Sometimes it’s rough duty being the Queen of Bluegrass Music.

This past weekend at the Central Virginia Family Bluegrass Festival, Rhonda Vincent was viciously attacked on stage by an unidentified member of the class Insecta in the phylum Anthropda. She got bit by a bug.

Here’s video evidence, and proof that Mickey Harris of The Rage is a real trooper.

I’ve heard about being bitten by the bluegrass bug, but I doubt that this is what Rhonda had in mind.

There are a couple more videos from the Amerlia festival on YouTube, including one of Hunter Berry getting dunked in the lake for charity.

Mickey Harris has released his fourth solo project, Dog House Blues, a fitting title for a bass player’s CD don’t you think?

Mickey has spent the past 7 years on bass with Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, also singing harmony and occasional lead vocals on her show. He had also worked with Larry Stephenson and Sally Jones after spending much of his youth as a member of The Tipton Family, which included his grandmother.

Dog House Blues was recorded with a core group of musicians – Wayne Benson on mandolin, Jim Van Cleve on fiddle, Josh Williams and Darrell Webb on guitar, Aaron McDaris and Kenny Ingram on banjo, and Mickey holding down the bass and lead vocal spots. Rhonda contributes harmony vocals on three tracks, and Tom T. Hall adds a recitation on one of his songs.

Mickey tells us that he recorded the album throughout this past year, as he could find time, which he suggests was rare.

“I had all the tour dates with Rhonda Vincent and the Rage, plus my wife and I had our second child in July. I also stayed quite busy with my 2 year old daughter too.”

In choosing material, Mickey wanted to include both songs that he performs with Rhonda, and ones that he has been singing for years. One that really caught my ear was his rendition of Gene Watson’s huge country hit, Farewell Party.

“I just started to do it by chance with Rhonda. In the middle of one of our shows, she was talking about singing recently with Gene Watson and asked if anyone of us knew one of his songs. Being a huge Gene Watson fan, I told her that I did and stepped up to sing Farewell Party. Since then, it has become my most requested song, so I figured that I should definitely record it on my next project.”

The Nine Pound Hammer and Why Did You Wander are likewise numbers which Mickey performs with The Rage, and he even included a banjo/bass duet, originally recorded by Earl Scruggs.

“You Can’t Stop Me From Dreaming is a tune that Kenny Ingram and I would play backstage for fun.  I have always loved tunes that were just bass and banjo.  Plus, I think that it showcases Kenny’s fine banjo playing, and also being a bass player, I wanted to have a song that features the bass.” (more…)

Mickey Harris, bass player with Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, and his wife Crystal celebrated the birth of their first son last week.

Jackson Cooper Harris was born on July 14, coming in at 8 lbs, 4 oz.

He joins his big sister Mikayla (almost 2) in the family, and all are healthy and hale.

Congratulations to the Harrises on this happy news!

This initial installment of Sunday Morning Revelations comes from our UK correspondent, Richard F Thompson. We will offer reviews of Gospel bluegrass releases on Sunday’s from time to time.

Everybody is familiar with Mickey Harris and his ‘day job’ as the excellent bass player with Rhonda Vincent & the Rage. Not so many will be aware that he a recording artist in his own right. This all gospel set Kneel And Pray [MJH Records 0003], actually released last year, is Harris’ third released in his own name.

Harris sets off at a fast lick with the title track and then shows that he is equally comfortable singing at a more relaxed tempo on Gates Of Glory. On the former his boss sings tenor to Harris’ lead and baritone while on the latter Alecia Nugent provides the high baritone part in another lovely trio number.

Peace Of God is an excellent original song performed as a duet with Jamie Dailey providing the tenor part. This number and the following track, a solo version of Walter Bailes’ Oh Mum epitomises everything that is good about this album; sincere, precise vocals and exquisite instrumental support.

For a while I was wondering who Harris sounded like vocally, then I happened across the Marty Robbins song Master’s Call and I got the answer. Harris has all the range that Robbins possessed and, come to think of it, he can match Charlie Sizemore for empathy and intensity also. There’s a hint of Raul Malo as well. Clearly, Harris feels everything that he sings.

There are so many highlights on this CD that it is difficult to list them without forgetting an exceptional track or making the review a simple track listing. Suffice to say, there’s some exceptional gospel performances, ranging from a traditional quartets – A Beautiful Life and When I Wake Up – to an old and a new song from the pen of Tom T Hall, and classics from two extremes, the repertoires of Don Williams, Lord I Hope This Day Is Good, and Roy Acuff, The Great Speckled Bird.

This superb 13 track set concludes with an excellent a cappella version of Just A Little Talk With Jesus, with Harris doubling up on bass vocals as well as lead, supported by Louise Tomberlain and Sophie Tipton Haislip, Mickey’s grandmother and aunt respectively.

Harris is supported by a core band of himself, playing bass, Wayne Benson (mandolin), Hunter Berry (fiddle), Kenny Ingram (banjo) and Josh Williams (guitar, mandolin and resonator guitar), providing straight-ahead bluegrass backing or a stripped down combination of guitar, mandolin and bass.

Much thought has been put into the selection of the songs featured and the recording, engineering and production – at Top Dog Studios – is top notch also. The music is as sharp as the suit Mickey is pictured wearing on the front cover. More seriously, here his music bears all the hallmarks of one who, with his family, has grown up singing and continues to sing the Lord’s praises.

Kneel And Pray is a must-buy for lovers of traditional bluegrass gospel music. Don’t miss out; grab a copy at the record table or order your copy by contacting Mickey Harris direct.