Bluegrass Legends

The Grand Ole Opry came to the Seminole Casino Hotel in Immokalee on Sunday.

The performers on the fourth annual Southland Bluegrass Music Festival outdoor stage included bluegrass royalty, Grammy winners, and Grand Ole Opry members. The free festival brings top-level musicians in this distinctly American music genre to Southwest Florida audiences.

Del McCoury is a link to the earliest days of bluegrass, having become a member of Bill Monroe’s band, The Blue Grass Boys, in 1963. Now 86 years old, McCoury is the grand old man of bluegrass.

Born just months before Del hooked up with Bill Monroe, Rhonda Vincent, performing with her band the Rage, was dubbed the “queen of bluegrass” by no less an authority than the Wall Street Journal, and has had a storied career.

The Infamous String Dusters is a renowned progressive bluegrass band known for their virtuosic musicianship, innovative arrangements, and genre-bending style. The quintet has been honored with a Grammy award for their “jamgrass” sound and demonstrated their “lights out” fast-paced playing on the Immokalee stage, even though some of the notoriously tradition-bound bluegrass fans think they veer too far from bluegrass orthodoxy. 

Del McCoury’s sons Ronnie and Rob McCoury, who play mandolin and banjo respectively, have their own band, the Travelin’ McCourys, and they played a separate set before taking the stage again, backing up dad in the Del McCoury Band. Rounding out the lineup on the main stage, Alligator Alley is perhaps the preeminent South Florida-based bluegrass band, with three Miami boys joining one from the Bronx. 

Inside the casino, Abby the Spoon Lady entertained in the Zigzag Lounge in her homespun dress, accompanied by steel guitar and banjo. 

Top billing and the final performance of the day went to Rhonda Vincent, but the biggest crowd and the hearts of the audience belonged to Del McCoury. 

“We’ve seen Del at least 20 times,” said Jeff Kramer of Ave Maria, sitting with his wife Renee. Her t-shirt promoted “Del for President,” while his said simply “Del yeah!”

The most striking thing about Del is how much fun he seems to be having, perpetually wearing a grin, cracking jokes, and generally having a great time. Along with his distinctive tenor voice, this radiant stage presence has to be a major component of his success. One time during the show, while introducing a song written by his mandolin player, he seemed to betray a decades-old grudge against his old bandleader.

“Bill Monroe recorded it – and Bill Monroe didn’t give anyone credit for anything EVER,” he emphasized.

Dressed in a dark suit with shirt and tie – as was his entire band – with his shock of white hair, Del looks at a glance like a dead ringer for famed evangelist Billy Graham, and he did do a couple of gospel numbers. But those were balanced out by the “murder ballads” and “cheatin,’ cussin’ and fussin’” songs that are the staples of bluegrass. He even covered the Lovin’ Spoonful with the band’s rendition of “Nashville Cats.” One by one, and starting with Del, the band eventually shed the suitcoats, but they kept the neckties on. 

McCoury is the winner of two Grammy Awards from 15 nominations and 31 International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards, including nine Entertainer of the Year wins. He was recipient of a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, was made a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2003, and has appeared and recorded with artists from Doc Watson to Steve Earle and Phish. He hosts DelFest each May in Maryland. 

Rhonda Vincent, who was selected to membership in the Grand Ole Opry in 2020, won a Grammy in 2017 and an unprecedented seven consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year awards from IBMA. She has collaborated with Dolly Parton, Alan Jackson, Tanya Tucker, and Faith Hill.