Posted by on July 27, 2013 in Rocky Grass

When Del met Sam: ‘The Monroe Brothers of new millenium’

There was a rare sighting July 27 at the 41st Rockygrass Festival in Lyons. In a special duet set with Sam Bush, bluegrass music legend Del McCoury was seen playing a banjo and not wearing a suit as he always does with the Del McCoury Band. (Photo by John Lehndorff)
There was a rare sighting July 27 at the 41st Rockygrass Festival in Lyons. In a special duet set with Sam Bush, bluegrass music legend Del McCoury was seen playing a banjo and not wearing a suit as he always does with the Del McCoury Band. (Photo by John Lehndorff)

7:45 p.m. July 27, Planet Bluegrass, Lyons – It was one of those cool Rockygrass moments. Del McCoury, the greatest tenor voice bluegrass has ever produced, was onstage in a rare duet set with mandolin king Sam Bush. McCoury was once a member of the Bluegrass Boys, bluegrass dad Bill Monroe’s legendary band which gave its name to the genre. He introduced a Monroe song noting that he had learned it from a subsequent Bluegrass Boy vocalist, Peter Rowan, who was sitting in the front row. In fact the seats in front of the stage was jammed with a who’s who of bluegrass music including Tim O’Brien who smiled as McCoury launched into “High on a Mountain Top,” a song popularized by O’Brien with the Boulder-based Hot Rize band. Never was a standing ovation more well deserved and heartfelt.\

Onstage now: The  Carolina Chocolate Drops. Coming tonight: Jerry Douglas and frineds channeling Flatt and Scruggs, who both were in Bill Monroe’s band.

Share This

Author:

Comments are closed.