In 2009, bluegrass legend Del McCoury celebrated both a personal and a musical milestone. The singer turned 70 years old and also issued a multi-disc collection that celebrated his fifty years of music making.

Naturally, one would think that it would make a great time to look back, or maybe even slow down. If you think that, chances are you don’t know Del McCoury. He’s still out there, in the studio and on the road, creating new music for his fans to enjoy.

His latest project, FAMILY CIRCLE, is chock full of the music that McCoury fans have loved for years—albeit with a few different musical wrinkles.

“I get a lot of satisfaction out of recording new projects, and looking for songs,” he says during a phone interview from his house. “Of course, I really don’t have to look for them because people send me songs. When I’m on the road, people give me CD’s and demos of songs they have written, and there’s so many songwriters in Nashville that when they find out you’re getting ready to record, they get songs to you.” McCoury says the amount of material he gets pitched has slightly affected his creative process. “It makes me lazy about writing,” the Grand Ole Opry member explains. “I used to write more than I do now.”

The album, issued on his own label, McCoury Music, features some very diverse and engaging material. One of those songs is the interestingly titled “Barbaric Splendor.”

Of the track, he says, “it’s got a mystique about it. It does to me anyway, that’s why I recorded it. A good friend of mine, Joe New wrote that song. He lives out in Northern California, and I have recorded several of his songs on the last few albums. When I heard that song, I just liked it. I don’t know what struck me about it. I just kind of liked the story, it’s kind of a story, I guess you could say.”

Another song that fits into the story song vein is the “White Pass Railroad.” Over the years, many bluegrass songs have been written about the mines and about railroads, but not many of those songs take place in Alaska. McCoury said the song came from his manager.

“There’s a gentleman, Laurence Baer, who wrote that song, and he sent that song to Chris, and he got it to me. I thought it was a great story song, a great train song, so I thought we’ll put it on the record. I learned a lot through that song about the railroad going through those mountains—how they used to build those things, and a lot of people lost their lives working on it, and it’s still there. I just saw it on TV not too long ago.”

Despite the very traditional bluegrass sound of the Del McCoury Band, you never know from whose pen a cut of theirs will come from, such as the Mark Knopfler-written “Prairie Wedding.”

“It’s funny,” he tells MUSIC CITY NEWS. “I never know what will strike me about a song, but that was one that I had never heard it before. Alan Bartram, my bass player, brought me three or four songs, and I listened to that one and thought, ‘What a story that is,’ and that’s the reason I recorded it. I liked the song, and we were on the road in a hotel, and asked them if they wanted to run through it.”

That invitation led to an unusual challenge for the veteran performer.

“They were listening to the original, and started working up their instrumental parts. I hadn’t really sang it that much, and after they worked that up, I found out the song was written in the key of C—Mark sings really low. The boys had worked up their parts on that key, and I thought, ‘Man, I’m gonna have to sing it, so I sang it in a higher register.’” Of the resulting recording, McCoury says “It went ok. I think I did one line in the lower register.”

It seems that The Del McCoury Band has a habit of departing from how people view bluegrass—and where it should be played. In addition to the normal bluegrass festivals where you would expect to see Del and the boys play, they also have played more rock-styled festivals, such as Bonnaroo, a Manchester, TN event.

“I really like playing there, I sure do. I think that was our third appearance at Bonnaroo. We were the first bluegrass act to play Bonnaroo their very first year. Since then, we’ve played it twice. We have played some diverse places. This year, we’ve played in the Court Folk festival, and played two folk festivals in Canada, and the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival in San Francisco.” While some might not view the city that has the Golden Gate as a bluegrass town, McCoury says the facts offer a different story. “I’ve been playing that for about five or ten years. They tell me 75,000 people were there. It’s a big deal.”

Another venue that the band has played this year that is special to him is the Jazz Fest in New Orleans.

“We played the Jazz Fest and I got to know the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. The Preservation Hall is a venue in New Orleans that is like we what have with the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.” The Preservation Hall Jazz Band association has led to a few collaborations that he is quite excited about.

“So I got to know them pretty well, and they wanted me to come down and record a few songs for them for the people affected by Hurricane Katrina. So we put it out, and the proceeds went to those folks. Through that, I sang a few old pop songs with them, and we just went down there and recorded with our bluegrass band, and them, as well as together.”

What might sound like a musical clash actually blended well with each other.

