The Travelin' McCourys

The Travelin' McCourys grew out of the Del McCoury Band, the group led by Ronnie and Rob McCoury's father. Ronnie plays mandolin and Rob plays banjo, and the brothers spent years on the road in their father's band before building this one with fellow Del McCoury Band members Jason Carter on fiddle and Alan Bartram on bass.

The band keeps traditional bluegrass instrumentation and playing discipline but stretches it toward rock, funk and improvised material, an approach Ronnie describes as figuring out how to make almost anything work on bluegrass instruments. That openness has made them regular collaborators with jam-band musicians, including a full album with Keller Williams. Their self-titled album won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.