Tag: Del McCoury

That Ain’t Bluegrass: The Del McCoury Band

Posted on by Editor

Artist: The Del McCoury Band
Song: “1952 Vincent Black Lightning” (originally by Richard Thompson)
Album: Del and the Boys

Where did you first hear “1952 Vincent Black Lightning?”

You know, I never heard it before on the radio, but a friend of ours heard this song on the radio in New York City or somewhere. He called Ronnie and said, “You guys ought to think about recording that song.” Like I said, I had never heard it before. Ronnie played it to me and it’s a great story. That’s what attracted me to the song. It was Richard Thompson — the guy from England — he was just playing acoustic guitar on that and he plays with his fingers instead of a pick. He had his own way of doing it, which is unique, too. But really what attracted me to it was the story. I really liked that story and I thought, “Well, you know what? We’ll see what key we can get it in.” I think he did it in Bb, but C kind of suited me better. And I thought, too, it would be good with banjo to tune it down in C and play it. We ran through it, and I didn’t get the melody exactly like he did it, I don’t think, in some spots. Either that or, since I recorded, it I’ve changed it a little. [Laughs] You kinda do that after recording a song: You’ll change little things now and then. But that’s actually the beginning of it right there.

There’s this tradition in bluegrass music of covering songs from outside of bluegrass — it’s kind of been done even since Bill Monroe and Flatt & Scruggs.

Yeah, that’s right.

Why do you think that bluegrass artists like to cover these kind of pop or folk songs?

I’ll tell you what, with me, there’s something in that song that touches me or attracts me to it. It don’t matter where the song comes from, really. I think that’s what it is with most people that record songs from outside the bluegrass realm, I guess you could say. It’s either the story or a different melody that will hit your ear that you like — it’s really a complicated thing, I think. I know, with me, that’s mainly what it is. I either like the story in the song or the melody that’s a little different somehow.

A lot of people ask me, when I do interviews for people that write magazines or have a radio show or whatever, they’ll say, “When you go to record, what kind of songs are you looking for?” And I say, “Well, I never know what I’m looking for.” [Laughs] ‘Til I hear it, you know? I don’t have a certain thing in mind, when I go to record. People send me songs all the time now and they might send a whole CD of maybe 12, 14 songs. Sometimes you might find one in that bunch. And you never know what’s going to attract you, you know? It’s a funny thing.

What do you think makes this song a good bluegrass song?

I don’t even think about that — about it fitting. [Laughs] If I like the tune or the story, I just don’t think about it. I just think, “I could do that song!” I don’t think about where it came from. I know that once I sing it. I may have suggestions of how to do the instrumental parts, but for the most part, I don’t. I just let those guys come up with what they can with the melody. I figure I like for them to be creative, too, and do what they can with the song. I really don’t think about it that way. I just think, “I’d love to sing that.” [Laughs] See what I can do with it, whatever it is.

Now, you know that ain’t bluegrass, right?

That’s true, yeah! [Laughs] It ain’t bluegrass! I tell ya, Justin, I’ve thought about this a lot: All music is related. Somehow there’s a connection in all music. Pop, rock, rock ‘n’ roll, and whatever! In bluegrass, country, or hillbilly, they’re all connected in some way. People think — I used to think myself — for one thing, “Bill Monroe, he come up with this bluegrass music and he didn’t listen to anybody else.” But he listened to a lot of people! He listened to jazz down there in New Orleans and he used to go down there. He’d spend time down there when he was young, because he liked that music. I didn’t find this out, even when I worked for him I did not know that, but I found this out later. For instance, he grew up listening to Jimmie Rodgers. All those yodel things, he got from Jimmie. That was completely different, that was even different than country. I don’t know what you would class that kind of music as. Later in years, once he come to Nashville, he would cover a lot of songs that the country people were doing in those days.

I like that your perspective on it is, if you like it, if there’s something about the song that you like, that’s all it takes.

Because if you record that song, you may have to sing that song for 10 years or longer! [Laughs] So you better like what you’re doing! I’ll tell ya, Justin, through the years I have recorded songs that I really didn’t like. The producer would bring them. I needed songs, but usually, when that happens, I don’t sing them in public. [Laughs] I found out another thing, too: Sometimes you gotta think about a song that you put on a record that you don’t like, because there’s going to be somebody that they’ll buy the whole record for that one song that you did that you don’t like. I’ve witnessed that, too. Sometimes there will be a lot of people that like that one song you don’t like, so you might have to learn it and sing it!

