Rhonda Vincent is the All American Bluegrass Girl and this last weekend she helped bring bluegrass music to the all American sport, NASCAR racing. Saturday, July 28, 2007, at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, IN, Rhonda treated the NASCAR fans to a one hour pre-race concert that culminated with her singing the National Anthem to begin the race.

That race was the Kroger 200, originally broadcast on ESPN2. The race will be rebroadcast on August 2, at 12 Noon, EST. The only part of Rhonda’s performance that will be preserved with the rebroadcast is her singing of the National Anthem.

Rhonda, and her band The Rage, will again be joining NASCAR in Bristol, TN August 23 when they will perform for the Food City Family Race Night.

Wednesday morning at 8:00 a.m. marks the official radio premiere of the new Rebel Records CD from The Steep Canyon Rangers on XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction. Host Kyle Cantrell will play each of the tracks from Lovin’ Pretty Women, and discuss them one at a time both with band members, and producer Ronnie Bowman.

The show will be repeated several more times over the next two weeks (all times eastern).

• Wednesday (8/1) at 8:00 a.m.
• Saturday (8/4) at 4:00 p.m.
• Wednesday (8/8) at 9:00 p.m.
• Sunday (8/12) at noon
• Tuesday (8/15) at 3:00 p.m.

I’ve been listening to this CD for the past two weeks, enjoying it very much. The songwriting is clever and the performances are lively with instrumental work that is solidly traditional, and vocals that reflect the non-southern background of many so younger bands in today’s market. Look for the title track to become a radio and festival favorite.

There are a few tracks accessible on the band’s MySpace page if you want an immediate taste of the new material. Lovin’ Pretty Women hits the street on August 14.

If you tune in (log on) to WorldWideBluegrass.com at 6:00 p.m. EDT this evening (7/31), you can hear an interview with Greg Cahill, banjo player with Special Consensus, and Board Chair for the IBMA. He will join WWB host Uncle Billy Dunbar for discussion – and surely some music as well.

Greg has plenty to talk about these days, with a new CD from Special C, The Trail Of Aching Hearts, and a new member of the band Ashby Frank, having recently joined them on mandolin.

To listen to the 24/7 WWB audio stream online, just visit their streaming page, and choose a connection speed and file type.