Culture
“Queen Of Bluegrass” Returns To Stuart’s
< < Back to queen-bluegrass-returns-stuartsAward-winning bluegrass group Rhonda Vincent and The Rage will return to Stuart’s Opera House this Sunday for a special matinee show at 3 p.m.
With a career that spans 24 albums, Vincent has worked with everyone from Dolly Parton and George Jones to Faith Hill. She has received more than 40 awards as a solo artist, including an unprecedented seven consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association, along with multiple Grammy nominations.
Combined with her band The Rage, they emerge as the most awarded band in bluegrass music, with more 80 awards.
Hailing from a long line of musicians, Vincent was quite literally born into the business. Her parents Johnny and Carolyn helmed the popular bluegrass outfit The Sally Mountain show, with whom Rhonda made her stage debut at age five, singing and tapping a snare drum.
Vincent began playing mandolin onstage at age eight, and quickly mastered an array of stringed instruments, from guitar to fiddle. As she grew as a vocalist and musician, she augmented her love of traditional bluegrass with a growing appreciation for such contemporary mavericks as the New Grass Revival and Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver.
She made the transition from being a member of the Sally Mountain Show to a being a solo artist, cutting her first solo album in 1986. After a series of well-received solo recordings for venerable bluegrass label Rebel Records, Vincent signed to Giant Records for a pair of major-label country projects.
Vincent’s return to bluegrass began with her 1999 signing to Rounder Records, and continued through a series of acclaimed releases which grew her audience exponentially, picking up critical acclaim along the way.
In 2001, Vincent signed a high-profile endorsement contract with Martha White baking products, the company who first sponsored bluegrass icons Flatt and Scruggs in 1953. Like Flatt and Scruggs before her, Vincent now rolls into every show on the Martha White Bluegrass Express tour bus, and she has even composed a new Martha White theme song.
Tickets for Sunday’s show are on sale now at 740-753-1924 or online at www.stuartsoperahouse.org. Reserved seats are $25 in advance or $30 at the door, and box seats are $30 in advance or $35 at the door.