Bluegrass icon Del McCoury continued his 80th birthday celebration on Saturday night at The Capitol Theatre. The Del McCoury Band, along with Jerry Douglas, Drew Emmitt, Vince Herman (Leftover Salmon), Andy Falco (The Infamous Stringdusters), and David Grisman all joined in on the birthday festivities.
Fans will remember when McCoury originally celebrated his 80th birthday back on February 13th at Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, TN—12 days after his actual birthday. Del was joined by his band and special guests Marty Stuart, Sam Bush, Ricky Skaggs, The Travelin’ McCourys, Vince Gill, and more for the memorable “Grand Del Opry” show. The show was so fantastic, in fact, that it kick-started a sequence of Del McCoury birthday celebrations, including a special String Cheese Incident celebration at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
A year full of headlining shows, festival appearances, collaborations, and birthday celebrations reached an apex last night (12/21) when fans packed the historic Capitol Theatre to watch the legend collaborate with some of the biggest names in bluegrass. Del’s Grammy award-winning band—comprised of his sons Ronnie and Robbie McCoury, Jason Carter, and Alan Bartram—aided him in cultivating the memorable event.
The 80-year-old McCoury jump-started the night with a youthful rendition of “Travelin’ Teardrop Blues” before a take on the Ola Belle Reed-penned “High On A Mountain”. Jerry Douglas then joined the band to close out the first set. The sit-in included performances of “Nashville Cats” and “Smoking Gun”, which Douglas produced for the band in 2001 and 1996, respectively.
Set two was a set of growth, to say the least. David Grisman joined Del for a “Del & Dawg” segment. The old friends played the traditional bluegrass tune “Have A Feast Here Tonight” before sliding into “Shackles and Chains”. After a few more songs, the Del McCoury Band joined the duet midway through a cover of The Monroe Brothers‘ “My Long Journey Home”.
The set continued to grow when Jerry Douglas hopped on stage in the middle of “We Can’t Be Darlings Anymore”. Following this, Andy Falco joined in on “True Life Blues” before Vince Herman and Drew Emmitt were welcomed to the stage.
The 11-piece finished out the extraordinary second set and encore with a string of songs including “Midnight Blues”, “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” and “Roll in My Sweet Baby’s Arms”.
Check out fan-shot videos from the show below:
Del McCoury Band w/ David Grisman, Jerry Douglas, Andy Frasco, Leftover Salmon members – “Going Back to Old Kentucky” [Bill Monroe cover] – 12/21/19
[Video: smartkiltedman]