“You’d be surprised how good it goes together. There’s a lot of improvisation with both. It really worked great.” Look for a tour to soon follow. “We’re gonna go on the road with this thing. I don’t know how many, but we’re gonna do a few shows.”

Of course, there is a definite family vibe on the new album. Sons Ronnie and Rob (as well fiddler Jason Carter and bassist Alan Bartram) are the key ingredients of the McCoury sound, which comes alive on the song “Hello, Lonely,” a song with a mysterious beginning, of sorts.

“We were in the studio for a couple days, and we had recorded a bunch of songs. I got to thinking that most of the songs were solo, and I thought we needed some harmony numbers. There’s a CD in my counter in the kitchen, and I didn’t know where it came from, and I asked my wife if she knew where it came from, and she said no. The thing about this CD was it was in a case, but had no writing anywhere on it. So, I played it, and there was a real slow song on it called “Hello Lonely.”

The demo was a lot different in its’ original version. “The guy did it real slow,” Del confirms. “I liked that song, but I like it up-tempo, and also with harmony. I wrote the words down, not knowing where it came from, so I had two songs I went into the studio with that day, and I start singing it to Ronnie, and he asked me where I got the song. I told him that I had no idea who wrote it or where it came from. So, while we were rehearsing it, my fiddle player, Jason Carter, walked in, and he said ‘That’s my buddy’s song…I went to high school with him.” Through Jason, we found out who wrote it…who published it…and it wasn’t published. The guy just gave me a demo, and I stuck it in my pocket…You know how that is. We worked up a trio on it, and recorded it.”

FAMILY CIRCLE also features a cover of the 2002 Lee Ann Womack hit “Does My Ring Burn Your Finger.” While Lee Ann got the song on the charts, it wasn’t her version that McCoury was familiar with.

“You know, the guy that I heard sing it, Solomon Burke, I liked his version of it. I wasn’t acquainted with the song. On the record, it didn’t say who wrote it, but Buddy Miller wrote it, and I always liked his version of it, and stuck to his version of it.”

Recorded in his classic high lonesome tenor, the song sounds like it very well could have been from the catalog of his former boss, Bill Monroe. McCoury went to work for “The Father Of Bluegrass” in 1963, and has some fond memories of that time.

“When I worked for Bill, I was really young then, and it was such an exciting time. I’d listened to him since I was a little kid. It was really exciting for me to come down and play in that band.” Monroe was one artist, that according to McCoury, had his quirks. “The thing about Bill was that he’d never say ‘You sing it like this, or you play it this way—He just kind of led by example. He’d let you figure out what to do by yourself, and that made it more exciting.”

“To play the Opry back then was great. He’d play “Rawhide” from time to time as his instrumental and it was a fast song. He knew I could keep up with him. I knew how to play rhythm guitar, even though I hadn’t played that much—I knew what to do because I was a banjo player. He put me on the guitar because he needed a lead singer, and we’d do the Opry, and the applause would be so loud. I couldn’t hear him playing standing just a couple feet from him. The only thing I had to go by was watching his left foot--He would pat his heel to the floor, and I’d play with the heel.”

Years later, it seems that turnabout is only fair, as McCoury is one of the elder statesmen of the genre, having been an Opry member since October 2003.

While stories like that might not happen that often, it’s part of the allure that keeps McCoury’s fire lit. In other words, don’t look for him to mention that “R” word—retirement—anytime soon.

“I try to slow down, but they won’t let me,” he said. “My manager said, ‘Let’s send the boys out, and let them do some shows on their own, which is good for them. I thought that would slow me up, but it hasn’t. I’ve got so many other things that I’m doing too, so it just goes on and on and on, but I like that. My health is good, and I’m still right there with them. If I start singing bad, then I’d probably hang it up!”

Needless to say, I don’t think we’re going to have to worry about that anytime soon. For more on Del McCoury and FAMILY CIRCLE, log on to http://www.delmccouryband.com!

Check out Sam Bush Television!

In support of Sam Bush’s new Circles Around Me, Sam is unveiling a song by song of the new record and the first installments are above. The first track on the album, co-written by Nashville singer-songwriter Jeff Black, is explained in Sam’s own words and is a unique, in-depth perspective to his music.

Check-in weekly as the video will update itself and all 14 tracks on the wonderful record are discussed. Also, head over to the “Macon/Cleveland Review” section of MusicCityNews.com for a full review of the new record.

ENJOY!