Rhonda Vincent thought for years the Beatles classic "Yesterday" originated with the bluegrass group the Country Gentlemen.
March 30, 2007 (Press Release) --
She couldn't even name a single member of the Fab Four when she was a teenager playing in her family's band, the Sally Mountain Show, in Greentop, Mo.
"My husband says I was raised in a bubble," says Vincent, who plays tonight at the Lund Auditorium at Dominican University in River Forest. "I was raised in the shelter of my family."
Growing up surrounded by bluegrass music has served her well, though. Today, she's one of bluegrass' top acts. This year the 44-year-old singer was nominated for two Grammy Awards -- for best bluegrass album for "All American Bluegrass Girl" and best country collaboration with vocals for "Midnight Angel," a duet with Bobby Osborne. She was nominated once before, in 2005, for best bluegrass album.
She's clearly enjoying the attention.
"It's not every day as a bluegrass artist you get to say you're nominated with Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Dolly Parton, Don Henley and Bon Jovi," she remarked of her inclusion in the country collaboration category.
The oldest of three children, Vincent began singing and playing music when she was a little girl. Her mother and father, cousins, brothers, grandfather, uncles -- they all played.
Her brother Darrin is a guitarist in Ricky Skaggs' band, Kentucky Thunder. Her other brother, Brian, is a chief financial officer in Chicago and a songwriter, co-writing the Grammy-nominated "Midnight Angel" with Osborne.
"My dad picked me up every day from school, and he and grandpa and I would play till dinner. After dinner, friends came over and we'd play till bedtime," she said. "If you came to Greentop, Missouri, and you asked what's going on, everybody knew that every night there was music, and anyone could come over and join in."
Her break came whe Grand Ole Opry star Jim Ed Brown hired her to sing in his band, and later Dolly Parton asked her to sing on her 1992 album, "Slow Dancing with the Moon."
She released a few bluegrass albums for Rebel Records in the '80s and early '90s, then switched to Giant Records in an unsuccessful move to try her hand at contemporary country.
Vincent returned to bluegrass in 2000 with the aptly titled "Back Home Again" on Rounder Records. Her timing was spot on, catching the genre as it was hitting a resurgence with the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" movie soundtrack.
Since then, she's released five more well-received albums with her group the Rage, won seven female vocalist awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association and become a regular on the Grand Ole Opry. The Wall Street Journal proclaimed her "the new queen of bluegrass."
"She's one of bluegrass music's most eloquent and tireless ambassadors," said Dan Hays, executive director of the International Bluegrass Music Association.
The bouncy title track from her latest album, the self-penned "All-American Bluegrass Girl," sums up her life about as well as a 3-minute song can. She sings, "I'm an all-American bluegrass girl, and proud as I can be."
Almost in the next breath, the mother of two daughters sings, "All my life they told me, you're pretty good for a girl," revealing a frustration with what remains a largely male-dominated genre.
"Just two years ago, we played a huge festival and they told me after we played, 'You don't know what I had to do to get you here. You are the first female headlining artist we've ever had in 18 years of having this festival,'" she remembered.
"When we first started with Rounder, some of the traditional bluegrass promoters would come up to me and say, 'We don't hire women, but we're going to hire you.' "
It's safe to say they are now glad they did.
Source: http://www.msn.com
Posted by John Gerome
"My husband says I was raised in a bubble," says Vincent, who plays tonight at the Lund Auditorium at Dominican University in River Forest. "I was raised in the shelter of my family."
Growing up surrounded by bluegrass music has served her well, though. Today, she's one of bluegrass' top acts. This year the 44-year-old singer was nominated for two Grammy Awards -- for best bluegrass album for "All American Bluegrass Girl" and best country collaboration with vocals for "Midnight Angel," a duet with Bobby Osborne. She was nominated once before, in 2005, for best bluegrass album.
She's clearly enjoying the attention.
"It's not every day as a bluegrass artist you get to say you're nominated with Garth Brooks, Trisha Yearwood, Dolly Parton, Don Henley and Bon Jovi," she remarked of her inclusion in the country collaboration category.
The oldest of three children, Vincent began singing and playing music when she was a little girl. Her mother and father, cousins, brothers, grandfather, uncles -- they all played.
Her brother Darrin is a guitarist in Ricky Skaggs' band, Kentucky Thunder. Her other brother, Brian, is a chief financial officer in Chicago and a songwriter, co-writing the Grammy-nominated "Midnight Angel" with Osborne.
"My dad picked me up every day from school, and he and grandpa and I would play till dinner. After dinner, friends came over and we'd play till bedtime," she said. "If you came to Greentop, Missouri, and you asked what's going on, everybody knew that every night there was music, and anyone could come over and join in."
Her break came whe Grand Ole Opry star Jim Ed Brown hired her to sing in his band, and later Dolly Parton asked her to sing on her 1992 album, "Slow Dancing with the Moon."
She released a few bluegrass albums for Rebel Records in the '80s and early '90s, then switched to Giant Records in an unsuccessful move to try her hand at contemporary country.
Vincent returned to bluegrass in 2000 with the aptly titled "Back Home Again" on Rounder Records. Her timing was spot on, catching the genre as it was hitting a resurgence with the "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" movie soundtrack.
Since then, she's released five more well-received albums with her group the Rage, won seven female vocalist awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association and become a regular on the Grand Ole Opry. The Wall Street Journal proclaimed her "the new queen of bluegrass."
"She's one of bluegrass music's most eloquent and tireless ambassadors," said Dan Hays, executive director of the International Bluegrass Music Association.
The bouncy title track from her latest album, the self-penned "All-American Bluegrass Girl," sums up her life about as well as a 3-minute song can. She sings, "I'm an all-American bluegrass girl, and proud as I can be."
Almost in the next breath, the mother of two daughters sings, "All my life they told me, you're pretty good for a girl," revealing a frustration with what remains a largely male-dominated genre.
"Just two years ago, we played a huge festival and they told me after we played, 'You don't know what I had to do to get you here. You are the first female headlining artist we've ever had in 18 years of having this festival,'" she remembered.
"When we first started with Rounder, some of the traditional bluegrass promoters would come up to me and say, 'We don't hire women, but we're going to hire you.' "
It's safe to say they are now glad they did.
Source: http://www.msn.com
Posted by John Gerome
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