Uncle B’s Damned Ole Opry Presents – Adele McCoury Night: One of Adele’s & One of Del’s!

This night will feature the songs of English pop soul sensation Adele and Bluegrass legend Del McCoury, played by the Damned Ole Opry Drunk with Power String Band.  Bet you didn’t see this one coming!

Uncle B’s Damned Ole Opry is Bryan Simpson’s irreverent trippy-trad tent revival of a musical experience currently in residence in the Neon Steeple at Chief’s on Broadway in Nashville, Tennessee, It’s Billy Strings meets Barnum & Bailey, He-Haw meets Half-Baked. In short, a serious musical circus. Uncle B assembles an A-List of Nashville’s finest talent (past guests have included  Charlie Worsham, Dan Tyminski, Sierra Hull, Trey Hensley, Caitlyn Smith, The Band Loula, Ashley Monroe, Jason Carter, Suzanne Cox, Ashley Gorley, Sarah Buxton, Brit Taylor, Sam Williams among many others), while B and his guests  tackles a new music assignment each show.  Connect: https://unclebsdamnedoleopry.com/

John Cowan

John Cowan got his start in Louisville, where he played in scrappy rock outfits like Everyday People and Louisville Sound Department. In 1974, he auditioned as a bassist and vocalist for New Grass Revival together with Sam Buch and later bandmates Bela Fleck and Pat Flynn led the charge of the 1980s’ Bluegrass revival.  New Grass Revival disbanded in 1990 when Fleck departed for a solo career, but Cowan didn’t slow down, choosing to tour as a solo rock act as well as front the country-rock band Sky Kings (with Poco’s Rusty Young). But despite writing an album, arranging the artwork, releasing a single, and setting a release date, the Sky Kings’ full-length sat on a shelf. Cowan next busied himself with solo work for the Sugar Hill  label. His releases there included an ambitious self-titled effort in 2000, as well as the lower-key Always Take Me Back in 2002. 2000 also saw the final release of the Sky Kings album From Out of the Blue; the set included the entire original LP, as well as demos and songs that were subsequently completed for the project. Cowan continued to release the occasional solo project, including the fine Sixty, which appeared in 2014 as Cowan himself hit that number in age.

Jason Carter

In Lloyd, Kentucky, on U.S. 23, there’s a sign on the Country Music Highway dedicated to renowned fiddler Jason Carter. It was placed there because of his other accomplishments—the Grammy awards, the worldwide tours, and the many other accolades he’s earned through his music. But for Carter, joining the legendary names honored on that stretch of highway just might mean the most. “There’s a certain sound that’s up there that you just don’t hear anywhere else,” he says. “I think that played a big part in how I sound today.”

True to those Kentucky roots, Carter continues to pour all he has back into bluegrass. For thirty years, he has been the fiddle player for the Del McCoury Band—the most awarded group in bluegrass history. He’s won three Grammy awards, including 2018’s “Best Bluegrass Album” with the Travelin’ McCourys, of which he is a founding member. And he’s taken home five IBMAs for “Fiddle Player of the Year,” a staggering number that isn’t quite so crazy once you realize just how many bluegrass greats have turned to Carter for collaboration.

On Carter’s forthcoming solo album, Lowdown Hoedown, listeners may recognize instrumental contributions from such legends as Jerry Douglas or Sam Bush alongside vocals from young trailblazers like Sarah Jarosz or Billy Strings. This time, though, Carter is singing lead.

Mother/Son 

Mother-Son (Suzanne Cox & Brandon Ratcliff)  have become viral sensations with their heartfelt renditions of favorite hymns. Suzanne Cox is  a member of The Cox Family. They can be heard on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack, and their 1994 collaboration with Alison Krauss which won the 1995 Grammy Award for Best Southern, Country or Bluegrass Gospel Album. In recent years, the band has celebrated many opportunities starting with debuting their latest single on the Dailey and Vincent Show and performing to a sold-out crowd at Nashville’s famed Station Inn.  Brandon Ratcliff burst onto the scene in 2019 with his debut single “Rules of Breaking Up.” After a year of highlights including opening for Kelsea Ballerini, Brett Young, and Keith Urban, being selected as a Pandora Ones to Watch artist, and topping Rolling Stone’s all-genre Breakthrough Artists Chart, the world came to a screeching halt in 2020. At a crossroads with his music, and his life, Ratcliff went back home to figure out who he was and what he wanted to say, and write his next project. Greatly influenced by the music of the Louisiana delta and the bluegrass engrained in his blood from his Grammy Award winning mother, Suzanne Cox of the legendary bluegrass group The Cox Family, Tale of Two Towns is a coming-of-age record that reads like a book of Ratcliff’s life these last few years.

Mason Via

Mason Via is a Grammy-nominated folk artist and was listed as one of NPR’s top 10 bluegrass artists in Nashville. As the youngest member of Old Crow Medicine Show, he contributed guitar, lead vocals, and songwriting to their Grammy-nominated album Jubilee. His songs also appear on Molly Tuttle’s Grammy-winning City of Gold and Del McCoury’s Almost Proud. Via has toured 47 U.S. states and internationally, performing at venues like Red Rocks, The Grand Ole Opry, The Ryman Auditorium, and London’s O2 Arena.

Delaney Ramsdel

Delaney Ramsdell is a songwriter and artist based in Nashville, TN. Originally from Roosevelt, Texas (population 18), Delaney penned a publishing deal at One Riot and Reservoir Media and comes at songwriting with a method steeped in the culture of West Texas. Adobe and Teardrops calls her voice and writing “imbued with certainty, confidence, and a special crystal-clear quality.”

As a songwriter, her cuts have racked up over 30 million streams to date. Some of the songs and collaborators include “241s” (recorded by Lola Kirke), “Hot Mess” (recorded by Zoe Clark) and “Lonestar Lonely” (recorded by Rachel LaRen). Recent cuts include Lukas Nelson, Zoe Clark, Lola Kirke, and Ian Harrison.

Ramsdell has also made her mark as an artist: opening for artists like William Beckmann, Keller Cox, and Aniston Pate. She made her SXSW debut in 2024 and had her song ‘Withdrawal’ featured on the breakout CBS show, Fire Country.

Dani Flowers

Dani Flowers is a singer-songwriter with a career that has spanned over a decade in Music City. Dani’s compositions have been recorded by some of the biggest names in the industry, including country music legend Lee Ann Womack, Red Dirt artist William

Clark Green, Americana artist Aubrie Sellers, & Texas honky-tonk country star Amber Digby. Dani is a member of the IBMA Award Winning and GRAMMY nominated bluegrass super group, Sister Sadie.

In addition to her success as a songwriter, Dani has also shared the stage with renowned artists such as Willie Nelson, Jamey Johnson, Randy Houser, and Lee Ann Womack. Dani’s musical style effortlessly blends traditional country and bluegrass roots with contemporary influences, creating a sound that is uniquely hers.

Cherokee Hope

Cherokee Hope Upton is an independent Country and Appalachian singer-songwriter based in Middle Tennessee. Known for her honest songwriting, deep roots, and a vocal delivery frequently compared to country legends like Loretta Lynn.