Most their as a mandolin player, singer, and songwriter for his family's Del McCoury and Travelin' McCourys bluegrass bands, McCoury received Grammy Awards for his albums The Company We Keep and The Streets of Baltimore.
He began playing the violin before his tenth birthday and, at the age of fourteen, became a member of his father's successful bluegrass band.
In the mid 1990s, he and his brother Rob released a collaborative album on the Rounder Records label.
He grew up in York, Pennsylvania, as the son of bluegrass guitarist and singer Del McCoury. His marriage to Allison Bliss resulted in a daughter named Emma and sons named Evan and Joshua.
He and fellow mandolin player and bluegrass songwriter David Grisman recorded a Grammy nominated album titled Mandolin Extravaganza.