Bluegrass Underground Takes the Genre to New Depths

Posted on by Editor

If you’re a fan of bluegrass, PBS, or both, there’s a good chance you’ve seen the Emmy-winning show Bluegrass Underground. The series, which features the biggest voices in roots music performing in an actual cave, has been on the air since 2011, with shows first taking place 333 feet below the earth in McMinville, Tennessee’s Cumberland Caverns in 2008. Since the show’s inception, it’s featured a who’s-who of bluegrass and Americana’s finest artists, including Old Crow Medicine Show, Del McCoury, and Lucinda Williams. 

New episodes for the 2017 season taped over the weekend with three days of shows that featured Conor Oberst, Parker Millsap, Rhonda Vincent, and Marty Stuart, among others. This new season — the series’ seventh on television — is its biggest yet, a lineup that had Larry Nager, who serves as the show’s resident journalist and blogger, as excited as ever to get down to the cave. 

Prior to getting involved with Bluegrass Underground, Nager worked as a journalist, musician, and bluegrass historian. His first brush with the series came in 2008, when he attended one of the very first shows — featuring the likes of Tim O’Brien, Bryan Sutton, and Stuart Duncan — at the behest of Bluegrass Underground founder Todd Mayo. He cites that lineup as inspiring him to join the show’s team, but also is quick to explain that the venue itself played a large role in getting him on board.

And it is quite a sight. After trekking down a dimly lit, winding path flanked by rock formations and crystalline pooled water, visitors descend upon a grand “room” made of rock, at once cozy and breathtaking, lit by a large chandelier that can only be described as prehistoric chic. 

“There are artists who won’t go because they don’t like the idea of being in a cave,” he says. “That, in itself, is interesting. But there’s kind of a magic that happens underground. It takes everybody out of their usual zone. For bluegrass bands or any working band, it’s gig after gig after gig and they all kind of run together, but when they come down there they say, ‘This is one we’re gonna remember.’”

Though Nager has seen countless shows over the years, there are a handful of moments from his time in the cave that rank among his favorite musical memories. One of the most treasured of those memories is his experience seeing the late Dr. Ralph Stanley perform in 2011.

“Ralph did two shows down in the cave,” he says. “To get him in the cave is just a cool thing. He did ‘O Death’ with a pin-spot on his face in the dark cave. That was one of those moments … It was transcendent. That’s definitely one of the moments I’ll remember.”

Nager noted that moments like those are made available to viewers beyond the lucky few hundred in the venue by PBS, an entity threatened by budget proposals by the Trump administration. Without the support of PBS, there likely won’t be a home on television for Bluegrass Underground or similar roots-centric shows like Music City Roots. 

“There really is a message there, in that PBS, for people who love roots music and love bluegrass … you’re not going to see it anywhere else, not on broadcast television. There’s also an underserved rural population that, the influence of PBS there, is not often stated, but for a lot of places that’s the alternative TV they get. Otherwise, it’s Dancing with the Stars.

“If you’re open to it, the beauty of it, the strangeness of it, the uniqueness of the experience is inspiring. It’s just old-fashioned magic.”

The Essential Del McCoury Playlist

Posted on by Editor

Delano Floyd McCoury was born in York, Pennsylvania in 1939. He began his career in the 1960s playing with the great Bill Monroe and his Blue Grass Boys. At first, McCoury was hired as a banjo player, but eventually graduated to lead vocals and rhythm guitar — a coveted position in the first generation of big time bluegrassers. 

McCoury, who is now 76 years old, is known for his perfectly tailored suits, extravagantly coiffed hair, and high tenor voice. And would you believe that he nearly ended his career after his tenure with Monroe?

It's true — in the '70s, the guitarist took up a few construction and logging jobs (see this vintage photo of McCoury with a pile of wood he chopped for reference) but returned to playing professionally in the 1980s.

Since then, he has become one of the world’s most beloved bluegrass musicians … and rightfully so. He has remained true to the traditions of the genre — from the sartorial splendor of his stage appearance to his repertoire of classics — while creating a new and youthful audience with his family band’s incendiary live performances. 

