McCoury Music

A new Nashville office will open within a month to handle all aspects of the business, which involves recordings for The Del McCoury Band and other artists (like Merle Haggard), publishing for Del’s original music, and the popular DelFest which is held each summer in Cumberland, MD. They will also manage The Travelin’ McCourys, which is made up of Del’s band, minus Del.

Harris expressed gratitude at being chosen to head this new expansion, and has high hopes for the future of McCoury Music.

“I think we’ve assembled the proper team, and taken the right steps over the past couple of years to allow McCoury Music to not only thrive during a difficult period for the music industry, but help others succeed as well. There are at least two more generations of McCoury pickers after Del, so I’m excited to be involved in something that can be around for a long time.”

Stan Strickland of Rainmaker will continue to handle touring for The Del McCoury Band but all other aspects of the “family business” will be run from McCoury Music.

We expect to speak with Del later today and hope to get some more details.

Well, that opportunity will be afforded to participants at the DelFest Academy, which debuts the week before the main festival this May in Cumberland, MD. Members of Del’s band, along with Ronnie Bowman and Steep Canyon Rangers will provide workshops and classes from May 19-21, just ahead of DelFest proper, which runs May 22-24.

Students will be segmented according to skill level with classes provided for guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, and bass. If sufficient interest is expressed by those registering in advance, instruction will also be offered in singing and songwriting.

Registration will be limited to ensure that everyone gets direct attention from each instructor. RV and rough camping is available on site, and a number of off site lodging options are available close by.

You can find further details and full regsitration details at the DelFest Academy web site.

Instead of presenting bands that perform together normally, artists as varied as Ronnie Bowman, Mike Bub, Missy Raines, Terry Baucom, Rob McCoury, Alan Bibey, Mike Compton, Phil Leadbetter, Rob Ickes, Kenny Smith, Tim Stafford, Jason Carter, Steve Gulley, Kim Fox, Dale Ann Bradley, Amanda Smith and Josh Williams were assembled into different groups throughout each show.

Tour organizer Larry Gorley shared a number of photos from shows in Bristol, VA and Kurtztown, PA. They offer a nice flavor of the way these many pickers and singers were staged in various groupings for these concerts, as well as the giant throng on stage for the finales.

Gorley says that the tour has gone well…

“It has been one of the most fun things that I’ve ever been involved in. The crowds have been extremely appreciative of what we’ve done and all the musicians have enjoyed their response and the chance to play with their own. Some great stories have been shared and hopefully new ones will be told after these dates.

We have one more date to do in Stillwater, OK and the tour has been going well. We’ve had 21 musicans on it so far and will likely finish with 25 musicians by tour’s end. Interest has been shown for maybe more of these shows, and hopefully that will happen.

We want to thank all the venues for having us and to all that have come out to see the show, it is much appreciated.”

Perhaps we’ll see an even bigger all-star tour in ‘10.

            

This type of show has not been a common thing in the bluegrass world, but the folks at Pick One Jams are giving it a go during the month of January, 2009. They have five shows scheduled in the eastern and central US with a bevy of bluegrass stars in tow.

Artists appearing on these shows include Ronnie Bowman, Mike Bub, Missy Raines, Terry Baucom, Rob McCoury, Alan Bibey, Mike Compton, Phil Leadbetter, Rob Ickes, Kenny Smith, Tim Stafford, Jason Carter, Steve Gulley, Kim Fox, Dale Ann Bradley, Amanda Smith and Josh Williams.

Each concert will showcase these top artists in a jam-like setting with the performers rotating on and off the stage as the various pickers and singers are featured. The lineup may vary slightly from one show to the next, but each one is chock full of top bluegrass stars.

Shows on the schedule include:

• 1/08/09 – Raleigh, NC
• 1/09/09 – Bristol, VA
• 1/15/09 – Kutztown, PA
• 1/17/09 – Athens, GA
• 1/24/09 – Stillwater, OK

Ticket and lineup details for the several shows can be found on the Pick One web site.

This week Warner Brothers released the CD on iTunes for the first time and I’m told it’s selling quite well.

The CD features bluegrass legend Doc Watson together with Bootsy Collins on Wabash Cannonball and Blue Moon of Kentucky. Other stars making appearances include Mac Wiseman, Jerry Douglas, Ronnie and Rob McCoury, Jason Carter, Mike Bub, Bernie Leden (from the Eagles), and many more. Flatpicking master Steve Kaufman rips off some great solos on Little Cabin Home on the Hill mixed up with all the groovy stuff.

If you’ve never heard GrooveGrass 101, do yourself a favor and go give it a listen on iTunes.

The rock band of legend just performed their first full concert in 27 years at the O2 Arena in London, UK, Monday night. This was a full on rock concert, but the bluegrass connection was still alive.

We just heard from our friend Scott Rouse, the Nashville producer responsible for the Blue Highway CD MarbleTown, who was at the show courtesy of John Paul Jones himself.

John Paul Jones invited his bluegrass buddies to London for the Zeppelin show. He gave us killer seats. John’s wife, Mo, really took great care of us all. Here’s me, Paczosa, Ronnie and Rob. We all got backstage after show passes and had a blast. The Bluegrass contingent was full on.

From what Scott tells me, the whole bunch headed over to Jones’ house for a jam session after the concert. So who’s the “whole bunch” you ask?

• John Cowan
• Bela Fleck
• the Uncle Earl girls
• Ronnie & Rob McCoury
• Gary Paczosa
• Scott Rouse
• David Ferguson
• John Carter Cash and Laura Cash
• Chris Eldridge

Sounds like a jam I would have liked to heard!

The show has been scheduled again this year, and will be held next weekend (1/20/07) at The Paramount Center on historic State Street in Bristol.

The format of the current show is similar to the one we started in 2000, and reminiscent of the old “package tour” shows popular in the 1950s and 60s. An all star cast of prominent bluegrass pickers and singers will rotate on and off the stage in a variety of configurations, generally performing material outside of what you might normally hear them doing.

This year’s lineup includes Bobby Hicks, Ronnie Bowman, Mike Bub, David Talbot, Larry Cordle, Rob McCoury, Don Rigsby, Kim Fox, Darrell Webb, Steve Gulley, Jason Carter, Barry Bales, Paul Williams, Kenny & Amanda Smith and David Grier.

There will be two shows on January 20, at 3:00 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets and show details can be found at the Pickin’ at the Paramount site, or the Paramount Center site.