"I've learned so much from this life of music that I've led, from playing with my family to the country music days, every aspect. I've just always tried to learn, and I've had the chance to work with and learn from the very best in the business," Rhonda Vincent says. "I try to take every opportunity to learn. I think that's why I am where I am now." Where Vincent is now, among other things, is being surprised and delighted at the way her latest recording, Only Me, is being embraced by audiences. “I never ever, ever ever would have predicted that,” she says of the record’s rise in the music charts during its first week out.” I thought we might climb to a number one record somewhere down the road, maybe after it had been out a few months, but when they called and told me it was at number one the first week, I nearly fell over!” the singer says, laughing.

Could be that this is because Vincent has struck a chord that resonates with listeners from many backgrounds. Vincent is passionate about the connections between bluegrass music and country music, and is well suited to explore them in her music.

On Only Me she offers two discs, one called bluegrass with six songs on it, and one called country with another six.

In a way, this exploring of connections all started with George Jones, and in another way, it began long before that. As she was singing the country song When the Grass Grows Over Me at a tribute to country icon Jones, “I’m thinking how cool it would be to do a traditional country music project -- I love these old songs and I don’t hear anybody singing them, and I’d love to record them.” She had already begun on a bluegrass recording project and as she was thinking this, Vincent began to see ways to put the two together.

Both bluegrass music and country music run deep in Rhonda Vincent’s life.

As she was growing up in rural Missouri, she recalls, "It wasn't like music was a choice -- it was a way of life. Music has been traced back at least five generations in the Vincent family, so it was something they were doing long before I was ever thought of, “ she says. “When you're born a Vincent, you're going to play and you're going to sing. It's just a way of life.”

As a child, Vincent began playing with her family at home, and later on stage as part of the family’s Sally Mountain Show. She started out on drums (“I think that was the only instrument not taken at the time,” she says) and moved on to fiddle, mandolin, and guitar, all of which she still plays. She also became lead singer with the band, a band that readily featured songs by country stars Dolly Parton and Loretta Lynn, as well as bluegrass from Jimmy Martin and Bill Monroe. That led her to explore Nashville and a country music career. Though she did find success there, Vincent decided it wasn’t for her. “I learned a lot, things about producing, using mics, techniques in the studio -- but it was more like going to college or having an internship, not doing what I enjoyed,“ she says. “I do think it was part of the transition for me in taking this from a family tradition to a career. But it was a hard thing for me."

Though she was uncertain as to how audiences would receive her, Vincent stepped back into bluegrass and found "I was *so* welcomed -- and I was back -- I was back playing and singing from my heart. It came so naturally, and I found I was having fun."

So much fun, in fact, that the hard working artist and her top notch band continue to find themselves over the years touring all across the country on their Bluegrass Express bus, and along the way winning every sort of award there is to be had, recognition from The Wall Street Journal, and other not so bluegrass taste makers, as well as carrying on a bluegrass tradition begun by Flatt and Scruggs with a sponsorship from Martha White baking products. All the while, deep into bluegrass, they are also making connections among the musics of heartland America.

These connections come to the fore on Only Me. On the country side of things, songs include the one Vincent sang at that George Jones tribute, When the Grass Grows Over Me, the fast paced drinking song called Drivin’ Nails, and the reflective ballad Beneath Still Waters, first made well known by Emmylou Harris. “I’m finding that these songs are still new to a lot of listeners,” Vincent says. On the bluegrass side, songs include the title track as a duet with Willie Nelson, a classic bluegrass tale in Busy City, and an uplifting modern day gospel song called It’s Never Too Late which was written by Haley Stiltner, a friend of Vincent’s daughters. Through it all, Vincent’s thoughtful phrasing and vibrant voice tell stories of heart and heartland, whether she is singing of redemption or drinking away the night, of love lost or faith found, leaving home or finding it.

"I think if it's a great song, it can be done no matter the style of music," Rhonda Vincent says. "It has to be a song that makes my heart jump, *any* song I do has to make me go oooh, I love that song, and hopefully when all's said and done, it’ll make the listener's heart jump too."

More information: http://www.rhondavincent.com

To stay in touch: http://www.facebook.com/RhondaVincentOfficial

And the Sally Mountain Music Festival in Missouri, where her mom also bakes pies! http://www.sallymountainshow.com/

Kerry Dexter is Music Editor for Wandering Educators. You may reach Kerry at music at wanderingeducators dot com

You may find more of Kerry’s work at Music Road, and at  Journey to Scotland, Perceptive Travel, Ireland and the Americas, National Geographic Traveler, and other places on line and in print.

Photos courtesy and copyright Rhonda Vincent