The Del McCoury Band
We were honored to have the opportunity to cover the 15th annual DelFest on behalf of No Depression, featuring intimate sessions that we recorded in the tiny press box atop the grandstands with over a dozen of this year’s incredibly talented artists. Can I get a Del Yeah!?!
We are over the moon to present The Del McCoury Band as our first offering from the No Depression Sessions at DelFest 2023. They lead off with the Del original “Don’t Let My Love Get in the Way,” featuring the vocal trio of Del, Ronnie McCoury, and Jason Carter. Del hits the high notes in only the way that Del can, Rob McCoury’s banjo solo and Ronnie’s mandolin picking keep our toes tapping, and Alan Bartram’s upright bass holds down the low end beautifully.
DelFest provides a unique gathering place for parts of our music family and friends that we don’t always get to see during the rest of the year, and it’s the same for Del and his family and his band. A major reason Del and his team established this festival was to be sure that those personal connections continued to grow and thrive year after year.
An equally important part of the festival is to ensure that the encyclopedia of musical and cultural knowledge that older players possess gets passed along to future generations. To that end, the McCourys host DelFest Academy from Sunday through Wednesday prior to the festival, featuring some of the world’s best bluegrass musicians as instructors in both group settings and one-on-one interaction.
The second song in Del’s No Depression Session is another original, “This Kind of Life,” originally released in 1981 on Take Me to the Mountains by Del McCoury and the Dixie Pals. The third and final song, “Are You Teasing Me,” comes from Carl Smith’s repertoire.
Please stay tuned and enjoy the rest of the No Depression Sessions at DelFest 2023 in the coming weeks.
