Rhonda Vincent and the 'World of Bluegrass'
By Rick Kelly
© 2006 CMA Close Up News Service / Country Music Association, Inc.
Bluegrass music has undergone a startling transformation in the past two decades, from obscure niche music to big business, and from cloddish stereotypes to recognition as the training ground for some of the greatest musicians of our time.
While the music echoes the ancient sounds of Appalachia, in truth it was born only 60 years ago, on the stage of the Grand Ole Opry. Bluegrass is a genre of music that confounds the preconceptions of the uninitiated who would pigeonhole it as a quaint folk music with little bearing on the modern listener. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Bluegrass music is a vibrant genre, with a rapidly growing retail and touring profile, and an unending stream of new players and fans that seem to get younger each year.
An artist who personifies the new face of bluegrass is Rhonda Vincent. Her mix of stellar vocal ability and fiery instrumental chops has made her a critical darling for more than a decade. Meanwhile, her trademark sartorial style has positioned her as a thoroughly modern and sophisticated woman.
January 17, 2006
© Andrew MacNaughtan
© Andrew MacNaughtan
Vincent won a record-breaking sixth consecutive International Bluegrass Music Association award in 2005 for Female Vocalist of the Year. This award will share mantle space with 10 other IBMA awards she has amassed during her career.
The year 2005 marked a new beginning for the IBMA, as it was the first time that the convention and awards show was held in Nashville. As bluegrass music has grown into a significant entertainment force, it became obvious that the IBMA would be serving its membership by moving the annual World of Bluegrass event from its former home in Louisville, Ky., to Nashville, where so much of the actual business of bluegrass is centered.
The World of Bluegrass event is divided into three distinct areas. One is the IBMA Business conference which starts the event. It offers workshops and panel discussions where artists, managers, promoters and broadcasters can come together to network and exchange knowledge that will benefit their own concerns, as well as the genre as a whole. Secondly, the awards show is the highlight of the week and was held at a sold-out Ryman Auditorium, was broadcast live by XM Satellite Radio and syndicated to more than 300 markets in the United States and to 14 foreign countries. The third element is the Fan Fest, a massive indoor bluegrass festival.
By all accounts, the move to Nashville for the awards and the IBMA headquarters has been a major success for the IBMA.
According to Dan Hays, the Executive Director of IBMA, registrations were up significantly for the business conference and for the Fan Fest this year. "We had great attendance from other music communities in Nashville," Hays said. "Respect and admiration for bluegrass has grown in recent years, and we feel that we have much to learn from the other genres centered here."
Vincent is also excited about the IBMA's move to Nashville, "The very first IBMA meeting was held in Nashville, at Belmont College," she noted. "It's an organization that does so much for bluegrass artists in every way. From the seminars on 'how do I keep my band together' to their musicians fund."
Meanwhile, Vincent's career path mirrors the evolution of bluegrass into the mainstream.
Vincent started singing at age 3, and spent her childhood immersed in music as a member of her family band The Sally Mountain Show. She was the first signing to Giant Records' Nashville imprint in the 1990s. Vincent recorded two albums with Giant under the guidance of label head James Stroud. In spite of critical acclaim, Vincent's Country albums did not meet with mainstream success.
"When I played bluegrass, people would always say that 'your voice is so Country,' but when I got to Nashville and made Country records people said 'You sound so Bluegrass," she said.
After her stint at Giant, Vincent was at a crossroads, and decided to start her own band. Her group The Rage has evolved into one of the tightest and most entertaining bands working today. At an early performance of Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, she notes that fans told her that they loved her Country Music. This led her to the realization that the labels being tossed around were less important than the perception of the listener, and that a great performance doesn't need to be categorized.
Vincent refers to her stint in the Country Music business as a "graduate program" in the music industry. She learned valuable lessons about touring, merchandising and sponsorship that have served her well in her bluegrass career.
Signing with the legendary roots music label Rounder Records, Vincent saw her career take a dramatic upturn when the label began to produce music videos that were aired heavily on CMT and later GAC. "When we started getting the video airplay is when we saw the album sales start to climb towards the 100,000 mark," Vincent said. "Before that, selling 10,000 in bluegrass was considered to be a huge success."
In the absence of widespread radio airplay, Vincent has developed her career by maintaining a vigorous show schedule.
She continues a longstanding tradition of appearing in her merchandise booth after every performance to meet fans, sign autographs and pose for photos.
For several years, she has been sponsored by Martha White, which provides her with a tour bus bearing their company logo. Vincent, whose merchandise tent is called the Martha White Boutique, is the first modern bluegrass artist to have such a high profile endorsement deal.
Vincent is looking forward to another busy year of live performances.
She is often asked by young artists, many of them women, for advice on how to build and maintain a career. She advises them to play live as much as they possibly can, for as many people as they can. "If you play enough shows, every embarrassing thing that can happen, will eventually happen to you. It's great experience."
