Ronald Delano McCoury, known as Ronnie McCoury, (born March 16, 1967) is an American

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 ...

player, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of bluegrass musician

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 is best known for his work with the Del McCoury Band and the Travelin' McCourys.

Biography

Ronnie McCoury was born in

York County, Pennsylvania York County is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 456,438. Its county seat is York, Pennsylvania, ...

on March 16, 1967. He was exposed to bluegrass from a young age, as his father had his own band, Del McCoury & The Dixie Pals. Ronnie lists his musical influences as

Bill Monroe William Smith Monroe ( ; September 13, 1911 – September 9, 1996) was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter who created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the " Father of Bluegrass". The genre takes its n ...

David Grisman David Jay Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acousti ...

Sam Bush Charles Samuel Bush (born April 13, 1952) is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. ...

Jerry Douglas Gerald Calvin Douglas (born May 28, 1956) is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. He is widely regarded as "perhaps the finest Dobro player in contemporary acoustic music, and certainly the most celebrated and prol ...

, Alan O'Bryant, and The Osborne Brothers. At the age of 9 he started taking violin lessons. He took lessons for two years before giving the violin up for sports. When he was 13, after seeing

perform, he decided to try the mandolin. He practiced it for six months before his dad invited him to join the Del McCoury Band in 1981. He has been named the

International Bluegrass Music Association The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music. Formed in 1985, IBMA established its first headquarters in Owensboro, Kentucky. In 1988 they announced plans to create the International ...

mandolin player of the year eight consecutive years from 1993-2000. McCoury graduated from Susquehannock High School in 1985, and in 2009 he and his brother Rob both won the High School's Distinguished Alumni Award.

Recordings

In 1995 he and his brother Rob McCoury released a self-titled CD on Rounder Records. In 1999, he teamed up with

to release "Mandolin Extravaganza" on the

Acoustic Disc David Jay Grisman (born March 23, 1945) is an American mandolinist. His music combines bluegrass, folk, and jazz in a genre he calls "Dawg music". He founded the record label Acoustic Disc, which issues his recordings and those of other acousti ...

label. This CD was nominated for 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 ...

and also won Instrumental Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year at the IBMA awards show in October 2000. 2000 also brought along with it McCoury's first solo project, Heartbreak Town. Along with members of the Del McCoury Band, the album is supported by appearances from

, David Grisman, Bela Fleck, and

Stuart Duncan Stuart Ian Duncan (born April 14, 1964) is an American bluegrass musician who plays the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo. Life Duncan was born in Quantico, Virginia, and raised in Santa Paula, California, where he played in the school ...

. He has also recorded with a number of artists including

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American Country music, country singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him his immense popularity, particularly in the United States, ...

Jack Clement Jack Henderson Clement (April 5, 1931 – August 8, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, record producer, film producer and music executive. He was producer and engineer for Sam Phillips at Sun Records in its early days, discovering ...

Charley Pride Charley Frank Pride (March 18, 1934 – December 12, 2020) was an American Country music, country singer. Beginning his career as a Negro league baseball player in the early-1950s, he later pursued a career in country music, becoming the gen ...

Crystal Gayle Brenda Gail Webb (born January 9, 1951), known professionally as Crystal Gayle, is an American country music singer widely known for her 1977 hit " Don't It Make My Brown Eyes Blue". Initially, Gayle's management and record label were the same ...

Jeff Foxworthy Jeffrey Marshall Foxworthy (born September 6, 1958) is an American comedian, actor, writer, and radio and television host. He is a member of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour, with Larry the Cable Guy, Bill Engvall, and formerly Ron White. Known f ...

, and

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocated to Nashville, T ...

, As a producer he has co-produced most of father's albums since 1996. He has also co-produced The Bluegrass Extravaganza with

, and

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 '' ...

. Co-produced ''

The Mountain (Steve Earle album) ''The Mountain'' is the eighth studio album by Steve Earle, backed by the Del McCoury Band, and released in 1999 (see 1999 in music). The album was a significant departure from Earle's previous work, being the first wholly bluegrass album he ha ...

