Del McCoury offers a stylistic blend on his latest single, “Once Again”, as the elder statesman of bluegrass picks the blues. The Del McCoury Band‘s new album, Almost Proud, is out on February 18th via McCoury Music.
The song hears Del and Ronnie McCoury (mandolin), Rob McCoury (banjo), Alan Bartram (bass), and Jason Carter (fiddle) joined by pianist Josh Shilling, who also wrote the song alongside Bill Whyte. Though the lyrics are not his own, McCoury embodies the lovelorn heartache of the protagonist as he is “Once Again” left out in the cold, singing, “It’s the same night after night/heart broke on a stool under neon lights.”
“Josh Shilling knows how much I love Jerry Lee Lewis songs, and that I really enjoy when I can add a piano to what we do…so when he wrote this song with Bill Whyte, he said he had me in mind,” Del told Relix, who premiered the track on Friday. “And well, it’s just a really good song and I’m glad he did. Also glad he is playing piano on it.”
Related: Billy Strings, Del McCoury Team Up For “Midnight On The Stormy Deep” [Watch]
Almost Proud was born out of the pandemic when Del dove back into recorded music in a way not seen since his teen years. The bandleader picked out those songs that excited him, those he would find interesting if heard on the radio, and he entered the studio. Armed with songs written by an array of writers including Kris Kristofferson, Del added some of his own like “Running Wild” or the album’s title track which he wrote with Eric Gibson and Mike Barber.
“I’m as excited about listening to new music today as the day I started—finding a new tune or a story that tickles me,” Del said of his song choices. “This album is the best of what I heard while the world was on pause.”
Stream “Once Again”, the new single from the Del McCoury Band, via the player below and click here to pre-order Almost Proud.
Del McCoury Band – “Once Again”