The Travelin’ McCourys (left to right) Ronnie McCoury, Christian Ward, Rob McCoury, Cody Kilby and Alan Bartram. // Photo by Photo by Ashli Linkous, Courtesy of Birthplace of Country Music
Rob McCoury
On the Road with The Travelin' McCourys
It’s 3:45 p.m. on Friday, April 11, and banjoist Rob McCoury of the Travelin’ McCourys is chilling behind the historic Park Theatre in McMinnville, Tennessee. Almost four hours remain before the band takes the stage, but much work needs to be done before the first note of the performance at 7:30 p.m. “Usually, we meet a couple of people that are here, and they point us in the direction of the dressing rooms, and we find if there’s a designated place to eat,” McCoury explains to Bluegrass Unlimited after sound check. Rob, his brother, Ronnie McCoury (mandolin/vocals), Cody Kilby (guitar/vocals), Alan Bartram (bass/vocals), and new fiddler/singer Christian Ward are preparing to begin the summer outdoor festival scene. Their previous gig was at the Southland Bluegrass Music Festival in Immokalee, Florida the Sunday before this show. “We’ll start setting up, putting our audio rig together. We tie in with the audio gear they alrea
