McCoy was also one of the three members of the group The Road Hammers, which has released two studio albums, in addition to charting four singles in Canada and one in the United States before parting ways in 2010.

For some reason, as a little kid, I had some sort of connection with these guys who were singing about these depressing things," McCoy said, citing Merle Haggard and Johnny Cash to lesser known artists like Ed Bruce and Wynn Stewart.

In the 1980s, he joined a band called Three Quarter Country, which performed at legion halls, Saturday night dances, and clubs in Barrie, Midland, Orillia and other small towns.

McCoy won a talent contest in Barrie, Ontario where he was discovered by country music writer Henry McGuirk who later became his manager and arranged for him to travel to Nashville to record an album with producer Ray Griff.

McCoy was a member of the country-rock group The Road Hammers from 2005 to 2010, which also featured musicians Clayton Bellamy and Chris Byrne, and earlier, Corbett Frasz.