Artist Bios
Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
Rhonda Vincent is reflecting back to the genesis of her new
album with the same precision and clarity that she brings to her
music. “It was January fifth of 2007. I had flown to Portland,
Oregon, and I was in a hotel before a show. My husband called,
and we started talking about all the wonderful things that were
happening in our life. We wrapped it up by saying something
like, ‘Yeah, we got a good thing going.’ I hung up the phone and
thought ‘That’s a good idea for an album title,’ because that’s
where I am in my life…”
Good Thing Going, available on January 8, 2008 on Rounder
Records, finds the “new queen of bluegrass” (in the words of the
Wall Street Journal) in infectiously high spirits. Gleaming with
hope, resilience, and gratitude, Vincent presents a set of songs
that range from timelessly straight-ahead bluegrass to
effervescent swing and heartfelt ballads delivered with both her
road band The Rage and an impressive cast of supporting
musicians and guest stars. With five new Rhonda originals or
co-writes, Good Thing Going is her most personal,
autobiographical project yet. “I have never written five songs
to include on an album,” she remarks. “I have to be inspired to
write a song…but there’s been no shortage of inspiration
lately.” The playful title cut, written not long after that
pivotal phone call, is indicative of Vincent’s outlook. “That
song is mostly true,” she says with a smile, “but it’s up to you
to separate the fact from the fiction.”
Co-produced with her brother and long-standing musical cohort
Darrin Vincent, Good Thing Going is the result of a vigorous
creative process, all documented on www.rhondavincent.com in a
series she calls “Join the Journey.” “It’s been a great thing,”
she explains, “to bring the fans into the project, and show them
that making an album happens step-by-step – from choosing the
songs to choosing the musicians to cutting the tracks to picking
the cover art, recording the vocals, mixing, and mastering.”
“From the very beginning, we want the right songs, the right
musicians, the right guests,” Rhonda explains. “Something I
purposely targeted on this project was to have unique guests who
might not be on everything you hear.” Most astonishing is the
presence of country star and Rhonda Vincent fan Keith Urban, who
joins Vincent for an evocative version of the traditional lament
“The Water is Wide.” “I knew it was going to happen,” a visibly
excited Vincent says, “but I didn’t tell anyone. I couldn’t risk
jinxing it!”
Russell Moore, whose soaring voice has thrilled bluegrass
fans as part of the popular band IIIrd Tyme Out, joins Vincent
on a particularly meaningful ballad, “I Give All My Love To
You.” “To me,” Rhonda says, “that song has become the
centerpiece of the album. My assistant and dear friend Julia was
getting married not long ago, and I was her wedding planner. She
couldn’t find a song for her wedding, so I took pen and paper
and snuck off to the back of our Martha White Bluegrass Express
bus, and just started writing down what I thought of her and how
happy I was for her.” That fans have already been asking Vincent
for permission to perform the song at their own weddings, or
those of their loved ones, is powerful testament to the song’s
honest, heartfelt sentiment.
It is the same heartfelt honesty that has propelled Rhonda
Vincent to her standing among the premier artists in today’s
burgeoning bluegrass field. Born and raised in a musical family,
she made her onstage debut singing and tapping a snare drum with
her family’s band The Sally Mountain Show when she was five
years old. She picked up the mandolin (the instrument most
associated with her, though she’s no slouch on any instrument
with strings) at age eight, the same year she released her debut
45 – a driving take on “Muleskinner Blues.” Learning the nuances
of harmony, arrangement, and stage presence by performing
throughout her childhood, Vincent grew into a formidable
musician and a radiant, captivating lead singer able to deliver
both overpowering up-tempo numbers and soulful, introspective
ballads. Her early bluegrass solo albums led to a Nashville
deal, and the experience of recording her two fine commercial
country efforts taught her essential lessons about the inner
workings of the music industry.
Vincent triumphantly returned to bluegrass with her 2000
Rounder debut Back Home Again. That same year, the bluegrass
community welcomed her back with Female Vocalist of the Year
honors at that year’s International Bluegrass Music Association
awards – her first of an unprecedented seven consecutive wins in
that category. She received the coveted Entertainer of the Year
award from IBMA in 2001, concurrent with the release of her
second Rounder album The Storm Still Rages. One Step Ahead
followed in 2003, which included “You Can’t Take It With You
When You Go,” a top-five video hit on CMT. A live CD and DVD
project, Ragin’ Live, was released in 2005, while All-American
Bluegrass Girl, featuring the propulsive title track (a number
one hit on the Bluegrass Unlimited charts), came out in 2006.
In addition to her rigorous touring, performing, and
recording schedule, Vincent opened her own studio, Adventure
Studios, in Nashville in 2005 – where All-American Bluegrass
Girl and Good Thing Going were recorded. “In everything we do,”
Vincent explains, “we’re attempting to create something unique
and special. Having my own studio gives me the freedom to do
that, with no time constraints. While we were recording this new
album, some of the musicians in the studio said one day ‘You’re
not recording tracks – you’re creating something.’ That meant a
lot to me.”
Good Thing Going had more than it’s share of magical studio
moments – several of them in the recording of “Just One of a
Kind.” “It was written by Dottie Rambo, who is a real
inspiration to me,” Rhonda explains. “Darrin and Kathy Chiavola
sang the harmony – it’s three-part harmony all the way through,
which is unique. Then we had Jesse McReynolds, a legendary
bluegrass figure, come in and play his unique style of
cross-picking. We thought the song needed a little percussion –
like brushes on a pizza box. Someone mentioned James Stroud…”
Stroud, a country music label owner, producer, and seasoned
session musician, was Vincent’s musical and business mentor, and
remains a much-respected behind-the-scenes figure in country
music. “He’s a drummer by trade,” Rhonda recalls, “and we called
him. He said ‘If you got the pizza box and the brushes, I’ll be
there.’ So I went to Pizza Hut and got the box and picked up
some brushes, and he came in and played on his very first
bluegrass session!”
Although Good Thing Going features an impressive selection of
musicians and guests, Rhonda is clear that everything is done in
service of the songs. “For every project we do, it’s always
about finding the right person for the song: we want the right
songs, the right musicians, the right guests.” Sometimes the
right guests are there on the bus; Rhonda’s touring band The
Rage are a versatile and confident ensemble, and are featured on
several cuts, including Vincent’s original “Bluegrass Saturday
Night.”
“‘Bluegrass Saturday Night’ is really a tribute to the fans,”
she explains. “I debuted it at the Ryman Auditorium during their
bluegrass series, and the response was so incredible. I was
thinking it would just be a song that’s not on any album, just a
tribute we do in concert. But the next night, we got to a show
and already people were requesting it. A lady in the front row
said ‘Sing “Bluegrass Saturday Night,”’ and I said ‘How did you
know about that?’ She said ‘I read about it on your message
board and now I want to hear it!’ That told me something…”
With her invigorating performances continuing to forge
powerful connections with her fans, a richly constructed new
album in the wings, and her continued growth as a songwriter,
Rhonda Vincent has reached a new peak in her already storied
career. Her optimism bursts through the speakers, and is both
believable and inspiring. “This album says a lot about where I
am, and where I’m going,” she concludes. “After all that my
family, my band, my support staff, and I have worked for – all
that sacrifice and effort, practices and gigs and endless hours
in the studio – I truly believe we all have got a good thing
going.”
Visit Rhonda Vincent's website at:
www.nemr.net/~rhondav
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