The Del McCoury Band will be making two appearances in Towson this Saturday (November 22.)

Their first appearance will be an in-store performance and CD signing at Record and Tape Traders in the Dulaney Valley Shopping Center. That starts at 6 p.m.

After that, they are headlining a performance at the Recher Theatre in Towson. Smooth Kentucky is also playing in that show. Tickets are $25 and available at Ticketmaster.com.

From their wikipedia entry:

The Del McCoury Band is a Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band. Originally Del McCoury and the Dixie Pals with Del on guitar and his brother Jerry on bass, the band went through a number of changes until the 1980s when the band solidified its line-up, adding McCoury’s sons, Ronnie and Robbie on mandolin and banjo, respectively. In 1988, the “Dixie Pals” name was dropped in favor of the current name.Fiddler Tad Marks and bass player Mike Brantley joined in the early 1990s while the band became a national touring act. In 2004 they were nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album for It’s Just the Night, and in 2006 they won that category for The Company We Keep.

The band recorded with Steve Earle on his 1999 album The Mountain.

From a review of their latest work at Country Universe:

One of the year’s best singles comes from bluegrass stalwarts The Del McCoury Band. The lyrics fly so fast that you can almost miss the scathing indictment of a culture driven by greed, coupled with outrage on behalf of those being exploited by it.

“It’s a pity to see when the land of the free turns out to be nothin’ but a free for all”, McCoury seethes, “If you got big dough you’re freer than most cause your freedom goes up with the size of your bankroll.” There was a time when country music was the natural home for such working class sentiments, but anything like this today is destined to be embraced way outside of the mainstream.

This killer track serves as the title cut for the essential new compilation Moneyland, which is anchored by several Del McCoury band cuts, but also includes songs with the same theme by Patty Loveless, Marty Stuart, Merle Haggard, Dan Tyminski and more.

A performance of Moneyland is below:

Related:
Appalachian Bluegrass (Catonsville)
Bluegrass Country (WAMU in DC)