'' with Steve Earle.

Personal life

McCoury currently lives in

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

, Tennessee. He is married to Allison Bliss, and has two sons and a daughter.

Discography

Solo recordings

* 2000: ''Heartbreak Town'' ( Rounder)

With Rob McCoury

* 1995: ''Ronnie & Rob McCoury'' ( Rounder)

With The Del McCoury Band

* 1992: ''Blue Side Of Town'' (Rounder) * 1993: ''A Deeper Shade Of Blue'' (Rounder) * 1996: ''The Cold Hard Facts'' (Rounder) * 1999: ''The Family'' (Ceili Music) * 2001: ''Del And The Boys'' (Ceili Music) * 2003: ''It's Just the Night'' (McCoury Music) * 2005: '' The Company We Keep'' (McCoury Music / Sugar Hill) * 2006: ''The Promised Land'' (McCoury Music) * 2008: ''Moneyland'' (McCoury Music) * 2009: ''Family Circle'' (McCoury Music) * 2011: ''American Legacies'' with Preservation Hall Jazz Band (McCoury Music) * 2011: ''Old Memories: The Songs of

'' (McCoury Music) * 2013: ''The Streets of Baltimore'' (McCoury Music) * 2016: ''Del And Wood'' (McCoury Music)

As primary contributor

* 1995: Various Artists: ''A Picture Of Hank: The New Bluegrass Way'' (

Mercury Nashville Music Corporation of America, formerly known as Universal Music Group Nashville, is Universal Music Group's country music subsidiary. It was officially opened in 1945 as #MCA Nashville, MCA Nashville and #Mercury Nashville, Mercury Nashville wh ...

) - track 10, "(I Heard That) Lonesome Whistle" * 2011: Audie Blaylock and Redline - ''I'm Going Back to Old Kentucky: A Bill Monroe Celebration'' (Rural Rhythm)

As guest musician

* 1985:

and the Dixie Pals -''Sawmill'' (Rebel) * 1985:

Tony Trischka Anthony Cattell Trischka (born January 16, 1949) is an American five-string banjo player. Sandra Brennan wrote of him in 2020: "One of the most influential modern banjoists, both in several forms of bluegrass music and occasionally in jazz and ...

- ''Hill Country'' (Rounder) * 1990:

- ''Don't Stop The Music'' (Rounder) * 1990: The Lynn Morris Band - ''The Lynn Morris Band'' (Rounder) * 1994:

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

- '' Heartsongs: Live from Home' (Blue Eye / Columbia) * 1995: David Olney - ''High, Wide And Lonesome'' (

Philo Philo of Alexandria (; ; ; ), also called , was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. The only event in Philo's life that can be decisively dated is his representation of the Alexandrian J ...

/ Rounder) * 1995: Tamra Rosanes - ''Country Roots'' (Medley) * 1996:

- ''Crank It Up - The Music Album'' (

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

) * 1996:

John Hartford John Cowan Hartford (December 30, 1937 – June 4, 2001) was an American folk, country, and bluegrass composer and musician known for his mastery of the fiddle and banjo, as well as for his witty lyrics, unique vocal style, and extensive kn ...

- '' John Hartford Fiddles Wild Hog In The Red Brush (And A Bunch Of Others You Might Not Have Heard)'' (Rounder) * 1997: Jason Carter - ''On The Move'' (Rounder) * 1997:

- El Corazón ( E-Squared / Warner Bros.) * 1998:

The GrooveGrass Boyz The GrooveGrass Boyz were an American musical group that played a mix of bluegrass, funk, and freestyle music. The group was founded as a side project by record producer and session musician Scott Rouse in 1987, after he began experimenting with ...

- ''GrooveGrass 101'' (

Reprise In music, a reprise ( , ; from the verb 'to resume') is the repetition or reiteration of the opening material later in a composition as occurs in the recapitulation of sonata form, though—originally in the 18th century—was simply any re ...

