NOW PLAYING | Tom Irwin
In looking for a snappy headline about Del McCoury, I landed on “indelible” to describe the 76 year-old musician and entertainer. The definition of “making marks that cannot be removed” seemed fitting considering the accomplishments achieved by this grounded and ground-breaking artist in a career spanning more than a half-century.
Del’s journey began as a child playing music with family members. His early adult performance work led to a stint with the legendary Bill Monroe. Originally slated as Monroe’s banjo player, Del later moved to guitar and vocals and eventually left his master, as so many musicians before and after him did, to start a group of his own. After many years of playing music with his brother and others, Del’s sons Ronnie and Rob gradually joined him in the Del McCoury Band. They perform outside the group as the Traveling McCoury’s.
In my nearly 45 minute interview (I expected the usual 15 or so that most “stars” allot) I learned many personal bits about the man as we covered a range of subjects, but the endearing and essential feeling I perceived was his genuine love for music and humanity. His dedication to the craft, in both recording and performing, shines through years of road work and album productions, but behind that drive and perseverance dwells a solid belief in the goodness and reality music brings. He didn’t say that so much, but it’s obvious in his every move that faith and purpose give him the strength and direction to continue on.
Recent achievements include a Grammy in 2014 for the Streets of Baltimore release and various tokens of industry appreciation, including a gift from Nora Guthrie, Woody’s daughter who oversees the Woody Guthrie Foundation. According to Del, when Nora heard his band playing she told him that if her father “could have afforded a band, he would have had one like yours.” He laughed, admitting there were “times when he couldn’t afford a band either.” This exchange led to Nora requesting Del to come up with music to songs from the incredible and seemingly inexhaustible Woody Guthrie backlog of lyrics.
Del, understandably honored, also felt some trepidation at the daunting task of writing tunes to words penned by one of America’s greatest and most prolific writers. Fortunately after reading through the 26 song lyrics sent (written from 1939-45), the words flowed so well that Del found the songs came “kinda easy.” So far, he’s finished some 16 songs with 12 set for a CD release in 2015. One of the already recorded songs, New York Trains, received a Grammy nomination in 2014.
During our talk, a moving moment occurred for me when Del read a lyric written by Woody in 1945 on a New York City curb. Guthrie, contrary to his public persona of an unorganized, wandering genius, dated and wrote notes about most of his compositions and kept them well-organized in notebooks. The words, a topical observation called “Women’s Hats” made even more delightful by Del’s wry reading, actually said as much or more about the mood of the country than a thousand words of patriotic praise or opinionated discourses could ever do.
Near the end of our conversation Del said, “Music is a great companion. You can forget about everything else and get lost in it. People are poorer without music in their lives, but anyone can have it if they want it and become inspired by music.”
That works for me.
The Del McCoury Band performs Del and Woody tunes along with career highlights Friday, Feb. 20, at the UIS Sangamon Auditorium (before Bela Fleck and Abigail Washburn).
Contact Tom Irwin at [email protected].