Drawing from a Spotify-approved list of albums McCoury has cut with his boys (Ronnie and Robbie) as the Del McCoury Band, we offer this excellent playlist of songs that draws from some of their best albums, like The Cold Hard Facts, It’s Just the Night, The Company We Keep, and The Promise Land.

Photo Credit: Michael Verity

Smithsonsian Folkways Brings New Life to Arhoolie Records Catalog

Posted on by Editor

Arhoolie Records is one of the most important labels in roots music history. Founded by Chris Strachwitz in 1960, the El Cerrito, California-based label, which has built a reputation for sharing and preserving traditional American music, was responsible for releases from such roots, blues, bluegrass, and R&B greats as Lightnin' Hopkins, Mance Lipscomb, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Flaco Jiménez, and Del McCoury. In May of 2016, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings acquired the extensive Arhoolie catalog from Strachwitz and and his Arhoolie partner, Tom Diamente, with plans to make the label's 650+ albums available to the public across a variety of media. 

Since its acquitsition of Folkways Records in 1987, the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution has amassed a vast catalog of diverse music, including collections from the Blue Ridge Institute (music from Ferrum College's collection of recordings made between the 1920s and 1980s), Fast Folk Records (a project of Fast Folk Magazine boasting cuts from Tracy Chapman and Shawn Colvin), Paredon Records (an assortment of songs, spoken word, and poetry recorded at the tail end of the Civil Rights movement of the late 1960s), and the UNESCO Collection of Traditional Music (an impressive collection of out-of-print world music). 

The Arhoolie collection featuring music from more than 1,000 artists launched on October 21 by making a number of the label's catalog album available digitally, on CD, and on limited edition vinyl LPs. A glance at the 395 titles currently available shows a number of rarities, like out of print 7" records from Big Mama Thornton and Hank Williams, as well as CDs and digital downloads from everyone from Freddy Fender to Elizabeth Cotten. The collection also features albums from Peruvian label Discos Smith and regional Mexican labels Ideal, Falcon, and Rio.

Look for more titles from the Arhoolie catalog to be released in coming months. In the meantime, listen to a selection of Smithsonian's Arhoolie titles on Spotify and browse titles available for purchase here. 

Methjaw County Gazette: October Awards Addition

Posted on by Editor

All you folks round home know that, in addition to writing down the local breaking news for y'all, we're also International Music Celebrities and Appalachian-American Cultrul Icons.

After hundreds of thousands of calls and letters from our fans, and despite the International Bluegrass Music Association's COMMIE CONSPIRYATORIN ANTI-MUSIC Board of Directors not hiring us to host them awards like the people had asked, we decided to go down to Raleigh anyway to see all the little tiny people that make us such big people today.

We enjoyed seeing all of our fans and drinking some of that high dollar beer they got there, but it's no wonder why they couldn't keep the whole thing in MUSIC CITY USA like it used to be. Most of them people couldn't pick their way out of a paper sack. Half the banjos pickers we saw couldn't even afford no picks! Theys just framming and cramming and clawing at it and beating on it like our old Aint Gladys who was the only member of our immediate family who couldn't master a Earl Scruggs style forward roll. She never has had much going on "UP THERE" if you know what we mean, but at least she has sense enough to know when to take a shower and when to quit at that framming in D shit and let the men play the banjo. Caint say that for most of them people down there in Raleigh.

We did, however, have a great time at that awards show despite the two boring and lifeless establishment characters they picked to host it. The people spoke and we won EVERY MAJOR AWARD from Best Dressed and Best Brother Duet Tag Team to Intercontinental Champion! Well … there was ONE award we didn't win and that was Female Vocalist of the Year. That award was split in a tie vote between last year's hosts Eric and Lee Gibson. They caint even win right.

After we won all them awards, we got a phone call from that Jerry Douglas feller asking us if we'd be interested in going into business with him on a new theme park. It's going to be called "Jerry Douglas Presents: Darrellswood featuring Jerry Douglas." More on that next month! Thanks for reading, and remember to check back here at the Bluegrass Situation to find out more news from back home!