) * 1998:

Doc Watson Arthel Lane "Doc" Watson (March 3, 1923 – May 29, 2012) was an American guitarist, songwriter, and singer of bluegrass, folk, country, blues, and gospel music. He won seven Grammy awards as well as a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. His ...

Mac Wiseman Malcolm Bell Wiseman (May 23, 1925 – February 24, 2019) was an American bluegrass and country singer active for seven decades in the twentieth century. He was part of Bluegrass music's earliest generation, though bluegrass never defined him. ...

- ''Mac, Doc & Del'' (Sugar Hill) * 1999: Jimmy Tittle - ''Don't Follow Me Down'' (DixieFroh) * 1999:

And The Del McCoury Band - ''

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 ...

'' ( E-Squared / New West) * 1999: Various Artists: ''Bluegrass Mandolin Extravaganza'' (Acoustic Disc) with

, Jesse McReynolds, Bobby Osborne,

Ricky Skaggs Rickie Lee Skaggs (born July 18, 1954), known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, ma ...

, Frank Wakefield, Buck White, and

* 2000:

& Friends - ''Big Mon (The Songs Of Bill Monroe)'' (Skaggs Family Records) * 2002:

The Chieftains The Chieftains were a traditional Irish folk band formed in Dublin in 1962, by Paddy Moloney, Seán Potts and Michael Tubridy. Their sound, which is almost entirely instrumental and largely built around uilleann pipes, has become synonymous w ...

- '' Down the Old Plank Road: The Nashville Sessions'' (

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

) * 2002:

Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (sometimes abbreviated NGDB), also known as the Dirt Band, is an American band founded in Long Beach, California, in 1966. Since 2018, the band has consisted of Jeff Hanna and his son Jaime Hanna, both guitarists and voc ...

- '' Will the Circle Be Unbroken, Volume III'' ( Capitol) * 2002: Siobhan Maher Kennedy - ''Immigrant Flower'' (BMG / Gravity) * 2002: Various Artists - ''Christmas On The Mountain: A Bluegrass Christmas'' ( Universal South) * 2003:

- '' Life of Sorrow'' (Acoustic Disc) * 2004: Alecia Nugent - ''Alecia Nugent'' (Rounder) * 2005:

Charlie Daniels Charles Edward Daniels (October 28, 1936 – July 6, 2020) was an American singer, musician, and songwriter. His music fused rock, country, blues and jazz, and was a pioneering contribution to Southern rock and progressive country. He was ...

- '' Songs from the Longleaf Pines'' ( Koch / Blue Hat) * 2005:

Dierks Bentley Frederick Dierks Bentley (; born November 20, 1975) is an American country music singer and songwriter. Bentley moved to Nashville in the late 90s to pursue a career in music, leading up to his releasing the self-funded and independent album Do ...

- '' Modern Day Drifter'' (

Capitol Records Nashville Capitol Records Nashville is a major United States–based record label located in Nashville, Tennessee, operating as part of the Music Corporation of America. From 1991 to 1995, Capitol Nashville was known as Liberty Records. While under the ...

) * 2005: The Gibson Brothers - ''Red Letter Day'' ( Sugar Hill) * 2005: Ronnie Bowman - ''It's Gettin' Better All The Time'' (Koch) * 2006:

Vince Gill Vincent Grant Gill (born April 12, 1957) is an American singer, songwriter, and musician. He played in a number of local bluegrass music, bluegrass bands in the 1970s, and from 1978 to 1982, he achieved his first mainstream attention after ta ...

- '' These Days'' ( MCA Nashville) * 2007:

- '' Deuces'' ( Koch / Blue Hat) * 2007: Ronnie Bowman - ''Cold Virginia Night'' ( Rebel Records) * 2009:

- ''

Feel That Fire ''Feel That Fire'' is the fourth studio album by American country music artist Dierks Bentley. It was released on February 3, 2009 by Capitol Records Nashville. The album produced three singles with the title track, "Sideways", and " I Wanna Make ...

