Del McCoury Band
Encyclopedia
The Del McCoury Band is a bluegrass
band. Originally Del McCoury
and the Dixie Pals with Del on guitar and his brother Jerry on bass, the band went through a number of changes until the 1980s when the band solidified its line-up, adding McCoury's sons, Ronnie
and Robbie on mandolin and banjo, respectively. In 1988, the "Dixie Pals" name was dropped in favor of the current name. Fiddler Tad Marks and bass player Mike Brantley joined in the early 1990s while the band became a national touring act. In 2004 they were nominated for the Grammy Award
for Best Bluegrass Album
for It's Just the Night, and in 2006 they won that category for The Company We Keep.
The band recorded with Steve Earle
on his 1999 album The Mountain. The band has also often performed in recent years with The Lee Boys
, with setlists mixing bluegrass, funk and gospel with extended jams on many songs.
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.
Bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
band. Originally Del McCoury
Del McCoury
Delano Floyd McCoury 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 respectively...
and the Dixie Pals with Del on guitar and his brother Jerry on bass, the band went through a number of changes until the 1980s when the band solidified its line-up, adding McCoury's sons, Ronnie
Ronnie McCoury
Ronnie McCoury is a mandolin player, singer, and songwriter born in 1967. He is the son of bluegrass musician Del McCoury, and is best known for his work with the Del McCoury Band. He has also recorded several solo albums....
and Robbie on mandolin and banjo, respectively. In 1988, the "Dixie Pals" name was dropped in favor of the current name. Fiddler Tad Marks and bass player Mike Brantley joined in the early 1990s while the band became a national touring act. In 2004 they were nominated for the Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
for Best Bluegrass Album
Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album
The Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works in the bluegrass music genre...
for It's Just the Night, and in 2006 they won that category for The Company We Keep.
The band recorded with Steve Earle
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
on his 1999 album The Mountain. The band has also often performed in recent years with The Lee Boys
The Lee Boys
The Lee Boys are a funk and gospel band based out of Miami, Florida. The band plays in the Sacred Steel tradition that arose out of the musical stylings of the House of God Church. The band plays a mixture of funk music and gospel lyrics, staying true to their roots as a religious group...
, with setlists mixing bluegrass, funk and gospel with extended jams on many songs.
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
- Del McCouryDel McCouryDelano Floyd McCoury 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 respectively...
- guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
(1967–present) - Ronnie McCouryRonnie McCouryRonnie McCoury is a mandolin player, singer, and songwriter born in 1967. He is the son of bluegrass musician Del McCoury, and is best known for his work with the Del McCoury Band. He has also recorded several solo albums....
- mandolinMandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
(1981–present) - Robbie McCoury - banjoBanjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
(1987–present) - Jerry McCoury - bass (1967–1989)
- Mike Brantley - bass (1989–1992)
- Mike Bub - bass (May 1992 - June 2005)
- Alan Bartram - bass (August 2005–present)
- Billy Baker - fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
(1967) - Tad MarksTad MarksTad Marks is an American fiddler.He spent his youth in Ambler, Pennsylvania. He studied music composition and arts at Penn State University,won numerous awards for fiddling, and is currently a violin repairman and bluegrass /folk fiddler in the Baltimore/Washington DC area.Marks has performed and...
- fiddle (1990–1992) - Jason Carter - fiddleFiddleThe term fiddle may refer to any bowed string musical instrument, most often the violin. It is also a colloquial term for the instrument used by players in all genres, including classical music...
(1992–present)
Albums
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Blue- grass |
US Country | US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US Indie Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
US Christian | CAN Country | |||
| 1992 | Blue Side of Town | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1993 | A Deeper Shade of Blue | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1996 | The Cold Hard Facts | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 1999 | The Mountain (with Steve Earle Steve Earle Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play.... ) |
— | 19 | 133 | — | — | — | 14 | |
| The Family | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2001 | Del and The Boys | 11 | 50 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2003 | It's Just the Night | 4 | 47 | — | 32 | 48 | — | — | |
| 2005 | The Company We Keep The Company We Keep The Company We Keep is an album by the Del McCoury Band, released through McCoury Music on July 12, 2005. In 2006, the album won the band the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album.- Track listing :# "Nothin' Special" – 3:12... |
2 | 59 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2006 | The Promised Land | 2 | 61 | — | 46 | 39 | 24 | — | |
| 2008 | Moneyland | 1 | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2009 | Family Circle | 4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| 2011 | American Legacies (with Preservation Hall Jazz Band Preservation Hall Jazz Band Preservation Hall Jazz Band is the name for numerous groups of Dixieland Jazz and traditional jazz bands at Preservation Hall in New Orleans, Louisiana, and on tours as organized by the Preservation Hall... ) |
4 | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| "—" denotes releases that failed to chart | |||||||||
Contributions
- Song of AmericaSong of America (album)Song of America is a 3-disc, compilation album comprising 50 songs related to the history of America. Released on September 18, 2007 under Split Rock Records/Thirty One Tigers, the music collection was conceived by former U.S...
(2007) - "The Times They Are a-Changin'The Times They Are a-Changin'The Times They Are a-Changin opens with the title track, one of Dylan's most famous songs. Dylan's friend, Tony Glover, recalls visiting Dylan's apartment in September 1963, where he saw a number of song manuscripts and poems lying on a table. "The Times They Are a-Changin'" had yet to be recorded,...
"
External links
- Discography at Discography of Bluegrass Sound Recordings
- Official website
- Del McCoury Band collection at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music archive