Audio By Carbonatix
The fact that three venues in the Denver-Boulder area have booked Del McCoury over a four-day period speaks to his genre-spanning, cross-generational appeal. He’s been a bluegrass frontman since 1967, but despite recording a slew of long-players for roots labels like Arhoolie and Grassound, he was forced by fiscal realities to keep day jobs in logging or construction during much of his first two decades as a bandleader. Things didn’t truly begin to pick up until the early ’90s, when McCoury formed an ensemble with sons Ronnie and Rob that combined the undying appeal of traditional bluegrass with a vibrancy that attracted audiences ranging from disgruntled country aficionados to jam-band boosters. Since then, he’s dominated the annual International Bluegrass Music Association ceremonies; collectively and individually, he and his mates have won more than forty IBMA awards for albums such as 1993’s Deeper Shade of Blue, a terrific disc on Rounder Records. He’s been embraced by the Grand Ole Opry, too, but establishment honors haven’t diminished his hipness. As McCoury grows older, his fans get younger — and fortunately for the venues listed above, there are plenty of them to go around.
