Radio John

Bush wrote the song with John Pennell, the original bass player of Union Station. It is about John Hartford, who used the on-air name Radio John when he worked as a disc jockey in St. Louis in the 1960s. Hartford also signed a poem for the back cover of New Grass Revival's first album with that name. Bush said they wrote the song over the phone and FaceTime during lockdown, and he meant it as a tribute. They made a list of Hartford's talents, from steamboat captain to singer, dancer, picker and writer, and could not fit them all in. A concert reviewer heard Bush say the first draft had 22 verses.

It closes the album of the same name, runs 5:01 and is the only track on which the Sam Bush Band plays. Bush is on lead and harmony vocals, mandolin and fiddle, with Wes Corbett on banjo, Chris Brown on drums, Todd Parks on electric bass and Stephen Mougin on guitar and harmony vocals. Corbett's banjo was his first recording with the group, and he played one of Hartford's own low-tuned banjos, lent by Bela Fleck. Bush wrote in the liner notes that it was a joy to write and record the song with the band. Folk Alley premiered a live performance video of the song in November 2022. The upload in the hypersongs web is a live performance video, not the studio track.