Writing from the Outside: An Interview with Dave Wilson from Chatham County Line

Posted on by Editor

“This is lucky number seven,” says Dave Wilson. He’s referring to Autumn, the new album by Chatham County Line, and it is in fact the seventh studio album by the Raleigh, North Carolina, blue-ish-grass outfit. For nearly 20 years, they have been touring and recording almost non-stop, combining the dexterous picking of Tarheel acoustic music with the accessibility of pop.

So Autumn serves as a fine point against which to measure their growth, as a band and as individual musicians. Their goal, Wilson says, is not merely to hone their technical skills — to pick more nimbly, to jam more efficiently, to solo more daringly. They continue to strive to play more expressively and to commune more closely with the music of their peers and their forebears alike. In that regard, Autumn shows them at the top of their game, gently updating decades-old traditions and putting their own spin on well-established ideas.

However, Wilson is quick to point out that the album title should not signal the band is slowing down at all. Rather than the winter of their career, they are simply harvesting seeds they planted long ago. “It’s been a great ride for us, all these years,” he says, “and we hope the fans discover us and discover through us other amazing records.”

Tell me about the album title. What made that word, in particular, sound so representative of the album for you?

The two sessions when we recorded it were separated by a year, and they both fell during Autumn months. There was just a feeling in the air and in the songs that really felt like that time of year, and I wanted to listen to it in that time of year. It’s such a great time of year, especially as Al Gore’s global warming tramps down the lane, I think the break from summertime is going to be such a relief. This year, especially — it’s going to be like magic. We really couldn’t wait for that to happen. Also, it’s just an awesome word: Autumn.

Did that idea or that feeling inform how you played or arranged these songs?

The mood was really achieved by where we worked and the time of year. We were up in Kernersville at Mitch Easter’s studio called the Fidelitorium. The leaves were on the ground. When you walked outside, you heard those great notes of feet shuffling on leaves. I think it subconsciously influenced every note that was played, but whether someone will put on this record and feel like it’s Fall remains to be seen. We waited and held on to this record for a long time just so it would come out at this time of year. We’ve put out the majority of our records in the Summer. If you see how we perform, in the suits and crowded around the microphone, it can get very hot and sweaty. We were hoping that Fall would have already broken when the album came out. We go up to the Northeast in November, and we’re already looking forward to that, breaking out the sweaters.

So you recorded the album in two sessions a year apart. Was it hard to pick up the thread with so much time in between?

We spent a lot of time on the road between sessions playing gigs and playing the new songs. We didn’t want to rush anything, even though we really worked über-hard on Tightrope. We recorded that album five separate times in different locations, some of it live, just onstage somewhere or in a studio. It was a grueling process, but it was a joy. As soon as these songs were ready, we wanted to go and record them in the studio. So, for the first session in 2014, for Autumn, we ran the tape and threw some ideas down. The songs were completely put down and mixed down, so you could listen to them in the downtime. It made a lot of sense to go back the next year when our calendar got free. We could go in using what we had learned through the year and, having written some new songs, we felt like we could flesh them out and make a whole album.

Is songwriting a collaborative effort in the group? Or are you bringing songs to the band yourself?

I definitely bring in songs in a pretty realized way, but then we work really hard arranging them and getting everybody on board with what they’re going to be playing on a night-after-night basis. At this stage in our careers, we realize that, if we record a certain song, we could end playing it on stage at every show from now until the end of time. So we really want to put care into what we’re doing. You want to play something that your 50-year-old self won’t mind getting down to.

This band has always had a very long game in our sights. I was in a hippie jam band in college and, one night, I realized that I didn’t want to be 45 years old and still singing those songs. It didn’t make any sense. So when this band got put together and we started working, I was proud of the fact that it felt like an old man could sing any of these songs and feel right at home.

Does that work with the songs you wrote early in your career, when the band was just starting out? Do those older songs still say something to your older self?

There’s definitely some cream-of-the-crop stuff that comes to the top — stuff that I feel still resonates for me and for audiences, as well. But there’s also some stuff that you’re not as proud of or you realize you could have put a little more effort into. It’s like when you’re making love for the first time — it can be very hurried. You look back on it in your later years and realize you could have done things very differently.

