One of the most influential figures in all of bluegrass history, Del McCoury turns 84 years old today. Originally hired to play banjo for Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in 1963, McCoury has been at the center of the genre for more than a half-century influencing and inspiring several generations of musicians, everyone from Greensky Bluegrass and The Avett Brothers to Phish and The String Cheese Incident.
These days, Del can be found playing alongside sons Ronnie and Rob McCoury in the Del McCoury Band, earning honors for the Best Bluegrass Album at the Grammy Awards in 2006 for their work on The Company We Keep and then again in 2014 for The Streets of Baltimore. In 2008, McCoury started Delfest, an annual festival gathering of some of bluegrass’ biggest names, as well as the occasional curveball.
In celebration of the great Del McCoury’s birthday today, enjoy this full-show video of the McCoury Band at the 2013 DelFest below:
The Del McCoury Band – DelFest 2013 – Cumberland, MD – 5/25/13
[Video: Marty Dougherty]
Setlist: The Del McCoury Band | DelFest | Cumberland, MD | 5/25/13
Set: Dry My Tears and Move On, Count Me Out, Baltimore Johnny, On the Lonesome Wind, Banjo tune, High On a Mountain, This Kind of Life, Cotton Eye’d Joe, Pick Me Up on Your Way Down, Kentucky Waltz, Eli Renfro, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, Learning the Blues, A Good Man Like Me, Cheek to Cheek with the Blues, Cheyenne*, Blue Ridge Mountain Home*, You’ll Find Her Name Written There*, Mandolin Tune, Dark at Night Blue in the Day*, Head Over Heals In Love with You*, JD Crowe Banjo Tune*, She’s Left Me Again*, I’ll Never Love No One But My Darling *, Wheel House *
Encore: Back to Ole Kentucky*
* with Bobby Osborne, JD Crowe, Bobby Hicks, Jerry McCoury
[Originally published on 2/1/16]