Del McCoury Band has announced the release of a new album, Almost Proud, and previewed it with the lead single “Running Wild”. The 12-track collection from the bluegrass luminary is out on February 18th via McCoury Music.
Despite his six decades as a bluegrass torchbearer, Del never lost touch with the salt-of-the-earth blue-collar folk that Mountain Music is made both by and for. The tracklist for Almost Proud confirms this commitment to the common man, as the makeup of the album features “four songs about love lost, one love song that sounds like many others he’s cut as a tribute to his wife of 57 years, Jean, two cheatin’ songs, two drinkin’ songs, one extolling the virtues of hard work, and one about a working-class hero standing up to big coal in the West Virginia of the early nineteen hundreds.”
Along with the announcement, Del and the boys of the Del McCoury Band have shared “Running Wild”. The lead single for Almost Proud is a song 15 years in the making, resurrected when Ronnie McCoury played his dad a demo version Del himself had recorded years ago forgotten about. The fiery bluegrass stomper carries that same vintage quality of Del’s wider catalog, featuring a timelessness of music kept alive by the McCourys.
Almost Proud was born out of the pandemic when Del dove back into recorded music in a way not seen since his teen years. The bandleader picked out those songs that excited him, those he would find interesting if heard on the radio, and he entered the studio. Armed with songs written by an array of writers including Kris Kristofferson, Del added some of his own like “Running Wild” or the album’s title track which he wrote with Eric Gibson and Mike Barber. Del’s longtime friend Vince Gill also lends his vocals to “Honky Tonk Knights”.
“I’m as excited about listening to new music today as the day I started—finding a new tune or a story that tickles me,” Del said of his song choices. “This album is the best of what I heard while the world was on pause.”
Listen to “Running Wild” via the player below or on your preferred streaming platform. Almost Proud is available here for pre-order.
Del McCoury Band — “Running Wild”