Ronnie McCoury is a mandolin

Mandolin

A 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...

 player, singer, and songwriter born in 1967. He is the son of bluegrass musician 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 is best known for his work with the Del McCoury Band

Del McCoury Band

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,...

. He has also recorded several solo albums.

Ronnie McCoury was born in York County, Pennsylvania

York County, Pennsylvania

York County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. As of 2010, the population was 434,972. It is in the Susquehanna Valley, a large fertile agricultural region in South Central Pennsylvania....

 on March 16, 1967. He was exposed to bluegrass from a young age, as his father was then a member of The Dixie Pals. 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 Bill Monroe

Bill Monroe

William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...

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

Del McCoury Band

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,...

. Ronnie joined the band in 1981.

In 1995 Ronnie and his brother Rob released a self-titled CD on Rounder Records. In 1998 Ronnie teamed up with David Grisman

David Grisman

David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...

 to create the CD titled "Mandolin Extravaganza", which made its appearance on the Acoustic Disc

Acoustic Disc

Acoustic Disc is the name of the record label founded by mandolinist David Grisman, in 1990. This independent record label's focus is acoustic music from all genres of music....

 label in 1999. This CD was nominated for a 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...

 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 Ronnie's first solo project, Heartbreak Town

Heartbreak Town

Heartbreak Town is the debut album of American country music artist Steve Azar. Released on River North Records in 1996, it features the singles "Someday" and "I Never Stopped Loving You", which peaked at #51 and #50, respectively, on the Billboard Hot Country Singles & Tracks charts that year...

.

Ronnie lists his musical influences as Bill Monroe

Bill Monroe

William Smith Monroe was an American musician who created the style of music known as bluegrass, which takes its name from his band, the "Blue Grass Boys," named for Monroe's home state of Kentucky. Monroe's performing career spanned 60 years as a singer, instrumentalist, composer and bandleader...

, David Grisman

David Grisman

David Grisman is an American bluegrass/newgrass mandolinist and composer of acoustic music. In the early 1990s, he started the Acoustic Disc record label in an effort to preserve and spread acoustic or instrumental music.-Biography:Grisman grew up in Hackensack, New Jersey...

, Sam Bush

Sam Bush

Sam Bush is an American bluegrass mandolin player considered an originator of the Newgrass style.- History :...

, Jerry Douglas

Jerry Douglas

Jerry Douglas may refer to:*Jerry Douglas , actor, who was on The Young and the Restless for 25 years*Jerry Douglas, country/bluegrass musician*Jerry Douglas , director and writer of adult films such as, Score...

, Alan O'Bryant and The Osborne Brothers.

Ronnie currently lives in Nashville

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

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