In our fame-driven culture, finding a second-generation music star as humble and friendly as Ronnie McCoury is a welcome surprise. Son of the legendary guitarist Del McCoury, Ronnie has been making music onstage with his father since the age fourteen. Alongside his brother, Robert McCoury, who performs with Ronnie in both his father’s band and their side project, The Travelin’ McCourys, Ronnie McCoury has grown into one of the most decorated and awarded musicians in bluegrass history. Live For Live Music’s own Rex Thompson was lucky enough to chat with Ronnie, and their conversation spanned the music of the Grateful Dead, the legacy of their family, finding a balance, and much more. Read on below!

Watch The Travelin’ McCourys & Jeff Austin Band Perform The Grateful Dead’s “Althea” [Pro-Shot]

Live For Live Music: You just spent a weekend with Jeff Austin covering the music of the Grateful Dead. I’m guessing your father wasn’t playing much Dead around the house. How did you find your way to their music?

Ronnie McCoury: My heroes are my father, of course, and Bill Monroe, father of bluegrass and mandolin player. I got into their music when I was in my early teens, but in my later teens, I got a package in the mail from David Grisman to my dad. He had sent an album he was putting out called Early Dog. Basically, half the album was a live show he had done with my dad. Along with that album was all the music he had recorded with his new band at the time — the David Grisman Quintet.

I immediately fell in love with Grisman’s mandolin playing. David lived in California, and I didn’t until I was 18 or 19. As I was growing up in Pennsylvania, all my buddies were like, “You play mandolin?’ and I was like “Yeah, I play with my dad” They always said, “Oh, you mean like Led Zeppelin or the Grateful Dead.” I didn’t fully know what they were talking about at the time because I was so into bluegrass. I didn’t listen to that music until my late teens.

I finally went to find out what they were talking about. Then I found that David Grisman was playing on Grateful Dead recordings and Old And In The Way. At these Dead shows, I tell the audience “I know you all came to hear these songs and music through the Grateful Dead, but I found this world through David Grisman.” I had a few friends who were really into the Dead. They had all the recordings and went to all the shows. I went with them to every show in the area for around five years in the Philadelphia or D.C. area.

L4LM: The music you started out with — Bluegrass — has a lot of structure and convention. The music of the Dead is all about openness and improvisation. How different are the mental tools you use to make their music as opposed to the music of your father?

RM: That’s a good question. Grisman was stretching the limits of the mandolin with what he was doing. It’s mainly a jazz way of looking at music. I never really had had a chance to play in that style much, because, as you mentioned, I was coming out of the Bluegrass school of thought and playing with my dad. But through listening to Grisman, I already had a vague understanding of the concept. Through the years, I have been able to get up and do that kind of music. I got to the point where I could stretch out and embrace that kind of music a bit. I admit I’m a bit prejudiced on this point, but I think I already play in the best bluegrass band in the world with my dad, so I really can’t do much better than that, so why try to do that again?

But I do like the opportunity to stretch out now that I have been in that world a bit. The Travelin’ McCourys do that a bit more, and it’s fun, for sure.

“Althea”

L4LM: The Travelin’ McCourys are extremely musically flexible. You’ve worked with folks from Jeff Austin last weekend to Keller Williams and even the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Are there any artists or genres you want to connect with in the future?

Ronnie McCoury: I’ve been really fortunate. When you start playing with folks like Keller Williams and Preservation Hall, you learn a lot along the way. It’s one thing to listen to the music they make, but a whole other thing when you play it with them. Even playing with folks like Trey Anastasio and Phish. I’ve just been so lucky getting to stretch my playing out.

I love all kinds of music. I’ve never really played any classical music. I’d like to, but I don’t read music so there’s a challenge or two there. Life kinda takes you where it takes you. I have three kids and two bands, and I am a pretty busy guy. But life is always changing. Maybe when my time opens up, I’ll really get focused on playing and exploring again.

L4LM: There seems to be a procedure to pickin’ parties like the one you just had over the weekend. Have you ever had a player jump up and sit in with you guys who just couldn’t stop hogging the lead?

