Peter Rowan with The Travelin’ McCourys at the Sweetwater Music Hall – photo by Dorothy St. Claire
Bluegrass veteran Peter Rowan made his first appearance on stage since a brief December illness when The Travelin’ McCourys played recently at the Sweetwater Music Hall in Mill Valley, CA.
Fans of the 75 year old performer expressed concern when Peter cancelled several shows around Christmas, but were relieved to learn that it was only a bout of exhaustion that required just a brief hospital stay.
Ronnie McCoury tells us that when he saw Rowan at the show, he asked if he might want to come up and sing. He agreed, and delivered solid versions of Blue Moon Of Kentucky and Walls Of Time. The crowd loved it, and Ronnie says that he sounded great.
He also shared a couple more photos from the show.The McCourys also have a new album, due May 25. The self-titled, self-produced project will include several originals, along with covers that have been popular at live shows, like John Hartford’s Natural To Be Gone, and a pair of Grateful Dead songs.
The debut single is out today, their version of David Francey’s truck driving number, Borderline.
Here’s a live video of them performing it at DelFest 2017.
For those uninitiated, the Travelin’ McCourys are The Del McCoury Band without the Del McCoury. Cody Kilby takes the guitar role when they are on the road, and they are in the midst of a vigorous tour schedule this spring. Ronnie McCoury is on mandolin, with his brother Rob on banjo, with Jason Carter on fiddle, and Alan Bartram, on bass.
Of course they’ll be on hand for DelFest 2018 later this year.