There are definitely songs like that you remember and you live with. Maybe when they were first recorded, we didn’t realize their potential or their staying power. It really helps to have an audience react and really fall in love with certain songs. It makes you look at it the way music is supposed to be looked at, which is from the outside — not as the writer or as the performer. It’s so much better to look at things through the eyes of the audience. With that in mind, there are songs that definitely went places we didn’t think they would go. There are songs that were written in five or 10 minutes that we still play every night. It’s a crazy world.

When we recorded “Chip of a Star" for the IV album, we put it first because we really liked the way it sounded. We didn’t think we would be playing this little two-chord song for the rest of our lives, but then people start using it in their personal lives. People got engaged listening to it. They got married and danced to it. It takes on a whole different meaning than the meaning it had when I sat down at the piano one day and wrote the words down. That’s one of the great things about songs: They have their own lives once they’re released into the wild. You never know what’s going to happen to them. That’s one of the most rewarding things about making music. We have no idea if people are going to like it or hate it. We like it. And who knows? Maybe a song will get used in a condom commercial and it will start to mean something completely different than we intended.

Does that change how you write songs, at this stage in your career?

We gave up a long time ago trying to write songs to a purpose or to please a certain faction of the audience. In our early years, it was all about the bluegrass Nazis who would shame the Avett Brothers in an elevator at the IBMAs. That has completely faded away, and people seem to be more accepting of everything. We feel great to be embraced by anyone because what we’re doing is just pure to ourselves. I don’t try to write songs about mom and dad and trains and the bluegrass songbook stuff. I just write what feels right to me for the words that come out of my mouth and the music that gets played on the instruments. Whatever people take and do with that is really their choice. It’s nice to have a career and have people respond to the music, but I know there are other musicians and other writers who don’t have that luxury.

That luxury sounds like something you have to work to achieve, not something that you obtain overnight. Is that part of the long game you were talking about?

A vast majority of music, let’s say 80 percent of huge songs and huge musical moments, are on people’s first or second albums — the stuff they made when they were 18 to 25. It’s crazy to think about what people achieve with such youth. It’s wild. We look at what we do as a crafter and, hopefully, we will get better at it through the years. We didn’t want to just come out in a huge blast and make a mark immediately.

Bluegrass does seem to be a genre that allows artists to develop in that way. On the other hand, the technical aspect of the music can potentially overshadow the aesthetic. Is that something you’re thinking about?

We’ve never really tried to study too hard what bluegrass was in 1946. We’re not trying to re-create that in this day and age because we never felt like that was what we were supposed to do. There are a few rock bands that adhere to the tenets of the Beatles, and they want everything to sound the same. They use the same instruments and have the same sounds, but the strangest thing for us is that we never really felt like we were really a bluegrass band. The longer we do this and the more we’re around, the more the heroes faded away, it does feel more and more like the word “bluegrass” does encompass us, but we didn’t feel like it did in the beginning.

I never really associated Chatham County Line with the bluegrass scene, to be honest. Maybe it’s because you’re on Yep Roc, which isn’t exactly Compass Records. Or maybe it’s because you were getting reviewed on Pitchfork. It just seemed like you were apart from that really traditional scene.

Like I said, we’re really just driven by songs and where they put us. That’s what we follow. I do worship at the feet of bands like the Earls of Leicester and the Del McCoury Band. What the Earls have done recently is amazing, and we’re so glad that they’re doing it. When you talk to those guys at a festival, those dudes are the real deal. We’re not real — at least not the way Charlie Cushman is real. We weren’t born in the mountains and trained in bluegrass from age four. We smoked dope in college and played in jam bands and we heard bluegrass and were like, "What the fig is this?" If you want to hear the traditional stuff, you can. You can go see the Earls or McCoury. We want to create music that reflects the modern times, if there’s a way to do that. I’m not using words like “cell phone” or “Internet” in a song, but it’s modern and filtered through the lens of classical instrumentation, which makes it very easy to travel.

Do you mean travel from one person to the next, the way a song travels? Or do you mean travel from one town to the next?

Going on the road. That’s the ultimate secret of Chatham County Line: We’re just doing this because it all fits in a minivan. No tour bus needed.

Is that something you’re thinking about when you’re recording?