RM: Ha, no, not really. The best thing a person can do in a jam situation is lead by example and respect the others. If they are onstage with us, hopefully, they’ll see that that’s what they do.

L4LM: When we were doing some pre-interview research, we noticed that you seem to have won every award available to a mandolin player multiple times. Do you have a room in your house that is filled with plaques and gold records?

RM: No, I don’t have a room. I have a small thing, like a curio cabinet, that my wife has made up and is pretty full of all that stuff. And there is a fair amount of it on the walls. I’m proud of what I have accomplished, both alone and with my dad, especially knowing where we came from. I’m proud of it though.

L4LM: You mentioned your wife just now. Have you ever tried to use your massive collection of awards in an argument? Like “Honey, are you doubting the word of a man who has won 35 ‘IBMA Mandolin Player Of The Year’ awards?”

RM: Now that would really get me in trouble. So, no, I haven’t tried pulling that one.

“Don’t Stop The Music”

L4LM: Speaking of family, do you remember when you first got an idea of the effect your father and his music has had on the world?

Ronnie McCoury: Definitely. When I was a really young kid, my dad was a logger. My dad has had a lot of jobs, and from like the 70’s to 1985, my dad was a logger. That was hard work. He would be in the woods when the sun came up and back home when it had come down. I started playing in the band with my dad when I was fourteen, and all the other guys in the band were older and they all had day jobs. The only way to really make a living playing bluegrass was to go on the road, and Dad didn’t want to be gone like that while we were kids. He wanted to be there to raise his family.

But my brother and I, we got a real sense of just how much fun our dad was having when we saw him play. During the day, he worked so hard but when he got onstage, the fun he was having was just a joy to watch. I would say watching dad have that joy, that was when the bug to perform bit me. It wasn’t seeing the joy that other people had found in his music until I started traveling with him and seeing people react. That was another whole layer of fun.

L4LM: You grew up in an age before social media. How do you think teenage Ronnie would have handled being in the public eye as a touring musician at age fourteen?

RM: Boy, that is so hard to think about. My three kids — they’re 19, almost 18 and 14 — their life is their phones. I would imagine it would have been the same if it had been me, but I am so glad it wasn’t there. I had a buddy tell me something that really resonated with me. I have been lucky enough to have like a dozen friends who I grew up with since like first grade. We all keep in touch all the time. Anyway, my one friend told me his son said, “You know, dad? When my friends and I get to hang out together, we don’t have anything to talk about because we have already texted it.” That rang so true to me. When I was a kid and you had something cool to say your buddy, you couldn’t wait to hook up and tell him. Now a bit of that seems lost. I’m glad I didn’t have all that then. It’s a great tool, don’t get me wrong. I see and respect the power of it for sure. There are ups and downs to everything though.

L4LM: Have you ever given any thought to having your own reality show? You’re an accomplished musician with a beautiful wife, multiple kids, and a very interesting life.

RM: Ha, no, not really. I mean, I’ve thought about it and had it suggested. There are certain reality shows my wife watches, but I just can’t imagine having the camera running on us all the times, so I don’t think so. I’ve been in the spotlight a lot over the years. I’m just a guy with a job raising a family. My job just happens to be on the road playing shows in the spotlight.

“I Need More Time”

L4LM: You mentioned your father didn’t travel much with his music when you were a kid, but you have gone a different route, obviously. With kids at home and fans around the country, what is your ideal split between the road and home?

Ronnie McCoury: Mainly what we do is weekends. The last time we did anything like a real tour was in around 2002. We went on the Down From The Mountains tour, which was music from O Brother, Where Art Thou? We weren’t in that movie, but they asked us to be part of that tour. I was in the middle of moving, and I had little ones at home, and it was just really hard on us to do everything at once. My whole thing is to try and be home through the week. We get home on a Monday and usually leave on Thursday. It’s all about balance.

L4LM: Well, thanks for managing to fit this chat in in the middle of your busy summer. Have fun out there with your Dad and back home with the family, and thanks for making all this wonderful music for us to boot scoot to along the way!

Ronnie McCoury: You’re more than welcome. Hope we see you out there soon!