Country Music Blog: Rhonda Vincent

One thing is for sure -- traveling on the road is never boring. There's always an adventure just ahead. After performing to a sold out venue in Farmington Hills, Mich., we started towards the Canadian border at Port Huron. Just before reaching the border, traffic came to a stand still, due to a toxic waste spill on the interstate. Our driver, Yogi, quickly got on the CB to find out how long the wait could be. They were saying eight hours or more. Yogi positioned the bus to cross the grassy median, after closely checking the firmness, to see if we could cross. He flattened out the gas pedal and didn't let up till we made the U-turn back onto the pavement. It was a rough ride, but we were moving once again and on our way to Detroit to cross the border into Canada.

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Have I been listening to the next IBMA song of the year? I know it's already got my vote. Rhonda Vincent's recording of Jerry Salley and Lisa Shaffer's "I Gotta Start Somewhere" swept me away the first time I heard it. Most of us can recall a romantic breakup we didn't want to happen and the hollow, helpless feeling that followed it. That's the dark emotional territory this song explores, and Vincent's forlorn rendering of the lyrics make the terrain all the more bleak.

Now Vincent has further enhanced the song with a music video, thus enabling us to see as well as hear her misery. It's an effective piece of film that stays fairly faithful to the lyrics. The normally vivacious singer really does look distracted and heartbroken as she goes through the motions of ridding herself of a painful memory. My only qualm is that the director has her driving around in a stylish old convertible when her mood clearly calls for more somber equipage, perhaps a hearse. But there are some telling touches, too, as when she thumbs through a stack of old vinyl albums and lingers over a Dolly Parton record, or when she momentarily loses herself completing a jigsaw puzzle. She looks the most empty when she's back in her room removing her earrings after a date that hasn't worked out.

Here's hoping the video will expose the song to audiences that might otherwise never hear it. And I'm urging members of the International Bluegrass Music Association to pay it special attention. This is music worth awarding.

Editor's Note: To kick off Bluegrass Month in May, the CMT Music Blog is proud to debut Rhonda Vincent's new video, "I Gotta Start Somewhere."

2008 is off to an incredible start. What a way to celebrate the new year with a No. 1 album. And WOW ... 7 consecutive weeks at No. 1 on Billboard. Next to be released is the new video of "I Gotta Start Somewhere." It's always exciting to shoot a new video, though I walked barefoot by a creek in summer clothes in 40 degree weather and ended up with bronchitis. And do you know, they didn't even use the creek shot.

Dallas Henry did a great job and his entire crew was great to work with. Check out my possible love interest in the video. Vance Mitchell is the guy at Clampett's Hardware Store. Watch for him in the current Acura car commercial. It's always fun to have guests when we shoot a video. Who would have known that the little girl in my "If Heartaches Had Wings" video would eventually become Hannah Montana? So look out for Vance. This was my seventh career video. I can't say they're exactly FUN to make, but they're sure fun when they're finished. Be sure to watch!

"If Heartaches Had Wings" video

Festival season has started in full force, and our conditioning for outdoor venues, coupled with multiple consecutive dates, has begun. Our weekend started with our departure from Nashville to Ladysmith, Va. Though rain had pounded the festival grounds just days before, it turned into a perfect sunny day. We performed two shows, our last being the festival closer, before we boarded the Martha White Bluegrass Express, en route to Merlefest in Wilkesboro, N.C. Merlefest is completely different than any other venue we ever play, and even more so this year. Read more...

Who says there aren’t many albums coming out in January? Thanks to the abundance of independent labels out there, my relentless hours in rental cars this month have been put to good use. Here’s a playlist of songs that are worth sharing. Some of these artists are new faces in the field, but I just had to include Ricky Nelson’s "Poor Little Fool" (oh yeah), since it showed up on a compilation of his love songs a few weeks ago. Let me cut to the chase -- Willie Nelson’s new song is really cool too. I’ve been told that there’s a duet album with Shelby Lynne and Willie Nelson in a vault somewhere, and if it ever surfaces, I will be a very happy fellow. But in the meantime, I have Shelby’s fantastic new CD, Just a Little Lovin’, which I have been listening to pretty much every day since I received it. Ironic, then, that I chose the song I did.