Yes, because that is what we do. Studio albums should sound different from live performances. You can go on YouTube and watch any number of live versions of the tune. We want the record to be a little more fun. We’ve got some weird noises on there and some weird overdubs to make things interesting for posterity. We do realize that every single night we’re going to be up there playing these tunes. We do make a few mistakes along the way. A tune like “Show Me the Door,” the last song on the new album, is driven by the piano. We can’t push a piano up to the microphone. We did talk about it, though. Maybe a keytar or something would work. We’re not sponsored by Conway.

 

For more on bands who skirt the bluegrass edge, read our interview with the Infamous Stringdusters.

Photo courtesy of the artist

International Bluegrass Music Museum Expands Facility, Vision

Posted on by Editor

The International Bluegrass Music Museum and Hall of Fame in Owensboro, Kentucky, has long served as a home base for the bluegrass community. Founded in 1991 and occupying its current location on Owensboro's riverfront since 2002, the center has — through unique programming, a commitment to preserving bluegrass history, and an emphasis on live music — established itself as the go-to destination for bluegrass fans and players alike. 

Chris Joslin, the newly appointed (in Summer of 2015) IBMM Executive Director, is currently overseeing one of the center's most exciting projects yet: expanding its existing facility to further serve bluegrass past, present, and future.

"There’s all this momentum building," Joslin says of the impending construction. "The timing is good because Owensboro, about five years ago, launched a really aggressive redevelopment of their downtown to really leverage their riverfront here on the Ohio River. So there was a lot of city and state investment. What was once just an eroding riverbank has now been transformed into five or six city blocks of cascading parks and fountains and outdoor music venues. It’s really amazing. All of that has been good news for Owensboro. I think Owensboro has always tried to take advantage of the Bluegrass Museum being here and branding the city on bluegrass."

The center, which is a 501(c)(3) organization, worked closely with city and state officials to raise funds for the expansion, which will include a new building, rooftop restaurant, additional exhibit space, and a 450-seat concert venue. The newly expanded facility will lend itself to greater educational efforts, larger historical artifact collections, and a more prominent home base for the center's annual music festival, ROMP, which takes place at nearby Yellow Creek Park.

The larger facility will also play a part in improving tourism in Owensboro, which is Kentucky's fourth-largest city and sits along the banks of the Ohio River.

"I think when it comes to a city of Owensboro’s size, I think with the Bluegrass Musuem and just bluegrass music, in general, people see it as more of a linchpin to generating news for the city and driving tourism," Joslin says. "There’s certainly a lot that Owensboro has to offer, but just the energy of ROMP and the energy around the museum and the music is undeniable. I think the folks here in Owensboro recognize that and feel great about leveraging that and drawing a spotlight toward Owensboro and what we’re doing and what the city is doing to celebrate that and to nurture that."

In addition to collaborating with local governments, IBMM called upon some of its more famous friends to help spread the word about raising funds for the expansion. Artists like Del McCoury, Sam Bush, and Jerry Douglas pitched in to help the center reach its goals.

"I grew up playing, primarily, banjo and dobro and am still an active player; but the thing that I’ve always loved about people in music, even those who are at the top of the genre, is that they’re doing their own thing. They’re creating — they’re pushing the boundaries — but at the same time, they always feel a sense of connection to the bluegrass community. They always feel a sense of connection to the roots of the music," Joslin says of the center's famous friends.

While Joslin hasn't even been in his position at IBMM for a full year yet, he already has a long-term vision for the center that, at its core, is about preserving the legacy of the bluegrass community. 

"I think we have the opportunity to be, literally and figuratively, a permanent structure for bluegrass, the capital city of bluegrass that’s open 365 days a year, where the artifacts live, where the educational programs are developed, where the live music is nurtured year-round," he says. "My long-term vision is to be as relevant to the music community at large as the Country Music Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame are. That’s really what we’re about, and we’re thinking big. It will be a fun journey to get there."

The center breaks ground on its new facility on June 23.

Five Small Summer Festivals You Need to Check Out

Posted on by Editor

Big festivals like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza are amazing, if you want to experience hundreds of bands with hundreds of thousands of your closest friends. But in recent years, smaller festivals have made big names for themselves thanks to eclectic lineups, beautiful locales, and the kind of intimacy you just can't experience at some of their larger counterparts. From the curated countryside of Wildwood Revival to the hot air balloon rides at Green River Festival, these five small festivals are sure to leave big impressions.

