Tom Rush to play Chatham on April 11

Some people have criticized musician Tom Rush for not having more original songs to his credit, particularly since he has been recording for more than 50 years.

One of the people leveling that criticism is – Rush himself.

“It’s something I think about,” he says. With a laugh, he adds, “Writing is hard. I’m lazy. It’s a magical combination.”

However, Rush still writes and performs new songs. He notes with pride that a year ago, he almost sequestered himself in a cabin in his native New Hampshire.

“Last year, I wrote six songs, which is more than I’ve cranked out in a decade,” he says. “If I sit down with a guitar and a cup of coffee, and I do that on a regular basis, I can do a song or two a week.”

In concert, Rush plays his newer songs alongside such vintage compositions as “No Regrets.” “I have contemporaries who don’t do their old stuff,” Rush says. “I don’t think that’s fair to the public, who come out to hear those songs.”

Rush will bring his solo show to the Presbyterian Church of Chatham on Saturday, April 11 as part of the Sanctuary Concert series.

Original songs are only part of Rush’s repertoire. As an English literature student at Harvard, Rush was a fixture at folk clubs in the Cambridge area in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

“I got sidetracked into the folk scene, to the detriment of my studies,” he jokes. In those days, he focused on country blues and traditional folk songs.

However, Rush was also intrigued by a variety of other songs, from the early rock ’n’ roll of Bo Diddley to folk-influenced music by the likes of Eric von Schmidt.

“I like visual imagery,” says Rush. “I like contemplative songs. But I also like driving, high energy songs.”

Many of those influences worked their way to some of Rush’s earliest albums. For example, one side of his 1966 LP “Take a Little Walk with Me” consists of covers of songs by such rockers as Buddy Holly and Chuck Berry.

The album that crystallized Rush’s reputation was the 1968 collection “The Circle Game.” Besides recording his own songs, he covered material by a brace of up-and-coming artists, including Joni Mitchell, James Taylor, and Jackson Browne.

Rush says that the experience demonstrated that songwriters can sometimes be poor judges of their own material.

“When Joni sent me ‘The Circle Game,’ she was almost apologetic,” he recalls. “She thought it wasn’t a very good song.”

He can empathize. Rush had reservations about “No Regrets,” the song that concluded “The Circle Game” album. Not until it became a success for a British act, the Walker Brothers, did Rush realize that he had written a hit.

Since then, “No Regrets” has become a standard, thanks to covers by Emmylou Harris, Midge Ure, and others. “I think it’s a song people can relate to,” Rush says.

Rush is also known for another song that caught him by surprise. In 2012, his version of “The Remember Song” by Stephen Walters went viral on YouTube with more than 6 million views.

“It’s a brilliant bit of comedy,” he says. “That’s one of the things that people can’t get a handle about me. I like funny songs and novelty songs, besides the serious songs.”

The fact that the acoustic singer/songwriter tradition is alive in the 21st Century heartens Rush. He cites the commercial and critical success of Mumford and Sons and the duo Civil Wars.

“The acoustic scene is splintered, and I don’t mean that in a negative way,” Rush says. “There used to be only a few radio stations and a few outlets for this music. Now, there are almost as many genres as there are musicians.”

TOM RUSH

WHAT: Rush, who began his career in the folk revival of the early 1960s, is credited for his own songs (“No Regrets”) and his covers of such artists as Joni Mitchell, Jackson Browne, and James Taylor.

WHEN: 8 p.m. Saturday, April 11

WHERE: Presbyterian Church, 240 Southern Blvd., Chatham

TICKETS: $35

INFORMATION: 973-376-4946 or www.sanctuaryconcerts.org