Senior Sam Bush expresses himself through music

 

Notre Dame senior Sam Bush is a member of the "maul cops" on the Irish offensive line. He's a big guy with a big personality, but he has a pretty big talent off the field, too.

Offensive lineman Sam Bush has made the most of his time at Notre Dame.

He's the president of Irish Walk on Players Union.

"Within the organization we have a saying that's: WOPU, God, Country, Notre Dame," Bush said.

Bush is a member of the National Student Athlete Advisory Board and he is this season's co-host of the Jack Swarbrick Show with Notre Dame's athletic director.

Balancing football with so many extracurricular activities can be challenging but Bush has found a way to relieve stress and express himself.

"I love to sing and play and it's probably one of my favorite things to do in the world No matter what I have going on in life, if I'm stressed out, I like to go and play," Bush said.

Bush started playing the bass as a kid and he eventually taught himself how to play his dad's old guitar in high school.

"The majority of songs are relatively easy to play, it's no more than 4 or 5 chords. So I just went off and was like let's start by thinking what kind of songs can I play and it evolved from there. I didn't really get comfortable singing in front of people until about 2 or 3 years ago and since I have, it's been a lot of fun to pick up a guitar wherever I'm at and just kind of break out," Bush said.

His team mates may not have expected it at first, but now he's taking their requests.

"Sometimes I'll be sitting with my buddies and they'll be like 'Hey, Sam do you know how to play this?' If I don't I'll see if I can play something that everybody knows that they can sing along to. I have found that if you play Wagon Wheel, everyone within a 5 minute walking distance will show up and start singing along, so that's one of the go to's. But I love to play everything and my friends just like to sit there and listen along to it," Bush said.

From country to rap Bush is influenced by all types of music.

"Right now I'd say it's Rush, The Grateful Dead, Sublime, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and then probably someone like a Steely Dan, Bob Dylan and maybe Neal Young or people like that. But you know, I love reggae. I love hip hop. So there's not really much that I don't listen to," Bush said.

What does he love about playing music?

"When I play it just puts me in a really cool sense of peace. It's just something that puts me in a real peaceful state of mind that I can't really get anywhere else," Bush said.

Bush is not shy. He'll pick up his guitar and play anywhere any time he feels inspired.

"I've always considered myself relatively thoughtful, cerebral and a passionate person. I love to write, I love to read, I love to do all these things but for whatever reason, it's just always music is this really huge constant in my life that really strikes a chord with me, wherever I go and being able to pick up a guitar and play and sing. It just, it allows me to be able to convey myself in a way that I can't put onto paper, just because I hear a song, I sing a song and I think 'Yeah, that's exactly what I'm feeling like,'" Bush said.

Bush was also instrumental in the realignment of the Notre Dame locker room.

After last season Coach Kelly sat down with every player on the team. During that meeting Bush suggested moving players out of position groups to improve camaraderie and chemistry throughout the team.

Coach Kelly and the players say they feel the change has made a big impact on the team this season.