Editor’s Note: This review is a contribution from independent country music journalist and photographer Kevin Smith. All photos by Kevin Smith.
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DelFest, held on Memorial day weekend each year in Cumberland, Maryland at the Allegheny County Fairgrounds is now in its 16th year and going strong. When you come up with a list of must-do festivals for bluegrass fans, there are certainly three big ones that immediately come to mind, MerleFest, The Telluride Bluesgrass Festival, and this one. While Telluride gets enormous attention, DelFest remains an enticing option for a host of reasons. Firstly, its relatively easy to get to, its gorgeous, with towering tree covered mountains surrounding it, and there’s a beautiful river running alongside it.
But that’s just part of the charm. The main attraction is a staggering amount of musical riches on three stages, spread out over hundreds of acres, giving a place for bluegrass, jam grass, country, and Americana artists to ply their trade before a friendly and welcoming crowd of music enthusiasts of all ages and backgrounds. DelFest is curated and operated by The McCoury family, and remains the highlight of the year for them and their most loyal fans.
This year’s event had its own set of challenges, with the weather being on the colder side, and intermittent rain on Thursday and Friday. But the sun finally appearedon Saturday, and fans got to enjoy two days of perfection in amazingly comfortable 70-degree weather. The only disappointment was the river level was considerably higher than last year, and coupled with the cold water temperatures, made tubing nearly impossible. Still though, fans had plenty to do, watching music, camping, jamming, eating from the many food vendors, drinking micro-brews, shopping the handmade vendor crafts and clothes, buying merch, and generally enjoying the good vibes found everywhere.
This year’s lineup featured a good amount of traditional bluegrass sprinkled in with a few choice jam-grass bands including Railroad Earth and Leftover Salmon. These two bands delivered mightily, with Leftover Salmon debuting selections from their brand new album Lets Party.
Bluegrass Emeritus Larry Sparks also performed and he has the distinction of being perhaps the lone guy left standing who played in both The Stanley Brothers and The Clinch Mountain Boys. Playing favorites like” John Deere Tractor” and “Tennessee 1949,” Sparks was a welcome sight to a crowd of hardcore grass enthusiasts. In all, over 20 acts performed on the long weekend on 3 stages. So much great music, and impossible to take it all in, yet so rewarding. The following are highlights in no particular order.
Dan Tyminski Band
Fresh out of Union Station, Tyminski has assembled an absolute mother of a bluegrass band, and it was a sight to behold. Tyminski possesses the most enviable voice in traditional bluegrass music today. Its smooth as creamy butter on hot cornbread, yet resonant and powerful at the same time. Dan’s energy level and enthusiasm are a joy to behold and watching him perform was one of the moments where you feel so glad to be alive and part of this experience, you just don’t want it to end. Dobro player Gavin Largent, a former member of East Nash Grass, is a truly exciting musician to watch, playing monstrous licks and making it look effortless.
Songs like “The Boy Who Wouldn’t Hoe Corn” brought on goose bumps, but the one that really registered was Dan’s version of “Carry Me Across The Mountain” which he recorded some years back on a solo album. Tyminski introduced it by telling the crowd it was written based on the true life of musician Hazel Dickens who grew up in the Appalachian mountains facing an incredibly hard childhood, where there was no doctor anywhere close, and Hazel’s mother had to carry her daughter literally across the mountains to get her needed medical attention.
“Carry me across the mountain, before it is too late, heal my broken body, death not be my fate.” They were heavy lyrics sung by a modern-day master that really resonated. Seeing the West Virginia mountains looming over the stage made it a real ‘Wow’ moment among many.
Sister Sadie
An all-female bluegrass and country band from Nashville, Sister Sadie has been at it over a dozen years now. The idea started at The Station Inn where these ladies honed their chops and along the way built an enviable fan base. Members over the years have come and gone, with founders Gena Britt and acclaimed fiddler Deanie Richardson keeping the band moving forward.
The current version of the band features the songwriting and singing of Dani Flowers as well as the sublime vocals of current IBMA Female vocalist of the year Jaelee Roberts. Richards fiddling is dazzling, and watching her and mandolin player Rainy Miatke play a couple of intricate fiddle-mandolin instrumentals had the crowd screaming in approval.
