Del McCoury was one of the Blue Grass Boys when Bill Monroe’s band’s name was adopted by the genre it had spawned. Having played with the father of bluegrass, Del is now on tour with his two sons, Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo). With his shock white hair and wearing a light gray suit, Del plays stage left and leads the band of fine traditional bluegrass players. Rob McCoury has some of the fastest, most articulate chops I’ve ever heard on a banjo. It’s a treat to hear the McCourys harmonize on vocals with their genetically similar vocal chords. When they play the slower songs a hush settles over the audience. Del’s band closes out their set with “High on the Mountain,” a tune that really let’s Del show his vocal talents.
After a short reprieve, the Del McCoury Band returned to the stage, with David Grisman in tow, for the Big Mon Jam, a tribute to Bill Monroe. This set was history lesson on the genre of bluegrass. Del exclaiming “that’s rock ‘n roll right there” after Grisman and his son Robbie share the lead on the second song. Grisman introduces “Will You Be Loving Another Man” as a song from the first Blue Grass Boys 78 record, which featured Del McCoury. The group followed this up with a few songs they’d never rehearsed together. The first of these was Bill Monroe’s “A Good Woman’s Love,” which gave way to a song that Bill cowrote with Hank Williams, “I’m Lonesome Too.” Following that fine pair was a song penned by Vassar Clements, who not only played in Monroe’s band in the 1950s, but also was a collaborator with Grisman in Old and In the Way together.
Our final serving of bluegrass for the evening saw Rob and Ronnie McCoury, with their band mates, Jason Carter (fiddle) and Alan Bartram (bass), of both The Del McCoury Band and The Travelling McCourys, return to the stage with Jeff Austin and Bill Nershi. Nershi proclaims “I’m honored to share the stage with so many great performers tonight, welcome to the Rock ‘n Roll Rodeo!” Austin and Nershi take turns leading the band on vocals and the two sides of bluegrass, traditional and newgrass, find a perfect marriage in the sound of the band.
Jeff yells out “Let me hear you Chicago Illinois!” after the Arlington Heights, IL native acknowledges his Mom’s presence in the theater. Jeff and Ronnie dive into a fiery mandolin duel and the lights in the house intensify ever so slightly as the jam comes on strong. Watching Austin, you wonder how he can manage to sing while playing the mandolin with such fury. The bluegrass super group goes with one of Nershi’s classics, “Jellyfish,” complete with Billy’s hand gestures, to close out the night and resolve the concert with a musical technique known as a picardy third, leaving the Chicago audience quite satisfied with a night of amazing bluegrass and Americana.
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