1. NORTHWEST STRING SUMMIT // NORTH PLAINS, OR
July 14 – 17, 2016

True to its name, the Northwest String Summit brings together all of your favorite string bands for three days of pickin' and grinnin'. The Summit, celebrating its 15th anniversary this year, offers a limited number of spots for RV camping, as well as a variety of ticket options. Catch Yonder Mountain String Band, the Infamous Stringdusters, Greensky Bluegrass, and more on this year's bill. [More Info]

2. HUCK FINN JUBILEE // ONTARIO, CA
June 10 – 12, 2016

Founded in 1975, the Huck Finn Jubilee is one of North America's most celebrated bluegrass festivals. Camp on-site or stay in town and enjoy all that Ontario has to offer. This year's lineup includes Punch Brothers, Leftover Salmon, Earls of Leicester, Della Mae, and many more. [More Info]

3. WILDWOOD REVIVAL // ATHENS, GA
August 26 – 28, 2016

One of the newer festivals, Wildwood Revival is back and better than ever in its third year. Featuring amazing food, artisanal crafts, and Americana music galore, Wildwood offers a complete cultural experience, all located in the beautiful Georgia countryside. This year's lineup features Gillian Welch, the Lone Bellow, and Houndmouth. [More Info]

4. GREEN RIVER FESTIVAL // GREENFIELD, MA
July 8 – 10, 2016

Since its inception in 1986, the Green River Festival has been a festival mainstay for fans of roots music. And with local beer, camping (a newly added lodging option), great music, and hot air balloon rides, it's no surprise why. Headliners this year include Shovels & Rope, Dawes, and Shakey Graves. [More Info]

5. ROCKLAND-BERGEN MUSIC FESTIVAL // TAPPAN, NY
June 25 – 26, 2016

If you're looking to expand your musical horizons, look no further than the Rockland-Bergen Music Festival. The festival, which also highlights non-profit organizations in the New York/New Jersey area, features a wide array of genres, with performing artists including Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes, Jorma Kaukonen, and New Riders of the Purple Sage. [More Info]

Lede photo via RichardTurnerPhotography via Foter.com / CC BY-NC

 

Counsel of Elders: Del McCoury on Finding Your Way

Posted on by Editor

One would be forgiven for expecting Del McCoury, at 77 years old, to slow down and ease into retirement. But the opposite is true. In 2016, McCoury is releasing two albums — a live album with David Grisman and, on April 15, Del and Woody, the highly anticipated studio follow-up to 2013’s Streets of Baltimore. As McCoury accumulates years, he adds projects. He runs his own record label and a yearly festival. He constantly tours and he hosts a weekly radio show. Slowing down is simply not in his future.

Del McCoury is a living legend, having first attained fame in the 1960s as the lead singer in Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys. In the '90s, he reached new levels fronting his own band. McCoury is the link in the chain connecting bluegrass pioneers to the present.

For Del and Woody — and several great albums before it — Nora Guthrie gifted a batch of unrecorded Woody Guthrie lyrics for songs which were never recorded or even musically notated. It was up to McCoury and his band to bring these tunes to life. He did a marvelous job. Del and Woody will not only appease the Del-Heads and Woody fans, but it will also convert new listeners to bluegrass, McCoury, and Guthrie. It is a remarkable album — quite possibly McCoury’s best, which is saying a lot.

This is your first studio album since 2013’s Streets of Baltimore, which won a number of awards. Del and Woody has been talked about for years. This is arguably your most anticipated album to date. How do you feel now that it’s about to be released — relief, excitement? Do you still get nervous?

Well, I guess it’s mostly nervous. It’s a lot of lyrics to remember. I use a teleprompter, there’s so many words. I have another album coming out this year. It’s a live one I recorded with Dawg — David Grisman.

How do you deal with nerves and stress, at this point in your career? Do you have any tricks?

I guess I just stress. Remembering the words is the hardest part. I still get nervous before shows. I think it’s good.

Does it keep things fresh that way?

Yeah, I think so. You know, at this point, I don’t make a set list. We play whatever the crowd requests. We do one show of Woody and Del and then a regular set.

You’re doing two sets a night right now?

We’re doing all of Woody and Del, which is 12 songs, and then do requests for about 14 songs. It’s about 45 minutes each.

Do you find that certain songs are popular in different regions of the country?

