnie.

Perhaps best known as the founder and driving force behind the legendary New Grass Revival, Bush's ability to make music that exceeds all expectations is evident by listening to his work over the past year. For example: two diverse projects, Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza (with David Grisman, Ronnie McCoury and Ricky Skaggs, among others) and Short Trip Home (with Edgar Meyer, Joshua Bell and Mike Marshall), were each nominated for a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album and for Best Classical Crossover Album, respectively. The Short Trip Home project lead to a performance on the national broadcast of the Grammy Awards.

Meanwhile, Bush stays incredibly busy recording and touring with pal/former NGR bandmate Bela Fleck (for the Grammy-nominated The Bluegrass Sessions), as well as Lyle Lovett, Left Over Salmon, Emmylou Harris, Linda Rondstadt and Dolly Parton, among others. He recently made a guest appearance with Ringo Starr, playing "With A Little Help From My Friends."

His previous solo project, Howlin' At The Moon (1998), was an acclaimed work as well, as were his other releases (Glamour & Grits in 1996 on Sugar Hill and Late As Usual in 1987 on Rounder).

Yet, even as a solo musician, Douglas probably knows as much as anyone else about what it's like to be in the core of the band; helping to shape the sound and style of either a collective or backing another artist. After all, he had already racked up experience form his father's band, West Virginia Travelers, before starting his professional career at 16 as a member of The Country Gentlemen. And he certainly spent plenty of time contributing to groups such as J.D. Crowe and the New South (alongside Ricky Skaggs, Tony Rice, and others), Boone Creek (again with Ricky Skaggs) and Alison Krauss and Union Station. Finally, there's the fact that as sideman and band member, Douglas has over 1,000 album credits with artists ranging from David Grisman to Paul Simon, Trisha Yearwood to Del McCoury.

Important to both his identity and to those he lends his talents to is the fact that "Flux," as they call him, still listens and learns. His ear for the subtle detail of different styles has not only contributed to Jerry's unique sound and repertoire, but has also allowed him the flexibility to customize his performances for the artists he's working with. "I'm like a chameleon . . . I'm able to slip in and out of character." Jerry said in a recent Bluegrass Magazine interview. "That's what I've learned from doing so many sessions; it's not being dishonest, it's who I am, it's really me." Fortunately, this excitement about presenting the different musical facets also benefits the many types of crowds, from bluegrass to jazz, that Jerry encounters on the road. "I have great respect for any kind of music and I tailor what I play for the audience."

This ethic has certainly paid off for Flux. Not only has he become arguably the most recognizable dobro player around, sideman or not, but he's also reaped the rewards of both culminating personal style and complimenting others' efforts. To date Douglas has won six Grammy Awards, six International Bluegrass Music Association Dobro Player of the Year awards, and seven Academy of Country Music Awards for Best Instrumentalist. His sessions alongside top country artists grace the airwaves countless times a day. Beyond the format, his virtuosity has attracted a following that includes musical peers as well as fans from all walks of life.

Douglas sets new limits with the Restlesso on the Farm album, though he never loses touch with the organic nature of the dobro. Whether cracking through standup bluegrass, blues, eastern themes, country standards or elements of jazz, Restless on the Farm reflects true diversity and mastery of the instrument.

The New York-born, Nashville-based Fleck, named after classical composer Béla Bartok, became fascinated with the banjo in his teens, switching from guitar after hearing Flatt and Scruggs' Beverly Hillbillies theme. After studying at New York's High School of Music and Art, he won acclaim at a young age in the bluegrass world, while exploring the instrument's potential for jazz improvisation.

After stints with the Boston group Tasty Licks and the Kentucky band Spectrum, Fleck joined the influential progressive-bluegrass quartet New Grass Revival in 1982 and remained with the group until it split up the end of the decade. When the opportunity to assemble his own combo arose in 1989, he launched the Flecktones with bassist Victor Wooten, his electronic-percussionist brother Roy "Future Man" Wooten, and multi-instrumentalist Howard Levy; Levy was subsequently supplanted by saxophonist Jeff Coffin. Through a series of increasingly popular albums, the group's eponymous 1990 debut, Flight of the Cosmic Hippo, UFO-TOFU, Three Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Live Art, Fleck and company have forged a musical identity that's both distinctive and unpredictable, integrating a seemingly bottomless well of textures, styles and influences.

As they've continued to push stylistic boundaries, the Flecktones have won a large and devoted fan following drawn from all ends of the musical spectrum. They maintain a particularly strong constituency in the jam-band scene, thanks to the musicians' penchant for exotic improvisation.

"Sometimes when people credit Dave Matthews and Phish for our audience, we say 'Yeah, it's helping'," Fleck recently told Down Beat. "But what's really going on is years of playing a couple hundred gigs a year and building an audience from scratch and learning to please an audience so they'll want to come back. The more diverse the audience is, the better. If you've got people who would normally be jazz fans sitting in the same room with people who love bluegrass, some funk fans who love Victor [and] some Deadheads, it turns into this roomful of happy people who are all real different."

Despite the Flecktones' commercial success, the band's leader continues to branch out into a diverse array of projects in a variety of genres. The most recent Flecktones album, Outbound, is his first under a new Sony contract that calls for Fleck to also release classical and jazz projects. The musician's inclusive vision is reflected in the fact that Outbound augments the quartet with a dizzyingly diverse array of guest performers, including Shawn Colvin, Yes vocalist Jon Anderson, veteran avant-rock guitarist Adrian Belew, oboe player Paul McCandless, and keyboardist John Medeski of jazz jammers Medeski, Martin & Wood), Tuvan throat-singer Ondar and steel-pan drummer Andy Narell, as well as the tabla player and string quartet featured on the Flecktones' spirited reading of Aaron Copland's "Hoedown."

"The fact that we allow taping of our concerts has changed our approach to making records," Fleck recently explained to Sonicnet. "What's the incentive of buying a record of the same stuff without an audience to get the band excited? The point of the record is giving the audience something that they can't get live. And it's created an opportunity for us to go into the studio and explore."