Comments on: 100 Greatest Women, #63: Rhonda Vincent

By: Country Universe » Country Quizzin’ - 01/27/09 Edition

Country Universe » Country Quizzin’ - 01/27/09 Edition — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 01:36:19 +0000

[...] ANSWER: Rhonda Vincent [...]

By: C.T. Strickland

C.T. Strickland — Mon, 05 May 2008 13:50:31 +0000

Rhonda Vincent is Real! She sings, plays, entertains – both live and in the studio, and doesn’t shy away from her fans when it’s over. She is able to descern great talent, hence her awesome backing band, THE RAGE, and knows her way around the production studio as well as seen in her excellent choice of guests she includes on her albums. Rhonda holds her own with a band or as solo number with just an acoustic guitar.

Rhonda is beautiful and friendly, knowing how to be cool, but also down to earth. She is accessable to both professional music personalities as well as her national and ever growing worldwide fan base. Rhonda holds family and traditional values in high esteem, and is very appreciative and respectful of those who have helped her along the way. Always ready to greet new fans, plainly put, Rhonda Vincent is a “people person”.

By: Leeann

Leeann — Mon, 05 May 2008 10:41:29 +0000

Paul, I have the same problem with Alison. I absolutely love her voice; I could listen to it all day. It’s probably my favorite female voice, In fact. However, I wish she would add some more tempo to her catalog. Like you said, when she does, she does it well, but it seems as though she would prefer not to do it. So, it’s what ultimately keeps me from popping in a whole CD of hers.

By: Paul W Dennis

Paul W Dennis — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:44:42 +0000

it is difficult to separate the singer from the songs and it can cloud one’s evaluation of the artist. I find that most of Alison Krauss’s albums bore me because she has little concept of how to construct an album – too often there simply are too many slow songs in a row, I know she can handle the uptempo stuff fairly well but she seems to shy away from it , not only for her own albums but also on albums she has produced for other artists

I love Alan Jackson and have all of his CDs. I really liked most of the songs on LIKE RED ON A ROSE, but the album was far less than the sum of its parts, not only in my estimation but in the eyes of most “Classic Country” and traditional Country fans I’ve met

Anyway, Rhonda Vincent’s songs get little airplay on County radio, so many of her best songs never become known outside of bluegrass circles. The concept of a hit single, while given lip service, isn’t nearly as important as it is in country music circles. Also bluegrass acts are judged as much on how well they handle old material as they are on newer material. Most bluegrass CDs contain at least one or two nods to the pioneers of bluegrass and country music, something rarely encountered on country albums these days. Rhonda handles the classics (such as Jimmy Martin’s “Hit Parade of Love”) as well as she handles the newer stuff , something I don’t know can be said of today’s country acts

Anyway, you do have her ranked in a reasonable spot among the 100 Greatest Women, and I too would rank Alison Krauss above her, but for reasons other than their relative talents.

By: Leeann

Leeann — Mon, 05 May 2008 01:07:15 +0000

Me Too. I like her voice, I love bluegrass (but know nothing about it) and enjoyed her show at the festival. I’m just not actually wild about her songs.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:26:53 +0000

Jonathan,

I really liked the Vincent single “If Heartaches Had Wings.” I don’t have an ear for pure bluegrass so I have a similar reaction to Vincent myself.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Mon, 05 May 2008 00:00:57 +0000

Vincent is an interesting case for me. Her talent is obvious (I agree with Paul that Vincent has a more powerful voice than Alison Krauss, though I’d still argue that Krauss is the better “technical” singer), but there’s just very little of her material that I really care for.

I wonder if I’ve not heard the right albums, so I’m eager to check out those that have been listed here and would gladly take any further recommendations. She’s someone I want to like, but something just hasn’t clicked. I love her voice, and I love bluegrass (and she and The Rage play some of the very best), but the songs just leave me cold. Still, based on her talent and her huge influence and popularity within the bluegrass genre, she definitely merits her inclusion on this list.

By: Paul W Dennis

Paul W Dennis — Sun, 04 May 2008 17:20:03 +0000

It is not a knock against Alison Krausee to feel that her voice is behind that of Rhonda Vincent (and also Cia Cherryholme). Rhonda has a lovely shimmering voice that harmonizes well and sings lead effectively. What she does not have is the raw power of a Connie Smith or Rhonda Vincent.

Recent albums have also shown Ms Vincent to be an effective songwriter. One of these days country audiences will re-discover Rhonda Vincent the way “Classic Country” audiences already have

By: Jordan Stacey

Jordan Stacey — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:56:51 +0000

I’ve been trying to see her live for a few years now but haven’t been able to catch her show. My grandfather just recently saw her and he says it’s the best live show he’s ever seen. I was wondering wether or not she’d make the list.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Sun, 04 May 2008 15:20:52 +0000

I agree with Paul here. My first draft of this post had the opening line: “If you ask a country music fan who the biggest female bluegrass star is, they’d say Alison Krauss. If you ask a bluegrass fan, they’d say Rhonda Vincent.”

This isn’t to criticize her in any way. Alison Krauss didn’t so much leave the bluegrass scene as transcend it. She still incorporates that style into her work, but for most of this decade, what she’s been doing is pretty much genreless, though the country music industry (not counting radio) does its best to claim her as much as they can. And she is a country music icon, even though she’s never made a deliberate attempt to be one. She’s been embraced “as is”, which is no small feat in itself.