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Music Was Always a Family Affair for Rhonda Vincent
by Ashley Poulter
Ashley Poulter photo
Vincent signing a poster in Asheville
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Her family's band, The Sally Mountain Show, gave her a first taste of the bluegrass business. By the age of three Rhonda Vincent had already begun to sing. At age five she stepped out on stage with the band, and at the age of eight she was learning to play the mandolin.
Now an award winning bluegrass performer, Vincent still owes much to the family business. Her husband Herb is her manager and current booking agent, while college-age daughters Sally and Tensel have contributed to her songs and albums.
"They're the focal point of my life," says Vincent. "The family has always been the focus. You know "Focus on the Family." That's what my life has been and continues to be. It would be impossible to do what I do without having such a supportive family… It's absolutely crucial to what I do."
Vincent will perform at a Madison County Habitat for Humanity benefit at Mars Hill College's Moore Auditorium on April 20 at 3 p.m. Proceeds from the concert will go toward a house that will be built in the area with the help of Habitat volunteers.
Vincent appeared several weeks ago at "Bluegrass First Class," a bluegrass convention at the Crown Plaza Resort in Asheville. There she played two concerts, signed autographs for more than one hundred eager fans, and for a few minutes sat down for a brief interview.
Music spans five generations in her family, and she hopes it will soon be six. Her daughter Sally plays guitar, and Tensel plays bass. "My daughters are playing, and because Darrin (Vincent's brother) has a daughter that sings…it looks like six generations is on the way."
The Sally Mountain Show's name comes from a hill that locals in the area near Queen City, Missouri, named after old-time fiddler Sally Mosby. Both of Vincent's parents were involved in the group, as well as her grandfather and cousins. As not all the members of the band were Vincents, the name "Sally Mountain Show" stuck.
When her grandfather passed away, Rhonda, her mother, and her father became known as the 'Sally Mountain Trio' for a short time. Younger brother Darrin, after a long stint with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder, recently formed his own band called 'Dailey and Vincent.' When his schedule permits he joins the group, and it is once again 'The Sally Mountain Show'.
When Vincent broke out on her own, parents Johnny and Carolyn Vincent decided to reduce their traveling schedules. Johnny bought 63 acres of land in Queen City and came up with the idea of a festival ground. The land is now home to the annual Sally Mountain Park Bluegrass Festival, where the Vincent family band, along with Rhonda, still plays each year.
The festival has now become legendary for the amount of attention it draws. More than 1,000 people from all over the world gather daily during the five-day event for jam sessions, bluegrass acts, and workshops.
Vincent, as part of such a musical family, now gets to share the bluegrass experience with her daughters and husband. Eldest daughter Sally, a sociology major at ETSU, sang harmony with her mother on the song "One Step Ahead of the Blues" on the "Ragin' Live" DVD. Vincent originally sang the song with Allison Krauss, a female bluegrass performer.
Vincent's newest album, "Good Thing Going," was co-produced by brother Darrin. Youngest daughter Tensel, attending ETSU as a business and Spanish major, helped her mother write a particular song for a friend.
The song, titled "I Give All My Love to You" from her newest album, was written for her fan club president Julia Yocum as a wedding gift. After sitting down with Yocum for a planning session, Vincent, the designated wedding planner, became determined to write this song for her. Husband Herb and daughter Tensel helped her finish the song for Yocum's wedding.
"I got home and said, 'let's make this into a family project,'" said Vincent. "So as she (Tensel) would get home from school, or Herb would come in, we would just work on it until we thought we had it. That was a really fun thing to be able to write with them and to bounce ideas off of them. It was the first time we had done that."
The title of the newest album, Good Thing Going, also has a special place in the family. After a conversation with husband Herb, also her booking agent, she told him that they had a 'good thing going'.
"In ten years I hope I'm doing exactly what I'm doing now…I hope that when I'm 80, that I'm still out on the road or that I know enough to quit when it's time. But I just can't see myself retiring from this."
Tickets to the Rhonda Vincent concert on April 20 are $15. Advance tickets are on sale and can be purchased on-line at http://www.MadisonCountyHabitatforHumanity.org/, or in person at the Wagon Wheel, Mars Hill, Zumas, Penlands and the Madison County Arts Council in Marshall. Tickets may also be available on the day of the show. For more information, call Cathy Hicks at 828-450-2378.
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