Search - Del McCoury :: It's Just the Night

With a classic sound but a radical range of repertoire, Del McCoury and crew--featuring sons Ronnie on mandolin and Rob on banjo--continue to delight bluegrass purists while bringing new fans into the fold. The most celebrated male vocalist in contemporary bluegrass, McCoury the elder here applies his keening tenor to opening and closing cuts by British folk-rocker Richard Thompson (whose "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" was a McCoury highlight on 2001's Del and the Boys), revives the'70s country hit "Let That Racehorse Run," and achieves harmonic convergence with gospel's Fairfield Four on the title track. Ronnie's instrumental romp, "Hillcrest Drive," shows that the band still ranks as one of bluegrass's tightest, while the soaring vocals on "I Can Hear the Angels Singing" soar with the spirit of Appalachia. Even Delbert McClinton's "Same Kind of Crazy" sounds like a bluegrass standard when Del wraps his vocal cords around it. --Don McLeese