Travelin’ McCourys rambling into Savannah with bluegrass

Band celebrates mix of genres, hits, including roots, Americana.

If bluegrass music is your jam, then you’re likely familiar with revered Grammy winner Del McCoury. A pioneer in roots music, McCoury got his start singing and playing rhythm guitar with Bill Monroe’s Blue Grass Boys in 1963. After years of touring and recording, he brought his teenage sons, Ronnie and Rob, into his band, thus planting the seeds of what would grow into The Travelin’ McCourys.

Get ready for an evening of high energy stompin,’ dancin’ and clappin’ when The Travelin’ McCourys roll into Savannah with their internationally acclaimed roots, bluegrass and Americana sound Tuesday downtown at District Live.

In the mid-2000s, Del McCoury began thinking about how the music he loved would carry forward when he could no longer perform. That’s when he urged his sons and band mates to start thinking about the future. In Nashville in 2009, at the behest of McCoury himself, The Travelin’ McCourys took to the road. Long-time bassist in both bands, Alan Bartram, considers how it began.

“We all play together with Del, and in time it will be inevitable he can’t play with us any longer,” reflected Bar

The Travelin’ McCourys 8 p.m. Tuesday District Live, 400 West River Street, Savannah tram. “Whenever that time comes, he wanted us to have a plan in moving forward. And we all agreed we wanted this to be something different from just the Del McCoury Band minus Del.”

Though the band draws heavily from the traditional bluegrass catalog, a Travelin’ McCourys show is more like a freewheeling romp through a range of genres. They write their own music plus cover a variety of rock, country and contemporary hits. They’ve also made inroads with the jam band community — think String Cheese Incident and Phish — and frequently perform bluegrass-hued covers of

Grateful Dead songs.

“We really like covering good songs from any genre, then putting our bluegrass twist on it,” emphasized Bartram. “Not long ago I saw The Killers covering “The Whole of the Moon” by this Scottish rock band, The Waterboys. It’s just a really good, up-tempo, yet thoughtful song, so we’ve worked that one into our set.”

But it’s their original music that makes them shine. Their tune “I Like Beer” starts out a humorous waltz in tribute to the good ol’ hops and barley, but then switches into fast pickin’ mode when the time signature goes into an overdriving four on the floor beat. The tune not only features the band’s remarkable musicianship but also highlights their ability for multiple, catchy turns of phrase.

The Travelin’ McCourys include Rob McCoury (left) and Del McCoury. After years of touring, Del brought sons, including Rob, into the fold. Bluegrass is the theme, but they play a range of genres.