The Del McCoury Band is a

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...

-winning American bluegrass band.

History

Originally the band was called

Del McCoury Delano Floyd McCoury (born February 1, 1939) is an American bluegrass musician. As leader of the Del McCoury Band, he plays guitar and sings lead vocals along with his two sons, Ronnie McCoury and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo resp ...

and the Dixie Pals with Del on guitar and his brother Jerry on

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

. The band went through a number of changes in personnel until the 1980s when the band solidified its line-up, adding McCoury's sons, Ronnie and

Rob McCoury Rob McCoury is an American bluegrass musician who plays banjo. He is the son of bluegrass musician Del McCoury, and is best known for his work with the Del McCoury Band and the Travelin' McCourys. Biography Rob McCoury was born in York County, ...

mandolin A mandolin (, ; literally "small mandola") is a Chordophone, stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally Plucked string instrument, plucked with a plectrum, pick. It most commonly has four Course (music), courses of doubled St ...

and

banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in modern forms is usually made of plastic, where early membranes were made of animal skin. ...

, respectively.Kingsbury, Paul
The Encyclopedia of Country Music
Oxford University Press, 1998. p. 335 In 1988, the "Dixie Pals" name was dropped in favor of the current name.

Fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

r Tad Marks and bass player Mike Brantley joined in the early 1990s while the band became a national touring act. The addition of fiddler Jason Carter and bassist Mike Bub in 1992 created a lineup that was unchanged for 13 years. Bub left the band in 2005 and was replaced by Alan Bartram.

Awards

In 1999 the Del McCoury band was named "Entertainer of the Year" at the International Bluegrass Music Awards.''Bluegrass Awards Crown McCoury'', In 2004 they were nominated for the

for Best Bluegrass Album for ''It's Just the Night'', and in 2006 they won that category for ''The Company We Keep''.

Collaborations

The band recorded with

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...

on "I Still Carry You Around" on his 1997 album El Corazón. They shared co-billing on his 1999 album

The Mountain The Mountain () was a political group during the French Revolution. Its members, called the Montagnards (), sat on the highest benches in the National Convention. The term, first used during a session of the Legislative Assembly, came into ge ...

. The band has also often performed in recent years with

the Lee Boys The Lee Boys are a funk and gospel band based out of Miami, Florida, Miami, Florida. The band plays in the Sacred Steel (musical tradition), Sacred Steel tradition that arose out of the musical stylings of the House of God Church. The band play ...

, with setlists mixing bluegrass, funk and gospel with extended jams on many songs.

Travelin' McCourys

The Travelin' McCourys are an offshoot of the Del McCoury Band, featuring all current (2009) members of the band minus Del, augmented by guitarist Cody Kilby on live performances. The Travelin' McCourys also often play joint concerts with the Lee Boys.

Band members

;Current members *

- vocals, guitar (1967–present) *

Ronnie McCoury Ronald Delano McCoury, known as Ronnie McCoury, (born March 16, 1967) is an American mandolin player, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of bluegrass musician Del McCoury, and is best known for his work with the Del McCoury Band and the Trave ...

(1981–present) *

(1987–present) * Jason Carter -

fiddle A fiddle is a Bow (music), bowed String instrument, string musical instrument, most often a violin or a bass. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including European classical music, classical music. Althou ...

(1992–present) * Alan Bartram -

(August 2005–present) ;Former members *Jerry McCoury - bass (1967–1989) *Billy Baker - fiddle (1967) *Mike Brantley - bass (1989–1992) *

Tad Marks Tad Marks (born 1954) is an American folk and bluegrass fiddle player. Music He spent his youth in Ambler, Pennsylvania. Played and performed with Bob Doyle and the Allegheny String Band, the Twigg Brothers,Buzz Busby,Bill Harrell,Whetstone Run, ...

- fiddle (1990–1992) *Mike Bub - bass (May 1992–June 2005) *Dennis Crouch - bass (July 2005) *Dick Smith - banjo/mandolin *Paul Silvius - banjo Sonny Miller -fiddle

Discography

Albums

Music videos

Contributions

* 2007: Ronnie McCoury - ''Little Mo' McCoury'' (McCoury Music) * 2007: Various Artists: ''

Song of America Song of America may refer to: * MS Song of America, a cruise ship, now MS Celestyal Olympia * Song of America (album) ''Song of America'' is a 3-disc, compilation album comprising 50 songs related to the history of America. Released on September ...

'' - " The Times They Are a-Changin'"

References

External links

Discography
at Discography of Bluegrass Sound Recordings
Official websiteDel McCoury Band collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

's live music archive * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Del McCoury Band American bluegrass music groups Jam bands Grammy Award winners