The del Mccoury Band
For more than 50 years, Del McCoury's music has defined authenticity for hard-core bluegrass devotees as well as a growing number of fans only vaguely familiar with the genre. Del is something special, a living link to the days when bluegrass was made only in hillbilly honkytonks, at schoolhouse shows and on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, yet also a commandingly vital presence today, from primetime and late night TV to major music festivals.
In 1992, Del formed the current version of his band and called it The Del McCoury Band. Sons Ronnie and Rob have both been in the band for more than 25 years, and it is one of the most consistent lineups of any Bluegrass band in history with just one member change in 25 years. Beginning in the mid-90’s the band won the IBMA’s Entertainer of the Year Award an unprecedented nine times in 11 years, and continues to be the most awarded artist in the history of Bluegrass music. Though this time period propelled the Del McCoury Band to the top of the bluegrass world, it also gave birth to a more startling phenomenon: the emergence of the group onto the larger musical scene as a unique torchbearer for the entire sweep of bluegrass and its history. For it turned out that the unmistakable authenticity of McCoury’s music-along with his good-natured willingness to keep alert for new sounds and new opportunities had bred fans in some unlikely places.
