Ronnie McCoury was born in York County, Pennsylvania on March 16, 1967. It was in York County that he made his home for the first 24 years of his life. In January of 1992, Ronnie and his wife Allison made the move to Nashville, Tennessee and it is here they have resided since that time. Growing up in a house where bluegrass music was played, and always listened to, Ron had the exposure from a very young age. Many pickin’ parties were held at the house, along with rehearsals that his Dad would have with his band then, The Dixie Pals.
Like lots of other young boys, sports interested Ronnie very much. In particular, baseball and basketball. One thing he clearly remembers is the fact that his dad never pushed him to play music or never “pushed it on him” at all, leaving both Ron and Rob to choose their paths on their own. At the age of 9 he started taking violin lessons. He took the lessons for two years and gave it up for sports. He played sports all the way through high school. But when he was just 13, after attending a show with his Dad where he saw Bill Monroe perform, he decided that he wanted to play the mandolin. He practiced on it for six months and when his Dad had an opening in the band for mandolin player, he asked Ron to fill it. That was on May 28, 1981 and Ronnie has been playing with his Dad ever since.
In 1995 Ronnie and Rob teamed up and put out a self-titled CD on Rounder Records. In 1998 Ronnie teamed up with David Grisman and some other great mandolin players to create the CD titled “Mandolin Extravaganza”, which made it’s appearance on the Acoustic Disc label in 1999. This CD was nominated for a Grammy Award and also won Instrumental Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year at the IBMA awards show in October of 2000. In 1999, Ronnie co-produced The Mountain, with Steve Earle and The Del McCoury Band. 2000 also brought along with it Ronnie’s first solo project…Heartbreak Town. A must hear for everyone!
Ronnie is married to Allison Bliss from Massachusetts and they have three children, Evan, Joshua and Emma. Someone once asked Ronnie what his greatest accomplishments were, musically or non and his first response was “Starting my own family”. Next in line was receiving the Grammy for “The Company We Keep”. Family life is very important to the McCourys. Having children inspired Ronnie to put out his next project, Little ‘Mo McCoury, a CD full of children’s songs done Bluegrass style.
Along with his award winning mandolin playing, Ronnie is also a singer/songwriter and producer He has recorded or performed with such diverse acts as Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, Phish, Charlie Daniels, John Hartford, Vince Gill, Loretta Lynn, Alison Krauss, David Grisman, Dierks Bentley, Garth Brooks, the Allman Brothers, John Paul Jones and countless others!
When Ron isn’t on stage with the Del McCoury Band or The Travelin’ McCoury’s, singing and playing mandolin, you will probably find him at home with his family. He enjoys cooking, gardening and reading. He loves to play golf, remodel and do construction work. He also enjoys picking up the guitar or maybe even the fiddle for a little musical change.