Travelin' McCourys add member

Tuesday, November 10, 2015 – The Travelin' McCourys added Cody Kilby as the band's guitarist, the group announced today.

Kilby, a veteran of the national bluegrass scene since appearing on the IBMA Awards Show in 1993 as a member of the Bluegrass Youth All-Stars, was the guitarist on the Travelin' McCourys debut appearance at the Wintergrass festival.

Since then, a distinguished and varied group of guests have toured with the McCourys, including bluegrass players Jeff White and Ronnie Bowman to Keller Williams, The Infamous Stringdusters' Andy Falco, and String Cheese Incident's Billy Nershi, with Kilby enjoying the role of most frequent.

Kilby spent 14 years as a member of Ricky Skaggs' Kentucky Thunder and as a studio player, including on Beck's Grammy winner, "Morning Phase."

The band is comprised of Ron McCoury (mandolin) and Rob McCoury (banjo), Del McCoury Band colleagues Jason Carter (fiddle) and Alan Bartram (bass). "I guess we had our 'a-ha' moment at DelFest this year," said Ron McCoury. "We were on stage Saturday night, and it was like a light bulb went on. With Cody, we really have the perfect combination. Don't get me wrong, we enjoy featuring guests and still plan to collaborate at times, but from now on, Cody will be involved in all of those shows. He is a great player, and fits perfectly with what we do - straddling the fence between traditional and progressive. No matter what we throw at him, he can handle it."

Continuing on the path of creating, more than five years ago, the McCourys launched what they call The Bluegrass Ball.The Travelin' McCourys embark Wednesday for 9 shows in 11 days starting in Iowa and ending in South Carolina. They will have Drew Emmitt and Andy Thorn from Leftover Salmon along for this run of Bluegrass Balls.

Shows are:
Nov. 11 - The Englert Theatre - Iowa City, IA
Nov. 12 - Majestic Madison - Madison, WI
Nov. 13 - Old Rock House - St. Louis, MO
Nov. 14 - The Blue Note - Columbia, MO
Nov. 15 - City Winery - Chicago, IL
Nov. 18 - The Grey Eagle - Asheville, NC
Nov. 19 - The Blind Tiger - Greensboro, NC
Nov. 20 - The Charleston Pour House - Charleston, SC
Nov. 21 - Cat's Cradle - Carrboro, NC