By Jake May

Ronnie McCoury was just 14 years old in 1981 when he joined the Del McCoury Band, led by his father (and, of course, the bands namesake) Del McCoury. McCouryRonnie, that ishad only been playing the mandolin for six months at that point, but his father decided it was time to find out if the young musician could cut it. As Ronnie puts it, it was sink or swim.

By 1986, McCourys younger brother Robbie hadjoined the band as well, but it was not a surprise that the group was filledwith members of the same family; the McCourys have always been a musicalfamily. Music was in the house all the time, explains Ronnie. However,McCoury stresses that his father did not have a grand plan to form a familyband: [My father] often said that he didnt really know if we would be able todo it or want to do it I imagine if we couldnt cut it, we wouldnt havestill been in it.

Of course, McCoury could indeed cut it, withhis expert mandolin playing leading to a prolific, nearly-40-year career thatsaw him excell not only in The Del McCoury Band, but also in the TravelinMcCourys, as a solo artist and as a producer.

On Dec. 21, McCoury joined his father andother special guests for Dels 80th Birthday celebration at the CapitolTheatre. Below, we spoke about his fathers legacy, joining the band at 14 andhis work outside The Del McCoury Band.

How didthe idea to celebrate your fathers 80th birthday at The Cap come about?

Well, we live here in Nashville and my fatheris a member of the Grand Ole Opry, which is the longest running live radio showin the world. Its the epitome of this kind of music. You have to be asked byeveryone to join, its not like you can just join. Theres only been about80-something artists since 1925 that have been asked, so its a pretty elitething for musicians. My fathers actual birthday is Feb. 1. At the back end ofFebruary 2019, they did something that theyve never done before and theycalled it a Grand Del Opry for one night. We had a big lineup, mainlyNashville folks like Jerry Douglas, Sam Bush and Old Crow Medicine Show. It wasa pretty big lineup and there was a lot more than that. Well, I got a call fromMr. Shapiro up there and he said, Hey man, I see what youre doing down thereand wed love to have something for us up here in the North to help celebrate.It was very kind of him to do that, so we got this thing rolling and thats howit kind of started. This is the year-end.

Isuppose were approaching his 81st birthday.

[Laughs] Yes, exactly. Anyhow, as far as the show goes, it was very kind of everybody there to help set this up and they got a buddy Andy Falco, the hometown boy in bluegrass, and Vince [Herman] and Drew [Emmitt] from Leftover Salmon. At one point in the early 2000s, we did a tour with Leftover. It was called the Under the Influence Tour and it was, as Vince Herman said, My dad is kind of influential, so its under the influence. At the end of that year, after we had been touring too, is when they asked my father to become a member of the Opry. It was pretty neat. And then of course we have Jerry Douglas, an old friend. He and my father go way back; Jerry started playing professionally at 18. Were from Pennsylvania, Jerry is originally from Ohio, and he moved to the D.C. area to play this kind of music and my dad would see him a lot. When we moved to Nashville in the early 90s, Jerry produced two or three of our records here, so we have a long relationship. One of his oldest friends, the dog himself, Grisman, who Well, the first night my father ever played with Bill Monroe as a bluegrass Boy was New York University in 1962. There was a kid going to school there, David Grisman, and he was a taper. He taped the show and met my father then, and they struck up a friendship that is pretty long standing. So, he [flew] in. Theyve been doing a lot of duet shows while the Travelin McCourys have been kind of building a career. We were just down in Mexico at a thing called Strings & Sol and I got to see Andy and Vince and Drew. We were just talking about a few things and how to make the show work.

To go back in time a bit, Ive heard a little bit about how you came to join your fathers band. I wanted to ask you directly about that story. I think I read that you were only 13 when you joined the band, or at least around that age. If you wouldnt mind relaying that story again, Im sure everyone would be interested in hearing directly from you.

I started at 14, I had just turned 14. I wasplaying rhythm; the mandolin is a rhythm and lead instrument. I was kind ofjust playing rhythm and a little bit of lead. My dad put me in after playingsix months, just kind of sink or swim as I always say. That was 1981. Im alittle bit older than my brother, 4 years, and he started in 1986, I think. Wehave been at it a long time with him. Music was in the house all the time, butmy dad worked through the 70s and through the 80s as a logger. Just hardwork. It wasnt until I was 18, and graduated highschool in 85 that he didntwork in the woods any longer. We just kind of played music and made thedecision a couple years late to come to Nashville.

Was italways your fathers plan to have you and your brother join the band, or did hewait and see that you could cut it before asking you?

[Laughs]. Thats a good way of putting it. Heput us right in it. I imagine if we couldnt cut it, we wouldnt have stillbeen in it. Music is his life, as it is with most musicians. He takes it veryseriously and hes often said that he didnt really know if we would be able todo it or want to do it. Theres a lot that goes with it, the travel, being in afamily band, all that stuff. But we did it and were still at it.

