Opening act announced for Del McCoury Memorial Day show

May 24—CUMBERLAND — Bluegrass group Colebrook Road will be the opening act for the Del McCoury Band's free concert at Canal Place on Memorial Day.

The concert will be the capstone to a weekend of activities surrounding DelFest Lite held in northern Virginia with shows in Cumberland bookending the event.

Because of COVID-19, Maryland officials could not authorize the traditional four-day DelFest event held annually at the Allegany County Fairgrounds on Memorial Day weekend. Instead, DelFest was rescheduled for Sept. 23-26 at the fairgrounds. The popular bluegrass and Americana music festival draws nearly 30,000 people to the Cumberland area each year.

To fill the void on Memorial Day weekend, DelFest organizers arranged DelFest Lite, at the B Chord Brewery in Round Hill, Virginia, for May 28-30 so fans in the region could still enjoy the McCoury family's music and other acts joining the bill.

Bookending the event will be shows in Cumberland Thursday and Monday. The Gibson Brothers featuring Dre Anders will perform at the 1812 Brewery beginning at 7 p.m. on May 27. On May 31, the Del McCoury Band will play a free show on the stage at the Canal Place parade grounds from 2 to 5 p.m.

The Memorial Day show will also feature the five-piece Colebrook Road of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, as the opening act. Colebrook Road was a nominee for the International Bluegrass Music Association 2020 Momentum Award. The band's latest CD, "On Time" is available with the band recently releasing a single titled "Back to Where We've Been."

Vocalist Anders has been a regular at DelFest since its inception.

"It was Ronnie McCoury's (Del's son) idea to do the show in Cumberland on Memorial Day," said Anders. "He didn't want to be that close to Cumberland and not stop in and play. The rest of family joined right in with the idea. We want to give back to this wonderful community that has been so supportive of DelFest."

Anders is a staple of DelFest's Sunday Morning Gospel Show. She will join the Gibson Brothers at Thursday's concert at the 1812 Brewery.

"Thursday is when DelFest normally would kick off," she said. "So the Gibson Brothers asked me to join them at the 1812. The weekend will culminate in a free concert on Monday by the Del McCoury Band."

Born in Sweden, Anders grew up in a musical family that performed around the world as a traveling gospel ministry. She first performed at age 3. As an adult, she fell in love with the folk music played in the U.S. and moved to America.

"This will be my first time singing with people and in front of a crowd since the pandemic started over a year ago," said Anders. "It's been difficult for everyone. We want this to be a great kickoff for the summer."

The Gibson Brothers, Leigh and Eric, are also DelFest regular contributors. Their unique two-part harmony that siblings have has been a constant factor in their growing popularity.

"We are looking forward to coming to Cumberland and working with Dre," said Leigh Gibson. "It's an honor to be asked to be a part of the whole weekend."

The brothers grew up on a dairy farm in upstate New York near the Canadian border. After years of perseverance, they have recently received national recognition.

"It has not been a rocket ride to the top," said Gibson. "We've been hammering away in the music industry in the last 20-some years. You make a little bit of progress. We're grateful for our fan base that have stuck with us and thankful to Del and his family."

The Gibson Brothers have been recording with Nashville standouts Dan Aurebach, Tyler Childers, Fergie Ferguson and Jerry Douglas. The brothers enjoy merging traditional bluegrass with the soft rock sounds of the 1970s.

"People expect the two-part harmony as a brother duet," said Leigh, "but in recent years it's been a lot of fun to try different things. That is what we've been doing the last four or five years. Like the things we are doing with Dre. We been real happy to stretch out and create new sounds with some of the talented folks we've been fortunate to meet."

Greg Larry is a reporter at Cumberland Times-News. To reach him, call 304-639-4951, email glarry@times-news.com and follow him on Twitter.