The Road To DelFest mini-tour featuring the Travelin‘ McCourys and the String Cheese Incident’s Billy Nershi rolled into the Rex Theater in Pittsburgh, PA for a good ole’ fashioned mid-week bluegrass throwdown this past Wednesday night. Concentrating on traditional, straight-forward numbers with a few “cheesy” tunes mixed in to boot, the McCourys are a shining example of precision personified. With as strong of a pedigree as any bluegrass outfit picking today, and an ability to make it look absolutely effortless, Billy Nershi was telling the truth when he said it’s like “a bluegrass wet dream” to play with them.

After a strong opening set from Ohio based bluegrass/folk quartet Blue Moon Soup, the McCourys and Nershi waisted no time launching into the Bob Dylan written and Eric Clapton made-famous “Walk Out In The Rain.” This was a great early showcase, and just one of many instances that each musician got to show off his chops in space, with Jason Carter (fiddle), Rob McCoury (banjo), Ronnie McCoury (mandolin), and Nershi (guitar) all taking short firey solos in turn and upright bassist Alan Bartram holding down the low end. Bartram has a killer set of pipes too, taking vocal duties on songs like “The Shaker” and “Good Ole Days”

Other set highlights included a smoking hot banjo-lead instrumental by the five-string flamethrower himself, Rob McCoury, powerful covers of the Grateful Dead’s “Loser,”  Bill Monroe’s “Rocky Road Blues,” David Grisman’s “‘Lil Samba” that had Ronnie McCoury channeling his best Dawg, a traditional yet high-octane take on “Shady Grove” and a Nershi honkeytonk original, “Lonesome Blues.” It’s no secret that Nershi loves playing with McCourys either; he was aglow the entire night. They have been long time friends ever since the early days of SCI and have frequented many a stage together over the years.

The home stretch saw several String Cheese staples infiltrate the set list, as well as a run through “Messed Up Just Right” from the album Pick, the collaboration between the McCourys and the one-man-band Keller Williams. After a terrific version of fan-favorite “Colorado Bluebird Sky” that had everyone on the dance floor digging in and getting down, no one could have guessed that the encore would contain a double-dose of SCI in the form of “Jellyfish” and a triumphant “Johnny Cash” that had the entire crowd singing on their way home. The night ended just as it had started: hot and heavy.

All photos were taken by Ben Petchel. You can follow him on Instagram @BenPetchelMedia and follow me on Twitter @mcfarlands412.

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