College of Dupage
Lombard, IL
Has a real nice performing arts series -
I think I remember telling you about
going to see
Doc Watson & David Grisman (among others) last year.
We kicked off
the 98-99 season by going to a wonderful Bluegrass show
(notice the capital B -
cause this was music that deserves to be capitalized!!) this Saturday.
We are
admittedly neophytes when it comes to knowing the history of this music -
it
didn't really matter because the Nashville Blugrass Band and Del McCoury Band
just pull you right in ... what a great show!!
If you recall, Farm Aid
(broadcast was on The Country Music Channel -
but my VCR ran out of tape during
Phish jamming w/Neil Young -
anybody get the whole thing??) was also that day,
and I thought it sounded strange when I heard that Steve Earle
would be playing
with Del McCoury Band backing him
the day after I bought tix for this show (6th row center)
... and lo & behold they brought Steve Earle
with them to the gig
for a couple of tunes ...
his new CD is a bluegrass CD and Del McCoury Band is
serving as his band,
they said they have finished recording and
it should be
out around the first of the year.
What I do know is that Del is regarded as the standard bearer for traditional
bluegrass having cut his teeth at the knees
of Bill Monroe himself (BTW here is
a golden TV moment -
Del once appeared, as part of a band, that appeared and
performed
for Barney Fife et al in Mayberry -
yes indeed - the Andy Griffith
Show!).
Nobody does "high lonesome" the way Del does -
and his voice hasn't lost a
thing.
One of my favorite things was the way the came on stage & their prescence ...
a
dark stage with one single mic - no monitors ...
they come out all dressed in
suits (total professionals,
just like the old blues guys ya know ... BB King,
John Lee Hooker etc,
NEVER play a gig in jeans - suit, tie, the works, BTW they
did get Steve Earle
to put on a blazer over his t-shirt & jeans combo!)
and
they gathered around.
The fiddle, mandolin & banjo to one side with Del & the bass
on the other so the fiddle, mandolin & banjo could rotate
thru to center
themselves as they took their solos.
How cool - it was almost like a
choreographed dance ...
In recent years each of the members of Del's group (which includes 2 of his
sons,
who play banjo & mandolin) have won accolades - being recognized as the
best
in their category (Fiddle Player of the Year, Mandolin Player of the Year,
etc).
and it was easy to see why!
Both groups played a large amount of material from their latest CDs -
Del also
took a few requests, played a few instrumental breakdowns,
a wonderful a
capella number,
and a few numbers from a CD that his sons have put out.
After their respective sets, they sold their cds,
so I picked up the latest
from each one, and they were just all hanging out
chatting, signing cds & glossies,
etc.
So I got half of NBB to sign theirs and Del signed his for me too.
Steve
Earle also came out and was talking to people - what a treat!!
Bottom line - do not miss a chance to see either of these groups.
Mike E.
