McCoury has had a long career in bluegrass. Although originally hired as banjo player, he sang lead vocals and played rhythm guitar for Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys in 1963,[3] with whom he first appeared on the Grand Ole Opry. McCoury briefly appeared with the Golden State Boys in 1964 before taking a series of day jobs in construction and logging, while continuing to work as an amateur musician in Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.[4]
In the 1980s his sons began performing with him. Fiddler Tad Marks and bass player Mike Brantley joined McCoury's group in early 1990s. McCoury's group toured widely throughout the US.[5] They relocated to Nashville, Tennessee as they began to attract attention. Fiddler Jason Carter and bassist Mike Bub joined in 1992. Alan Bartram joined the band as bassist in 2005. McCoury became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in October 2003.
McCoury was also one of many performers at The Clearwater Concert at Madison Square Garden on May 3, 2009. The event celebrated the 90th birthday of Pete Seeger.
Del McCoury Band – Old Settler's Music Festival (2013)
In October 2009, The Del McCoury Band began offering fans recordings of their performances on USB flash drives available immediately after their concerts.[11]
In June 2010, McCoury received a lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts in the field of folk and traditional arts, including a stipend of $25,000.[12]
In 2012, he joined the 11th[13] annual Independent Music Awards judging panel to assist independent musicians' careers.
In 2008, Del McCoury started DelFest, an annual bluegrass festival in Cumberland, Maryland, held at the Allegany County Fairgrounds.[14] Del McCoury Band plays every night at each of the festivals.
2011: Audie Blaylock and Redline - I'm Going Back to Old Kentucky: A Bill Monroe Celebration (Rural Rhythm)
Awards and honors
Del McCoury has won 31 International Bluegrass Music Association Awards, including Entertainer of the Year four consecutive times[15] (nine total[10]). McCoury has also won IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year four times. In 2004 he was nominated for the Best Bluegrass Album Grammy Award for It's Just The Night, and in 2006 he won his first Grammy Award, in the same category, for The Company We Keep.[10] In 2014, McCoury was nominated and won his second Grammy Award for The Streets of Baltimore.[16] He was a recipient of a 2010 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.[17] McCoury received the Bluegrass Star Award, presented by the Bluegrass Heritage Foundation, in 2015. The award is bestowed upon bluegrass artists who do an exemplary job of advancing traditional bluegrass music and bringing it to new audiences while preserving its character and heritage.[18]
William Smith Monroe was an American mandolinist, singer, and songwriter, and created the bluegrass music genre. Because of this, he is often called the "Father of Bluegrass".
Ralph Edmund Stanley was an American bluegrass artist, known for his distinctive singing and banjo playing. He began playing music in 1946, originally with his older brother Carter Stanley as part of The Stanley Brothers, and most often as the leader of his band, The Clinch Mountain Boys. Ralph was also known as Dr. Ralph Stanley.
Charles Samuel Bush is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame a second time in 2023 as a solo artist.
Rhonda Lea Vincent is an American bluegrass singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.
Randall Franks is an American entertainer known for his work as a film and television actor, author, and bluegrass singer and musician. He plays various instruments including the fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and mountain dulcimer. Franks has received multiple nominations and awards throughout his career, including nominations for Inspirational Vocalist and Musician of the Year at the Josie Music Awards at the Grand Ole Opry House 2023 and 2024. He has been inducted into several halls of fame, such as the Tri-State Gospel Music Hall of Fame (2022), America's Old Time Country Music Hall of Fame (2019), and the Independent Country Music Hall of Fame (2013). The International Bluegrass Music Museum & Hall of Fame recognized Franks as a Bluegrass Legend in 2010. He has also received accolades from various regional organizations, including the Atlanta Country Music Hall of Fame Induction, Carolinas Country, Bluegrass and Gospel Hall of Fame Legend Award, Catoosa County, Georgia, which designated him as the "Appalachian Ambassador of the Fiddle" in 2004, and was inducted into the Chamber Business Person Hall of Fame In 2020, Franks was selected as the inaugural recipient of the AirPlay Direct Evolution Grant.
