Rhonda Vincent

Bluegrass vocalist and fiddler Rhonda Vincent began her professional music career at the age of five, playing drums with her family's band, the Sally Mountain Show. She picked up the mandolin at eight and the fiddle at ten, performing with the family band at festivals on weekends. After appearing on TNN's nationally televised You Can Be a Star program in her mid-twenties, Vincent struck out on her own, singing with the Grand Ole Opry's Jim Ed Brown, eventually leading to a deal with Rebel Records. Her work with Brown and her Rebel recordings caught the attention of Giant Nashville's president, James Stroud, who signed Vincent to record two contemporary country albums. After her time at Giant, she moved to Rounder Records, and demonstrated her passion for the traditional music she grew up with, on Back Home Again. A car accident in December 1999 kept her from a planned trip to Nashville for auditions, so she hired her band (unusually named the Rage) through the Internet. Rhonda Vincent and the Rage have been gaining popularity at bluegrass festivals since their formation, playing hard-driving, high-energy contemporary bluegrass music. Her 2001 album The Storm Still Rages was nominated for seven International Bluegrass Music Association awards, including Female Vocalist of the Year, while fiddle player Michael Cleveland and banjo player Tom Adams earned nominations in their respective instrumental categories. A three-year unbroken string of IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year awards led to the 2003 release of One Step Ahead, another tour, and another well-deserved showering of critical praise. Recorded in front of hometown crowd in St Louis, Ragin' Live arrived in 2005, followed by All American Bluegrass Girl in 2006. ~ Zac Johnson, All Music Guide