By: Matthew Dae Smith
CHARLOTTE — Bluegrass musician and three-time Grammy winner Billy Strings and his dad Terry Barber surprised people attending the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival on Friday, June 26, sitting in with bluegrass icon Del McCoury, 87, and his Del McCoury Band during the 54th annual festival. McCoury, one of bluegrass music's last living legends, is known for his one-of-a-kind tenor voice that epitomizes bluegrass music's ‘high and lonesome sound,' and his distinctive flat picking g-run on guitar. McCoury is one of the most-decorated musicians in the genre. McCoury played with Bill Monroe, the "grandfather of bluegrass" music, from 1963-64. After leaving the band, he went out on his own, recording his first album in 1967. In the 1980s his sons Ronnie (mandolin) and Rob (banjo) joined the band. McCoury has since made nearly 30 albums and has won more than 30 International Bluegrass Association (IMBA) awards, as well as two Grammy Awards with 15 nominations.On Friday, there were quiet rumors that Strings might make a guest appearance with McCoury's band. They're pals, and Strings has joined them onstage before. There's a mutual respect and admiration between the two musicians marked by their commitment to the tradition and the craft of bluegrass.