'' (Capitol Nashville) * 2009:

Patty Loveless Patty Loveless (born Patricia Lee Ramey, January 4, 1957) is an American country music singer. She began performing in her teenaged years before signing her first recording contract with MCA Records' Nashville division in 1985. While her first ...

- '' Mountain Soul II'' (Saguaro Road) * 2009:

Michael Martin Murphey Michael Martin Murphey (born March 14, 1945) is an American singer-songwriter. He was one of the founding artists of progressive country. A multiple Grammy nominee, Murphey has six gold albums, including ''Cowboy Songs (Michael Martin Murphey alb ...

- '' Buckaroo Blue Grass'' (Rural Rhythm) * 2009:

Sara Watkins Sara Ullrika Watkins (born June 8, 1981) is an American singer-songwriter and fiddler. Watkins debuted in 1989 as the fiddler of Nickel Creek, the progressive bluegrass group she formed with her brother Sean and mandolinist Chris Thile. In addi ...

- ''

'' ( Nonesuch) * 2010:

- '' Up on the Ridge'' (Capitol Records Nashville) * 2010:

Willie Nelson Willie Hugh Nelson (born April 29, 1933) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor and activist. He was one of the main figures of the outlaw country subgenre that developed in the late 1960s as a reaction to the conservative restr ...

- ''

Country Music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

'' (Rounder) * 2011:

Anna Ternheim Anna Ternheim (born 31 May 1978) is a Swedish singer-songwriter. Early life Ternheim was born 31 May 1978 in Stockholm, Sweden. When she was 10 years old she began playing the guitar, writing songs and performing. During a year abroad in Atlant ...

- '' The Night Visitor'' (

V2 Records V2 Records (or V2 Music and V2 Benelux; V2 being an abbreviation for Virgin 2) is a record label that was purchased by Universal Music Group in 2007, sold to PIAS in 2013 and partially acquired by Universal in 2022 (as part of larger PIAS 49% ...

) * 2012: Preservation Hall Jazz Band - ''St. Peter & 57th St.'' (Rounder) * 2013: Noam Pikelny - ''Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe'' (Compass) * 2013: Peter Rowan - ''The Old School'' (Compass) * 2014:

Leftover Salmon Leftover Salmon is an American jam band from Boulder, Colorado, formed in 1989. The band's music is a blend of bluegrass, rock, country, and Cajun/ Zydeco (Polyethnic Slamgrass). Over their thirty years as a band, Salmon has released seven s ...

- ''The Nashville Sessions'' (LoS Records) * 2014:

Rodney Crowell Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music. Crowell has had five number one singles on Hot Country Songs, all from his 1988 album '' Diamonds & Dirt''. ...

- ''Tarpaper Sky'' (

New West New West Records is a record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, Nashville and Athens, Georgia. It previously had offices in Burbank, California and Beverly Hills, California. From 2013 to 2018, New West's records in the U.S. were distributed b ...

) * 2015: The Gibson Brothers - ''Brotherhood'' (Rounder) * 2016: Jeff White - ''Right Beside You'' (self-released) * 2016:

Loretta Lynn Loretta Lynn (; April 14, 1932 – October 4, 2022) was an American country music singer and songwriter. In a career spanning six decades, Lynn released multiple gold albums. She had numerous hits such as "Hey Loretta", "The Pill (song), The P ...

- '' Full Circle'' ( Legacy Records) * 2016: Frank Solivan - ''Family, Friends & Heroes'' (

Compass A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...

) * 2016:

Jake Bugg Jake Bugg (born Jake Edwin Charles Kennedy on 28 February 1994) is an English singer-songwriter. His self-titled debut album, ''Jake Bugg (album), Jake Bugg'', some of which was co-written with songwriter Iain Archer, was released in October 20 ...

- '' Hearts That Strain'' ( Hearts That Strain)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McCoury, Ronnie American bluegrass musicians 1967 births Living people People from York County, Pennsylvania American bluegrass mandolinists Country musicians from Pennsylvania The Travelin' McCourys members Del McCoury Band members Susquehannock High School alumni