Mike Auldridge was an American Dobro player and a founding member of the bluegrass group The Seldom Scene. The New York Times described Auldridge as "one of the most distinctive dobro players in the history of country and bluegrass music while widening its popularity among urban audiences". He also worked as a graphic artist.
Bobby Van Osborne was an American bluegrass musician. He was the co-founder of the Osborne Brothers, a member of the Grand Ole Opry, and the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame. Osborne was a member of the United States Marine Corps, received a Purple Heart for his service, and was honorably discharged in 1953.
The Del McCoury Band is a Grammy award-winning American bluegrass band.
Ronald Delano McCoury, known as Ronnie McCoury, is an American mandolin player, singer, and songwriter. He is the son of bluegrass musician Del McCoury, and is best known for his work with the Del McCoury Band and the Travelin' McCourys.
The International Bluegrass Music Association, or IBMA, is a trade association to promote bluegrass music.
Gerald Calvin "Jerry" Douglas is an American Dobro and lap steel guitar player and record producer. He is widely regarded as "perhaps the finest Dobro player in contemporary acoustic music, and certainly the most celebrated and prolific". A fourteen-time Grammy winner, he has been called "dobro's matchless contemporary master" by The New York Times, and is among the most innovative recording artists in music, both as a solo artist and member of numerous bands, such as Alison Krauss and Union Station and The Earls of Leicester. He has been a co-director of the Transatlantic Sessions since 1998.
MerleFest is an annual "traditional plus" music festival held in Wilkesboro, North Carolina on the campus of Wilkes Community College. The festival, which is held the last weekend in April, was hosted by Grammy Award winner Doc Watson prior to his death and is named in memory and honor of his son, Eddy Merle Watson, who died in a farm tractor accident in 1985.
Kenneth Clayton Baker was an American fiddle player best known for his 25-year tenure with Bill Monroe and his group The Blue Grass Boys.
Charles Michael Cleveland is an American bluegrass fiddle player.
Rickie Lee Skaggs, known professionally as Ricky Skaggs, is an American neotraditional country and bluegrass singer, musician, producer, and composer. He primarily plays mandolin; however, he also plays fiddle, guitar, mandocaster, and banjo.
The Travelin' McCourys is a bluegrass band from Nashville, Tennessee, formed in 2009. The band is composed of brothers Ronnie McCoury, Rob McCoury, Alan Bartram, Jason Carter, and Cody Kilby, and was formed out of the Del McCoury Band, in which the McCourys, Bartram, and Carter still play.
The International Bluegrass Music Awards is an award show for bluegrass music presented by the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA). Awards are voted based on professional membership in the IBMA.
John Lewis Starling was an American musician. He is an International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame inductee bluegrass musician and composer, founding member of the bluegrass group The Seldom Scene, an otolaryngological physician for communities in Alabama, Washington, D.C., and Virginia, and an amateur architect designing the field house at Virginia Military Institute, the house his parents retired in and the floor plans for the building he practiced medicine in.
Billy Strings is an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. His album Home won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album in 2021.
Jeff White is an American bluegrass guitarist/mandolinist, songwriter, record producer and sound mixer. Jeff White has performed and produced albums with many artists including: Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, The Chieftains, Lyle Lovett, Tim O'Brien, The Travelin' McCourys, Michael Cleveland and The Earls Of Leicester. White won the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, for Best Bluegrass Album with The Earls of Leicester. One of Jeff's key mentors is award-winning fiddler Michael Cleveland. Jeff and Michael have earned four International Bluegrass Music Awards for Instrumental Recorded Performance of the Year. Jeff produced several of Michael Cleveland's albums. Jeff has toured with banjo picking Earl Scruggs and Louise Scruggs. Jeff White has produced and released three solo albums: in 1996 The White Album, in 1999 The Broken Road and in 2016 Right Beside You.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
