A prize-winning bluegrass vocalist, Rhonda Vincent returns to the Pacific Northwest for three performances this weekend and will be at the Byrnes Performing Arts Center Saturday, March 21 along with gigs in Wenatchee and Portland. She performed at Wintergrass in Tacoma several years ago and was at the Darrington Bluegrass Festival two years ago.
“It was amazing,” she said about Darrington. “It rained three days straight and those bluegrass fans sat out there and didn’t even flinch.”
Named Female Vocalist of the Year for seven years straight by the International Bluegrass Music Association, Vincent and her band have been nominated for multiple Grammy awards as well.
Vincent started playing bluegrass as a young girl with her family in Missouri for the TV show “Sally Mountain Show” and they continue to present the Sally Mountain Bluegrass Festival in Missouri.
She has made music and videos with Dolly Parton, Keith Urban, and Miley Cyrus among many others and is featured on CMT.com.
After a venture into the country western scene during the 1990s, the 40-something bluegrass singer has returned to bluegrass and is accompanied by four young musicians who are also passionate about the genre of bluegrass music. Two new musicians, Aaron McDaris and Ben Helson, recently joined eight-year veterans Hunter Berry and Mickey Harris and they have launched a new sound with their new CD “Good Thing Going.” Their new album was called “First Class Blue Grass” by USA Today.
Vincent’s bass player, Micky Harris also played bluegrass since he was a baby with his family on a Nashville TV show featuring The Tipton Family. The fiddler, Hunter Berry learned to play the spoons at age four in the hills of upper east Tennessee, and started to play the fiddle at 9. Ben Helson set aside sports and picked up the guitar from his dad at age 13. McDaris started learning the guitar at age 11, then learned bass and later the banjo, now the instrument of his choice.
“We all play all the instruments,” Vincent told the Arlington Times by phone last week on the road toward Oxford, Ala.
“It gets to be a bit confusing sometimes,” she admitted.
“Our new approach incorporates talents never before seen from us,” Vincent announced on her Website when she introduced her new musicians in November.
“The new project has captured the comradery and magical blend displayed by this particular group of men. Their wide array of talents is featured including Mickey on dobro and Hunter singing solo,” Vincent said.
Her goal is to create recordings that are the same as what people hear on stage.
“It used to be, when we had guests come in to help with our recordings, that the stage show was a lot different,” Vincent explained. “Now with our new project to be released this summer, it will be exactly the same.” The new CD is named Destination Live, she said.
To see Vincent perform with Dolly Parton Keith Urban, and Miley Cyrus, just google Rhonda Vincent and watch for “Heartbreaker’s Alibi” on YouTube.
The concerts are presented by the Arlington Arts Council with assistance from the city of Arlington’s lodging tax grant for the BPAC and the Medallion Hotel (formerly the Hawthorn) which is offering special packages for $159 including a room for two with breakfast, champagne and chocolates, and $50 toward dinner at The Cellar — call 360-657-0500.
