Bluegrass Legend Rhonda Vincent Reflects on Growing Up with Dailey & Vincent's Darrin Vincent
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Dailey & Vincent, Rhonda Vincent
Bluegrass queen Rhonda Vincent firmly believes that Darrin Vincent of the Grammy-nominated duo Dailey & Vincent is one of the greatest harmony singers that has ever lived.
And he's not a bad little brother either.
"Heck, I used to change his diapers," says Rhonda Vincent, 60, with a laugh during a recent interview with PEOPLE. "Right from the beginning, Darrin had a natural talent that I've not really seen in anyone else."
Indeed, the talented brother and sister are just two members of the multi-generational, Missouri-bred Vincent family who have practically spent their entire lives making music.
"I remember we were playing Silver Dollar City [amusement par] and Darrin wasn't very old, but he turned to my dad and said, 'I'm going to do the fiddle break,'" Rhonda Vincent remembers of her days growing up in Missouri. "My dad turned to him and said from the side of his mouth, 'You don't play the fiddle.' But when the solo came up, Darrin just ran up, took the fiddle, and started playing. It was incredible."
What may be even more incredible is that now, years later, Vincent has made history alongside her brother as the first brother and sister to have separate Grand Ole Opry memberships.
courtesy Dailey & Vincent Dailey & Vincent Cover Art
"I think it's a real testament to our parents," explains Rhonda Vincent, who was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry earlier this year. "They raised us. We were playing music every day. And I'm so thankful. Now we can sit back and say, 'Man, our parents really prepared us for what we're doing these days.'"
Vincent is also feeling quite thankful these days for the opportunity to sing alongside her brother on Dailey & Vincent's brand-new album Let's Sing Some Country. "Getting to sing with my brothers (Vincent's brother Brian also occasionally sings with the family group) is like finding the final piece of the puzzle," says Vincent, who is featured singing alongside her brother Darrin and Dailey & Vincent's Jamie Dailey on songs such as the touching "Those Memories." "We sing with other people all the time, but then when we get together and sing together, that piece of that puzzle just fits in there perfectly."
"We finally picked songs that really fit our voices," adds Darrin Vincent of the two collaborations with his sister on the new album Let's Sing Some Country, which serves as Dailey & Vincent's first official venture into the country music space, even though the duo has long performed various genres of music for their loyal fans.
"People started coming to our concerts over the last five or six years asking for the bluegrass songs and the gospel songs, but they were also asking for the country songs," says Jamie Dailey of the inspiration behind the Paul Worley-produced album that also includes collaborations with Vince Gill, Jimmy Fortune, and Alison Krauss. "We had to expand our band to be able to accommodate the music that they wanted to hear on the road. So, it just became kind of natural for us to do a country record in our style of country."
Sharp Images Rhonda Vincent
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And it might not be the last time they give country music a try.
"If everything lines up right, we'll probably follow [this album] up with a second, maybe even a third one down the road," says Darrin Vincent. "And of course, later on, we want to do another gospel record and we want to do another bluegrass record."
So, could Rhonda Vincent be the next to give country music a try?
"I love the music and I love traditional country music and getting to sing that on occasion, but I probably would not," she admits with a laugh. "I cannot picture myself doing that!"
