Rhonda Vincent’s got a good thing going
New release set for January 2008

By Paulette Isaacs

Rhonda Vincent

Deemed “the new queen of bluegrass” by the Wall Street Journal, Rhonda Vincent will have her new long-awaited Rounder Records release, Good Thing Going, available to the public on Tuesday, January 8th.
Rhonda Vincent began music at the tender age of 5 with her family’s band, The Sally Mountain Show. The traditional “Muleskinner Blues” was her first debut song out on a 45 when she was eight years old. Early on in her career, she made several albums of bluegrass and country which were stepping stones into learning the ins and outs of the business in Nashville. In 2000, Rhonda took on the bluegrass world with her debut project with Rounder Records on Back Home Again. Concurrent albums with Rounder include The Storm Still Rages, One Step Forward, Ragin’ Live, All-American Bluegrass Girl and her first Christmas album, Beautiful Star: A Christmas Collection.

In 2000, Rhonda Vincent was named Female Vocalist of the Year at the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) awards, which was to be the first of seven consecutive wins in that particular category. IBMA also named her Entertainer of the Year in 2001. She also received recognition for IBMA’s Song of the Year for “Kentucky Borderline” in 2004 and has been nominated for 4 Grammy awards.

Good Thing Going illuminates Rhonda Vincent’s strong songwriting abilities in that the project includes 5 original or co-written tracks. >From the Rounder Press Release, Vincent states, “I have never written five songs to include on an album. I have to be inspired to write a song...but there’s been no shortage of inspiration lately.”

Leading off the album and her originals is “I’m Leavinn’,” a powerfully written song in which Rhonda’s vocals are stronger than ever. A classic love-gone-bad story, it gets no more bluegrass than this, folks.

The tender lovesong “I Give All My Love to You” features Rhonda Vincent and Russell Moore (from IIIrd Tyme Out). Rhonda had written the song for her assistant and friend, Julia, for her wedding. Rhonda states in the press release, “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.”

“Good Thing Going” (title track) makes one wonder how much of it is true since this is another penned by Rhonda Vincent. She states, “That song is mostly true, but it’s up to you to separate the fact from the fiction” (press release). Her daughter’s boyfriend Hunter Berry (from Elizabethton, TN) is a member of The Rage, and there’s a comical reference to him in the song.

The lyrics in the chorus of “Scorn of a Lover” stand out on this Vincent song because they tell of the total helplessness one feels when they are wronged: “There’s nothing like the scorn of a lover, it’s a hurt that breaks heart, mind, and soul. He’ll poison your life with deception and lies and leave you so lonely and cold.”
Rounding out the originals on the project is “Bluegrass Saturday Night” and is a tribute to the Ragers, Rhonda Vincent fans. Fans and musicians alike can relate to this song, as it tells of the love for bluegrass music and the life that goes along with that love. There are references in the song to the members of The Rage: Hunter Berry, Kenny Ingram, Mickey Harris, and former member Josh Williams.

“World’s Biggest Fool” will appeal to those who enjoy swing music. The lyrics are built around sarcasm and the idea that one of the two in the relationship is the world’s biggest fool, but it’s up to the listener to determine which one. There’s certainly an air of comedy going on in this song, as well.

The Jimmy Martin tune, “Hit Parade of Love,” is a very fast-paced version in which Rhonda Vincent gives new life to the old favorite of bluegrassers.

Rhonda Vincent includes a sacred number on Good Thing Going called “I Will See You Again.” The beginning of the song is a story of a farmer that has passed away and his wife’s final words to him before his burial. Later, the song tells the story of Jesus’ ministry on earth, death, and resurrection and the hope that Christians have through Him of eternal life and meeting their Savior.

The Dottie Rambo-penned song “Just One of a Kind” has beautiful chord progressions and instrumentation. The entire song is sung with three-part harmony which includes Rhonda, her brother Darrin Vincent, and friend Kathy Chiavola. An interesting piece of information about this song is that the percussion was actually performed with a pizza box and brushes, literally. Rhonda Vincent explains in the press release notes, “We thought the song needed a little percussion - like brushes on a pizza box. Someone mentioned James Stroud. He’s a drummer by trade, 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!”

The thought-provoking “I Gotta Start Somewhere” has the listener captured by the lyrics all the way through. It is about a desperate attempt to forget a lost love through getting away from their presence, finding company with someone else, other vices, and finding that the only possible help can come from prayer, asking for healing from the Lord.

“Who’s Cryin’ Baby” tells of the tables being turned on the love that left a relationship.

):The most surprising song on Good Thing Going is the traditional song, “The Water is Wide.” Actually, it’s not the song that’s surprising, it is with whom Rhonda Vincent is doing the duet: country superstar, Aussie, Keith Urban.

Thinking back on a conversation that helped birth the idea for this album, Rhonda Vincent states, “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...”

For more information on Rhonda Vincent and The Rage, visit www.rhondavincent.com or www.rounder.com. Another reminder that the album will not be available until January 8th, 2008.

This and other reviewed CDs may be purchased or ordered through our friends at Appalachian Music Shoppe on the 105 Extension in Boone. They are located in Carriage Square. You may call 828-263-0051 for more information.

Local musicians are invited to send in your materials for a review by Paulette Isaacs. They may be mailed to 286 Phillip Road, Elk Park, NC 28622. Sorry, materials cannot be returned. For more information, you may email dpisaacs@localnet.com.