Here’s the playlist:

Ray Bonneville – "So Long Blues"
Drive By Truckers – "Two Daughters and a Beautiful Wife"
Andy Hall – "The Chase"
Malcolm Holcomb – "Baby Likes a Love Song"
Patty Larkin – "Waterside"
Shelby Lynne – "I Don’t Want to Hear It Anymore"
Anne Murray and Jann Arden – "Somebody’s Always Saying Goodbye"
Ricky Nelson -- "Poor Little Fool"
Willie Nelson – "Always Now"
Jason Ringenberg – "One Less Heartache"
The SteelDrivers – "Heaven Sent"
Owen Temple – "Rivers Run From Many Waters"
IIIrd Tyme Out – "New Faces in the Field"
Rhonda Vincent – "Who’s Cryin’ Baby"
The Wrights – "Rewind"

I am not a man who plucks the subject of cleavage out of thin air, but neither do I shrink from cleavage when it is thrust upon me. So it is with serious purpose that I turn to the topographical features of Rhonda Vincent. In the liner photos for her new album, Good Thing Going, the effervescent bluegrass star once again exhibits some intriguing studies in light and shadow. One picture shows her lying on her back in the grass, pensively gazing at the sky while clasping the neck of her mandolin just to the side of her precipitously plunging neckline. Looking closely at the photo (and choking back sounds generally associated with the last stages of waterboarding), I concluded this was not a candid shot, not something that could be dismissed as the accidental slip of a strap or failure of a button. No, it was a deliberate display of the goods. And bravo for her. The peek-a-boo theme has been common to her album and publicity art since at least as far back as her One Step Ahead CD of 2003. On that cover, she strides across a street wearing a top that bares both cleavage and navel. I count this the most important advance in bluegrass music since Bill Monroe hired Flatt and Scruggs.

As one who is pure of heart, I barely took notice of Vincent’s stylistic swashbuckling until it came up at the 2003 International Country Music Conference. There, on a panel called “Country Music and Gender,” banjo player and magazine columnist Murphy Henry grouched about Vincent’s recent epidermal revelations and then flatly declared, “You don’t show cleavage in bluegrass!” That outraged me. How dare she, I thought, put such a rack on the rack? I was on the verge of withering her with a spirited defense of cleavage as an instrument of free expression, but then it occurred to me that someone might think my motivation was more carnal than Constitutional. So I cravenly kept my mouth shut. It is a shame I will carry with me the rest of my life. Forgive me, Rhonda, and keep up the good works.

I have a small stack of country Christmas CDs that I always pull out on Thanksgiving morning, and that’s pretty much what I listen to until I put up a new calendar. Luckily, those old-fashioned songs have moved into the digital age, making this the most wonderful time of the year for a holiday music mix. Do you hear what I hear? You can, if you track down this playlist:

“Christmas in Dixie,” Alabama
“A Holly Jolly Christmas,” Alan Jackson
“Shimmy Down the Chimney,” Alison Krauss
“Feliz Navidad,” Billy Joe Shaver
“Rockin’ Little Christmas,” Carlene Carter
 “Frosty the Snowman,” Dan Tyminski
“Silent Night,” Dolly Parton
“Light of the Stable,” Emmylou Harris
“Merry Christmas Strait to You,” George Strait
“Silver Bells,” Joe Nichols
“O Holy Night,” John Berry
“The First Noel,” Josh Turner
“Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” Kelly Willis
“My Holiday,” Mindy Smith
“O Come All Ye Faithful,” Patty Loveless
“I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” Raul Malo
“O Christmas Tree,” Rhonda Vincent
“Christmas Time is Here,” Shawn Colvin
“Two-Step ‘Round the Christmas Tree,” Suzy Bogguss
“Making Plans,” Tim O’Brien
“The Christmas Song,” Trisha Yearwood
“All I Want for Christmas is You,” Vince Vance and the Valiants
“O Come, O Come Emmanuel,” Wynonna

I know you’ve heard these songs many times, many ways, but these are the renditions I prefer. In particular, Kelly Willis’ version of “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” has just the right twinge of sadness – but not as much as the original version. Next time you complain about Christmas, remember that opening line. May your day be merry and bright.