Oh, sure. It’s different everywhere, but some songs are more popular than others. The area affects it.

Can you tell me about the genesis of this project — how it came to be?

I was playing a Woody Guthrie festival out in Tulsa. I can’t remember who all was playing. John Mellencamp was smoking — I mean the cigarette kind. He was smoking one cigarette after another. I thought, “That’s bad,” because of his voice.

We sang “Philadelphia Lawyer.” I’ve always liked that song. And [Sings] “I’ve been doing some hard traveling.” When we were done, Nora told me that, if her father could have afforded musicians, he’d have had a band like ours. It was a real honor. In the next breath, she told me she had a bunch of unrecorded songs of her father's and asked if I’d like to record them. Of course, I would.

Were you given the actual handwritten lyrics?

Oh, yes, isn’t that unbelievable? Nora sent over 26 songs. Well, some were copies. They were written between 1930 and 1946. It was his own handwriting. He would draw little pictures. They had the date he wrote them. I guess he was always writing songs. We recorded 14 songs, but put 12 on the record. I’m going to record them all.

What was your process for finding melodies and adding instrumentation?

I read the words and I could hear the melody and spacing and the keys. It was easy. I only had to do half the usual work. He kept real good notes. The dates were on there, and there were drawings.

There are a lot of humorous songs in this batch …

Woody Guthrie wrote a lot of songs. He must have always been writing. There’s a song on here called “Wommin’s Hats.” It’s from his first day in New York, and hats must have been a big thing back then. He got to New York and wrote “This Land Is Your Land” and the next day he wrote “Wommin’s Hats.” You know, he probably wrote 12 songs in between.

That’s a great song. “New York Trains” is one of my favorites, too.

That’s another one. It’s rich in details. It’s all about his family coming to New York.

It still seems relevant, too. The cab ride in the song is $11, which must have been outrageous for back then.

Yep, and there’s the line about the cops making them get off at the stops.

Let’s talk about your early career for a second. You sang with Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys in the '60s. Bill Monroe took a lot of musicians under his wing and served as a mentor and launching pad for their careers. What did you learn from your time with Bill? Was he full of advice?

You know, Bill Monroe didn’t give any advice. The singer before me was Jimmy Martin. He would tell all of his musicians what to play, but not Bill. He didn’t give any advice on guitar or singing. He was a tenor, so he’d sing around the singer. He’d play around the musicians. Bill really set the template for all of us. Before Bill Monroe, there wasn’t bluegrass.

How do you feel about the future of bluegrass? Are there any younger bluegrass bands that you like?

I don’t listen to much new music. When I was younger, if something made an impression, I would remember it forever. It doesn’t happen now. I guess it’s because of the vocals. They all sound the same. The old singers are different. You can tell a Mac Wiseman from a Lester Flatt and a Jimmy Martin. The new ones all sound the same. I guess it’s because they’re trying to copy. I was trying to copy when I started, too. You got to find your own way of singing, doing those things that are different.

So you think the singers need to find their own voice in order to keep bluegrass relevant?

Yes, I would say that. They need to sing songs that they like and in their own voice. You know, my sons play in my band. A couple years ago, I was talking with my manager — I think it was my manager. I was getting older. I still feel great. I can play a 90-minute show and it’s not a problem, but when you get over 70 … I think it was my manager’s idea to send the boys out on the road so I could ease up a bit. We called them the Travelin' McCourys. They got this real hot guitar player. He’s young, used to play with Ricky Skaggs. He’s great.

I’m busier than ever now, though. I have my radio show. I’m playing with Dawg, David Grisman, and we’re doing shows. I have my festival. It’s going good. Real good. And I have my own label. I’m busier than ever.

So your advice to the next generation of musicians is stay active in the industry — don’t limit yourself?

Yes, I’d say that. You need to be out playing and working. And you need to find your own way of doing things.

Photo credit: Jim McGuire

STREAM: Del McCoury Band, ‘Del and Woody’

Posted on by Editor

Artist: Del McCoury Band
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Album: Del and Woody
Release Date: April 15
Label: McCoury Music
In Their Words: "We've all heard Woody Guthrie's songs for years, so being asked to put music to his lyrics is a real honor. When I read the lyrics, I knew exactly where Woody was going with the song, so I hope he'd be happy with the final product." — Del McCoury