Del McCoury Band Live in Concert

Even among the pantheon of music’s finest artists, Del McCoury stands alone. From the nascent sound of bluegrass that charmed hardscrabble hillbilly honkytonks, rural schoolhouse stages and the crowning glory of the Grand Ole Opry to the present-day culture-buzz of viral videos and digital streams, McCoury is the living link. Emerging from humble beginnings in York County, Penn., nearly 80 years ago, McCoury was not the likeliest of candidates for legendary status. As a teen, he was captivated by the banjo playing of one of its masters, Earl Scruggs, and decided he’d be a banjo picker, too. The Baltimore/Washington, D.C. bar scene of the early 1960s was lively and rough. McCoury joined Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in early 1963. Considered the Father of Bluegrass, Monroe transformed McCoury, moving him from the banjo to guitar, anointing him lead singer, and providing him with a priceless trove of bluegrass tutelage direct from the source.

McCoury’s sixth decade in a half-century of bluegrass bliss brings new triumphs, new collaborations and new music. With but a single change in membership in 27 years The Del McCoury Band shows unprecedented stability as well as garnering the respect and admiration of the industry for its unmistakable work: nine IBMA Entertainer of the Year trophies; in 2003, Del’s awarded membership in the cast of the legendary Grand Ole Opry; the band’s first Best Bluegrass Album GRAMMY Award, in ’05, followed by a second GRAMMY win in 2014.

“We don’t have a setlist,” McCoury said. “We try and work in the new songs, but a lot of times it’s just requests from the audience. It’s more interesting for the band, for me, and for the audience because nobody knows what’s coming next.”