Born in 1939, Del McCoury has been a household name with country and bluegrass lovers for years. He started his career in Bill Monroe's band; first as a banjo player, later as a lead guitarist. Subsequently, he was the leader of The Dixie Pals from 1967 to 1987. The name of this band was changed to The Del McCoury Band after his sons Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo) joined. The quintet is now
… completed by violinist Jason Carter and double bassist Mike Bub. In the Netherlands, hardly anyone knew them until Steve Earle asked them for his excellent bluegrass album The Mountain from 1999. The Del McCoury Band makes authentic, acoustic bluegrass music consisting of plucking banjos, screeching fiddles and high close harmony vocals. As far as I am concerned, the highlights on this delicious CD include the Richard Thompson cover 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, the instrumental Goldbrickin 'and the song The Bluegrass Country (an ode to the state of Kentucky) on which label boss Ricky Skaggs sings along. The success of the movie O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the accompanying soundtrack has proven that there are plenty of bluegrass fans in the Netherlands. For those people, this album by The Del McCoury Band is an absolute must! (MvP) _ For those people, this album by The Del McCoury Band is an absolute must! (MvP) _ For those people, this album by The Del McCoury Band is an absolute must! (MvP) _more
