Del and Dawg – Del McCoury and David Grisman – are a couple of the finest bluegrass musicians making music today so the prospect of seeing them share the stage at The Cabot excited me.

Dawg and Del

I have seen each of them play with their own bands numerous times and was interested to see how this show was to be staged.

Dawg and Del

They played together for the entire show, switching leads both vocally and on their instruments. Del is a terrific guitarist with a gorgeous voice. Dawg (who got that nickname from Jerry Garcia) is a fabulous mandolin player who has a quick wit and a good voice.

Del McCoury

David Grisman

They opened the show with beautiful rendition of a Monroe Brothers song, “Feast Here Tonight”.

Dawg and Del

They continued with a wide variety of bluegrass standards as well as lesser-known songs by well-known artists.  The numbers I knew best were “Man of Constant Sorrow” and “Tennessee Waltz”.

Dawg and Del

The sets included other numbers such  “He’s His Own Grandpa”, “Toy Heart”, and “Country Boy Rock & Roll”. Even though I did not know all the songs, I enjoyed every one of them.

Dawg and Del

Even though their banter was practiced (as I discovered when listening to the live CD I bought), I felt as if they were cracking those jokes and telling those stories for the first time. They was nothing rehearsed in their delivery.

David Grisman

If you have seen either or both of these fine artists with their own band, do yourself a favor and see them together. This is a very different show and worth seeing regardless of how familiar you are with them individually.

Dawg and Del

Ticket courtesy of The Cabot; all opinions are my own.