Songs like “Avalanche” also brought massive applause. As I was moving away from the photographers pit, something stopped me in my tracks and absolutely mesmerized me. That something was the bands cover of “Make the World Go Away”, the classic Eddy Arnold song that many have covered including Ray Price and Alison Krauss. But this version on this night was one of the magical moments, you are grateful to have witnessed. Sister Sadie is one of my favorite discoveries of DelFest, period.
Sierra Ferrell
Sierra Ferrell has become a staple of Delfest and its easy to understand why. Of all the acts who played the entire weekend, she drew the biggest crowd, and it wasn’t even close. There was a mass migration of men, women and teens attempting to get as close to the stage as they could. It wasn’t enough to just watch her on the big stage monitors, they were determined to watch her every move with their own eyes and take in the massive moments they knew were coming. And they were not disappointed.
Dressed in a black leather jacket and white Stetson hat, the entire stage decorated in her trademark flowers, Ferrell came out and absolutely silenced the enormous crowd who was intent on listening to every word and note. Familiar songs such as “Jeremiah,” “Lighthouse,” “In Dreams,” and “I Could Drive You Crazy” had the crowd in the palm of her hand. Hardcore grass fans, jam-grassers, country fans, and ordinary folks all watched in awe.
Of course,” Fox Hunt” was a thrill, yet for me the best part and by far the indicator of how far this little lady has come was the moment she put down the guitar and fiddle, grabbed a hand mic, confidently walked to the very front of the stage, and went full on honky tonk, twirling, dancing, and singing “Dollar Bill Bar,” John Anderson’s “Years,“ and Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee.” The band was in full on hillbilly twang heaven with blazing Telecaster solos throughout. The crowd couldn’t have been happier and in this very moment you realized that Sierra Ferrell really has arrived and become a rock star.
This was a DelFest performance for the ages!
Larkin Poe
Larkin Poe is a duo made up of two sisters and a backing band. The Lovell sisters who grew up down in the deep south started out as an acoustic Americana act but would eventually morph into a more aggressive Southern rock sound. Rebecca impressed many on this night with her fiery Stratocaster electric blues playing, while her sister Megan demonstrated the sonic powers of a lap steel and a slide bar for a very excited audience. They have a growing catalog of albums of original material they draw from. As a bonus they went into an all-acoustic set showcasing their down-home harmonies as well as dobro and acoustic picking prowess, performing it in front of a single condenser microphone. A rousing set and a change of pace for DelFest.
Darrell Scott Band and Tim O’Brien Band
Maybe not a household name to the public, but plenty of real music fans know who Darrell Scott is. He’s a wonderful songwriter and the guy behind Travis Tritt’s “It’s a Great Day to Be Alive” and “Long Time Gone” by The Dixie Chicks, but his biggest song at least in the Americana and bluegrass realm is “You’ll Never Leave Harlan Alive.” Patty Loveless did the definitive version of it. What a treat to see Scott perform with a band. He’s written quite a few songs about Appalachia and we got to hear several from the man himself.
Tim O’Brien played a set with his own band. O’Brien is one of the elite musicians that has literally played with about everybody you can name. Perhaps best known as a founder of Hot Rize, he’s made a deep mark in the bluegrass realm. With his own band these days, he specializes in lots of old-timey fiddle tunes and good time front-porch pickin’ songs. O’Brien showed off some impressive flat-picking skills on a ’50s era Martin guitar, as wife Jan Fabricius carried the rhythm on mandolin.
Wyatt Ellis
If you’ve been at all plugged into the traditional bluegrass world, then you have likely heard of Ellis. This 16 year old mandolin playing prodigy has been on the scene playing with just about everyone he can, including Billy Strings, Rhonda Vincent, Peter Rowan, Del McCoury, Marty Stuart, and on and on. He’s been on the Grand Ole Opry six times and is attracting loads of attention. This year Wyatt played two days of DelFest on the secondary stage with a band of like-minded youngsters. This kid is the real deal. At one point during his set, Eight-time IBMA mandolin player of the year, Ronnie McCoury strode onto the stage and joined Ellis for a few songs. Grins were on all faces, but none as big as on Wyatt’s. Keep your eye on this guy, some are already calling him the future of Bluegrass.
