Culture
Del McCoury recalls Opry debut with Bill Monroe, touring Japan and supercharging his career after 50
By: Ian Saint
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MARIETTA, Ohio (WOUB) — The bluegrass genre takes its name from Bill Monroe and his band, the Blue Grass Boys. This Friday, the Peoples Bank Theatre (222 Putnam St.) welcomes Del McCoury — a Blue Grass Boy alum — performing 62 years after sharing the stage with Monroe at the Grand Ole Opry.
Now 86, McCoury leads The Del McCoury Band alongside his sons Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo). Inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame in 2011, his career with Monroe began not only because of his celebrated tenor and banjo playing, but also because he could drive the band’s first tour bus, purchased from fellow Opry stars Kitty Wells and Johnnie Wright.
After parting ways with Monroe, McCoury balanced raising a family with touring in his spare time. As his children grew, he transitioned to a full-time music career, just as the IBMA was helping to elevate bluegrass’s popularity.
In more recent years, McCoury launched the DelFest festival in 2008 and brought his band to NPR’s Tiny Desk in 2018, further cementing his status as one of bluegrass’s enduring icons.
McCoury spoke to WOUB’s Ian Saint from his Nashville home on Tuesday. A transcript of their conversation, edited for length and clarity, follows.
Ian Saint: I just left a meeting with Ireland’s folk music conference, Your Roots Are Showing. [https://www.showingroots.com/] They raved about your IBMA Awards performance of Little Birdie with Billy Strings.
Del McCoury: You know what? I’d heard that song before, but never sang it. Me and Billy Strings rehearsed that song out on the sidewalk.
Your harmonies with Billy are stunning — when did you settle into that high range? With Monroe, of course, he carried the “high lonesome sound.”
McCoury: Before I worked for Bill Monroe, I was a natural tenor singer. He wanted me to sing lead for him, so the notes were a bit lower. But when I got my own band, I’d sing lead on the verses and it was natural for me to sing tenor on the chorus.
What do you recall about your Opry debut with Bill Monroe?
McCoury: I was in a musician’s union when I went to work for Bill, but Nashville didn’t recognize that — you had to join their local to play the Opry or record in that town. Bill said, “I want to take you on the road, singing lead and playing guitar. When we come off the road, I’ll get you in the union and you can do Opry shows with me. Now I’m doing a song this weekend which I want you to sing, but you can’t play guitar.” I did that (my first time) on the Grand Ole Opry, and I didn’t know what to do with my hands. It was awful.
It must’ve been fine, since the Opry inducted you 40 years later.
McCoury: When I was invited to join the Opry, I’d won (Entertainer of the Year) at IBMA in Louisville. I never have notes with me; I just stammer at the podium. Sonny Osbourne of The Osborne Brothers and Ricky Skaggs walk up, and I thought they were going to play a joke on me. Sonny said, “Dale, what was you doing 40 years ago tonight?” All I could say was “Man, I don’t know.” He said, “You were singing with Bill Monroe on the Grand Ole Opry. Would you like to join the Opry?” (The situation) they asked me to join was unusual, but that was probably Sonny’s idea; he liked to play jokes on people.
Your Opry colleague Darrin Vincent told me performing bluegrass in Japan felt surreal. You released Live in Japan in 1980 — was it surreal for you, given your earliest memories of Japan were shaped by the war?
McCoury: True. I remember when the war was over, my people were ringing church bells and just about everything. The Lilly Brothers were (bluegrass) ambassadors to Japan. They booked us to play there for a month; and JD Crowe was (touring) about the same time. Tokyo was our last date, and the biggest one. I remember a couple days before going to Japan, a limb they’d cut from a tree hit my wrist. I believed I’d broken my arm. I was worried to death, but it was good by the time I got there.
You were still working in logging full-time?
McCoury: I was. My wife’s uncle needed a skidder operator. I told him, “Look, I play music. Sometimes I might be late coming in. I might come in on Tuesday instead of Monday; I might take off Friday.” He said that’s all right, because he liked music and heard me play before. So I took a job and worked regularly for him (because) the kids were in school and I had to stick around home and make a living for them.
Many musicians feel discouraged after 30 or 40, but your career really took off in your 50s — which is remarkable.
McCoury: Yeah, you’re right about that. I really did get busy when I moved to Nashville in 1992 (at age 53). We came at a good time; they had TV then, I got an agent, and Nashville was a good location for planning dates all over the country. When I was working for Bill Monroe, man — after Saturday night’s Opry, they rolled up the sidewalks in this town. We had IBMA by that time, and the music was getting more popular. Bluegrass didn’t have an organization until 1985. You have to be organized to grow. When we became organized, (bluegrass) grew all over the world.
I love your recent single, covering The Times Are A-Changin’. Have you met Bob Dylan? Why did you select that song?
McCoury: When I first saw Bob, I played Newport Folk Festival with Bill Monroe. And I really didn’t know who Bob was until then; I just listened to bluegrass. He played mostly by himself, with guitar and harmonica; then sang with Joan Baez. We actually recorded that song for Moneyland, (the 2008 collaborative compilation) made with the working people of this country in mind. We got a whole bunch of other people to help us do that; Merle Haggard and Marty Stewart sang together. Bruce Hornsby sang The Way It Is with The Fairfield Four — boy, when their bass singer (Isaac Freeman) hit a low note, you could hear the windowpane rattle. Anyhow, (Times) was only recently released to the public. I like that song, but can’t (perform) it because I can’t remember the words. (laugh)
In fairness, Bob’s lyrics have lots of poetic phrases.
McCoury: Yeah. If I had a teleprompter, I could do them all.
For Del McCoury Band tour dates and tickets, visit https://www.delmccouryband.com/tour.