Del McCoury Band
Bands / Ensembles
The Del McCoury Band (1967–present) is a bluegrass band led by singer and guitarist Del McCoury, a former member of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys. McCoury formed Del McCoury and the Dixie Pals in 1967, with his brother Jerry on bass. His sons joined in the 1980s, Ronnie on mandolin in 1981 and Rob, first on bass and then banjo, in 1987, and the Dixie Pals name was dropped in 1988. The family moved to Nashville in 1992, and fiddler Jason Carter and bassist Mike Bub joined that year. The band dominated the IBMA awards from the 1990s into the 2000s, winning Entertainer of the Year nine times between 1994 and 2004, as well as Instrumental Group of the Year in 1996 and 1997, Album of the Year in 1994 for A Deeper Shade of Blue, and Song of the Year in 2002 for "1952 Vincent Black Lightning." Alan Bartram replaced Bub on bass in 2005. The band won Grammys for Best Bluegrass Album for The Company We Keep (2005) and The Streets of Baltimore (2013), and in 2011 recorded Legacies with New Orleans's Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The McCoury sons, with Carter and Bartram, also perform without Del as the Travelin' McCourys. Carter left in early 2025.
In the newsletter
- No. 6 Winter 1996