Speakingof still being at it, obviously your dad has had a long career even before youguys joined or a long history of playing music. I was wondering as yourereflecting on his 80th year celebrations, what are some momentsthroughout your time playing as a family that stand out if you can think ofany?

Theres a lot. To me, there are a lot of highpoints. Hes in a bluegrass Hall of Fame, and like I said, the pinnacle of thiskind of music would be a member of the Grand Ole Opry. He heard the show whenhe was a kid, its been on the radio since 25. It never went off the air on aSaturday night, in all those years through tornados or whatever. It somehowsurvived. Its a big deal for him, it may not be for people these days becauseback then, radio was TV. When you think of Hank Williams and Bill Monroe andJohnny Cash and whoever, they were all there. They were all asked to be a partof it and hes right up there with them. But also the friends weve made alongthe way. People tell me that my dad has meant so much to them. The boys inPhish, they come up and tell me that they have the epiphany In about 1990 wereleased this record and these guys were riding around in a van. Jeff Mosier inAtlanta told them to get this CD of my dads. Trey [Anastasio] told me it wasthe most played CD in his house that year and in the van. That kind of stuffjust knocks me out. Jerry Garcia told me that he saw my dad in 1963 and hewanted to see Bill Monroe and The Blue Grass Boys and he wanted to be in theband at the time. He said, I saw that band and your dad was there. It was soinfluential to me. That knocks you out as a kid, like, Wow my dad is cool.

I think thats the cool thing about the extended scene or what we cover. I know many people (myself included) have been introduced to bluegrass through listening to the Dead or Phish. Just like the actual members of those bands, once they hear that amazing music, they want to go to the source and your dad is one of the sources. Thats gotta be pretty amazing to think about.

At this stage, because he is 80 years old, andthe passing of that first generation that started this musicThat music is notvery old, it was really created in the mid 40s, and somebodys dad is the nextgeneration that came through it. At this point, hes one of the big dogs andleaders of that. He learned from the well. That kind of stuff is very touchingto me, to hear people tell me this stuff through the years. Now guys like DavidGrisman or Ricky Skaggs or Sam Bush, thats the generation under my dad. Theysee my dad at 80 and they say, We can do that or We want to be able to do itthat long. Longevity, you know?

Youvealso worked with your dad as a producer. As you said earlier, your father takesmusic very seriously, so I was curiouspeople often think of producers as theones who bring down the hammer on the recording artists. I was wondering whatthe process is like for you when youre working with your dad in that wayrather than being just a player in his band?

My dad produced a lot of his own stuff. Sowhen I started, the first time I recorded in a studio with him I was 18 and Iwatched the process. You watch and you learn as the years go by. And then I seethat the next guy who kind of produced my dad was Jerry Douglas. Then Im ayoung 20s guy and Im learning from him. Basically, when you have somebodythat is as talented as my dad, theres not much you can really do except helpwith the sound. I did a lot of song-finding and then together in the studio wedo a lot of arranging. So the combination of all that is how I help my dad, wekind of co-produce everything.

I alsowanted to talk a little bit about the Travelin McCourys. What drove you andyour brother to want to pursue your own project? Obviously your work with yourdad is going to influence you, but in ways did you want to do your own thing,if at all?

As anybody wants to do it in life when youplay music, you want to try to figure out what you yourself can do outside of aband. Most guys that we all enjoy listening to who are in a band, wind uphaving side projects. Ten years ago, my dad was looking at longevity and life.He helped us come out of it and say, If something happens to my voice or ifsomething happens to me, I wouldnt want you guys to just start out cold andhave a hard go at it. So we were able to do both. Because of that, it justcouldnt be the same band without my dad. Because Im a mandolin player, I loveDavid Grismans approach because he was always stretching out. Sam Bush, alwaysstretched out. These guys are also my heroes, so they would do a lot of improvand thats something we dont do a whole lot in my dads band. We have in thelast two years, but anyhow, it was an enabler for us to sing some songs andfind songs and do things that influenced me. I was a young kid and I went toquite a few Grateful Dead shows and Ill always like their songs. We wound updoing a thing called The Grateful Ball where we could play our set and play aset of their music. Thats fun. Its already been done, they did it, dont getme wrong.

Withdifferent players its always going to be different music.

It is. I dont know what happened, but lastyear we got a Grammy. We finally put out a record and we got a Grammy for it.Its funny how life is. But thats basically it with the Travelin McCourys andwe really seem to be building pretty good right now.

Can youshare any Travelin McCoury plans on the horizon with us?

Were going to tour some with Yonder Mountainthe first half of the year. Were going on tour with Sam Bush too. Things arealways changing; I dont know whats going to happen in the second part of theyear. Right now Im thinking, Wow, I can finally relax after Saturday nightbecause weve had a hell of a year.

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Ronnie McCoury on Del's 80th and Beyond - jambands.com