The SteelDrivers
With new frontman Matt Dame in tow and a new album, Grammy-winning band The SteelDrivers continue to make great and exciting music. Fiddler Tammy Rogers is the bands not-so-secret weapon, and her fiddle playing is always inspiring. Watching her playing the melodies in sync with Richard Bailey’s banjo is always a treat.
Matt Dame has the type of voice we’ve been accustomed to hearing with The Steeldrivers and he brings that vocal muscularity along with great rhythm guitar and songwriting skill. “The River Knows” is a new one the band debuted and it’s a keeper. So many of this band’s songs are sing alongs, and its always a good choice to have them at a festival. This is the band Chris Stapleton was fundamental in forming and he is no doubt proud of all they have accomplished since.
Asleep At The Wheel
At one point, Ray Benson was talking about hanging it up and retiring the band. It hasn’t happened. In fact, he’s been retooling the band gradually. Young additions Ian Stewart on fiddle and Flavio Pasquetto on pedal-less steel have renewed Benson’s enthusiasm altogether. The version of Asleep At The Wheel who showed up mid-afternoon Saturday was a band renewed, and they had the crowd from the first bar of “(Get Your Kicks On) Route 66.”
Benson looked healthy and sharp and dressed to the hilt. With the new band, he delved deeper, even playing some Hank Williams and Carter Family material in addition to classics the band is known for like “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Milkcow Blues,” and “Faded Love.” He revealed to the excited crowd that in fact Asleep At The Wheel who had formed in Paw Paw West Virginia, played their first ever gig in Cumberland Maryland back in 1970.
Now 55 years later here was Ray Benson once again playing in Cumberland. It was a great set from a legendary band, and I overheard comments from a young 20 something musician how much it meant to him to see Asleep At The Wheel, so what higher praise could there be than the fact that this band is still inspiring musicians.
Del McCoury Band and The Traveling McCourys
The Traveling McCourys , made up of all the members of The Del McCoury Band minus Del, with the addition of guitarist Cody Kilby, are essentially a side project for the boys when they aren’t touring with Del. Along the way, and with a few albums under their belt, they have become arguably, the bluegrass band to envy. And why not? They’ve got the musical firepower and all the chops, the recognition, a ready-made fan-base, and total freedom creatively to explore anything musically they wish to.
At DelFest, they are essentially the house band, and they participate in late night after-hours jams, as well as playing their own dedicated prime-time Main stage set. Their set this year was no exception, with people packed into every nook and cranny to watch the show. That set on Saturday night was absolutely a joy to behold, and I found myself lost deep in the music, wishing it would never end. If you haven’t yet seen this band, make it a goal, you won’t regret it.
At a mere 86 years old, Del McCoury is undoubtedly one of the last of the old guard first generation grassers left playing actively. And his popularity hasn’t waned a bit. In fact he is so beloved by DelFest attendees, that they’ve adopted a special greeting, saying “Del Yeah” to each other frequently.
Del’s image adorns the festival banners and merch. His three performances of the weekend were absolutely packed. It’s amazing to see how many young people gravitate to his music and his presence, clinging to every note as it were. What is it about this man that resonates so well with so many people? Authenticity is a big reason why. He is so genuine and who you see is literally who the man really is, silly humor and all.
The Del smile and laugh, so big, so legit, ought to be a patented prescription for anything that ails you. Beyond all that, his music is exciting, his band is absolutely one of the very best in bluegrass, and he has universal appeal. This year, his closing Sunday night performance was memorable. Battling a cold that plagued him all weekend, he nonetheless powered through grinning all the way.
Fiddler Christian Ward is brand new to the band with the departure of Jason Carter, and to any wondering out there, Ward has the chops and the style for this band, and for that matter The Traveling McCourys as well. In short, he was an excellent choice and his playing is superb.
On this particular evening, Del had three grandsons’ playing with the band, Heaven McCoury, Jacob McCoury and the youngest one, Vassar McCoury. And then, among the honored guests he asked to the stage was his own brother Jerry McCoury. Jerry retired from performing, yet has a long history playing with Del in the earlier years. Hearing some stories from the two and watching all seven McCourys playing together onstage was such a big moment, in fact it was the biggest moment of the weekend.
With Del McCoury its all about family and fans, and this edition of the DelFest not only showcased the depth of talent that runs in the McCoury family, but also gave his fans something special to witness as well.
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