I recently came across a new CD called The Greatest Country Love Songs – now that’s a brave title. I rarely listen to love songs so I’m rather surprised to be telling you that it’s a pretty cool compilation of covers, sung by country artists who don’t get played on the radio anymore. Most of the selections are familiar but a few artists dig deeper, like Daryle Singletary’s fine rendition of Keith Whitley’s “That’s Where I Want to Take Our Love.” (George Strait recently recorded the song too.) Tammy Cochran succeeds greatly with “Help Me Make It Through the Night” and there’s a real sparkle to Gene Watson and Rhonda Vincent’s “Together Again.” My favorite track is Neal McCoy’s lively take on Charley Pride’s “Mountain of Love.” You can tell he’s having a blast bringing it back to life.

Usually I am reluctant to give props to covers but I’ve had to relax my standards lately. My favorite CD this year is bound to be Teddy Thompson’s understated Up Front and Down Low, which almost entirely consists of classic country songs. (I am obsessed with the hidden track, “Don’t Ask Me to Be Friends,” from the Everly Brothers' vault.) Close behind is John Prine and Mac Wiseman’s Standard Songs for Average People, a carefree collection of other people’s songs that they both like, including Tom T. Hall’s insightful “Old Dogs, Children and Watermelon Wine.”

On the R&B side, just wait until you hear Bettye Lavette’s scorching interpretation of George Jones’ “Choices.” Also, try out Marc Broussard’s “Let the Music Get Down in Your Soul” (originally by Rance Allen) and Joan Osborne’s “Break Up to Make Up” (by the Stylistics). Sometimes a melody provides enough inspiration – for example, James Alan Shelton’s instrumental, acoustic take on Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of Silence.” By the way, I recommend the full albums by all these artists.

Do you know Pat Benatar’s “Love is a Battlefield”? Of course. But have you ever considered what it’s really about? You will when you hear Jann Arden sing it on her new CD, Uncover Me. Her version slows down the melody just enough to get you wrapped up in the words. I’ve heard this song a hundred times before, but now I can see myself in it – a lot. The pulsating introduction is definitely killer, but when it comes to the inevitable contradictions and unexpected turns in relationships, this song’s got it covered.

Over the years I have fallen hard for bluegrass music. I’ve written quite a few stories about the artists, and inevitably wound up on a lot of mailing lists. Within the last few weeks I’ve been inundated with new bluegrass CDs and I’m gradually working my way through them – and happy to do it! Not all of these are commercially available yet, but here are the ones that have perked up my ears so far:

Bobby Osborne & the Rocky Top X-press, Bluegrass Melodies (Rounder)
Excellent picking, as always. I really like the arrangement of “Music Makin’ Man,” which is sure to put a bounce in your step. Rhonda Vincent takes a verse of “Go Rest High on That Mountain.”

Grasstowne, The Road Headin’ Home (Pinecastle)
Steve Gulley’s vocals knock me out and I enjoyed Dobro player Phil Leadbetter’s last album, so this is right up my alley. I like “Here Comes That Feeling Again” – or anything written by Craig Market, really.

The Charlie Sizemore Band, Good News (Rounder)
This lawyer also balances a cool bluegrass career. His version of “Hard Rock Bottom of Your Heart” is terrific, and so are the clever songs dedicated to Alison Krauss and Vern Gosdin.

Two bluegrass bands with loyal fans -- the Seldom Scene and the Steep Canyon Rangers -- also have noteworthy new CDs coming next month. In addition to these, I’m taking along new bluegrass releases from Jim Lauderdale and Merle Haggard on a road trip this weekend for a first listen. Lauderdale’s last few albums were outstanding and I find it remarkable that Haggard is giving a new spin to many of his classics, with a few new tunes to boot. Also keep an eye out for a kids’ bluegrass album from the McCoury family and an Elvis Presley bluegrass tribute from Shawn Camp and Billy Burnette. Time Life is also offering the three-disc Classic Bluegrass Collection with all the big names. I’m saving that for the road trip after this one.

By the way, if you can’t get enough bluegrass, make sure you bookmark one of my favorite Web destinations, The Bluegrass Blog.