Gospel singer and songwriter Joyce “Dottie” Rambo was killed early Sunday morning while traveling from Illinois to Texas, when her tour bus encountered severe weather on Interstate 44 in southwest Missouri. The bus ran off the road near the town of Mount Vernon and struck an embankment. Rambo was pronounced dead at the scene. Seven passengers on the bus were injured, several seriously.

Nashville, Tennessee, resident Rambo was on her way to a Mother’s Day concert at a church in North Richland Hills, Texas, following a Saturday night performance in Granite City, Illinois, just outside of St. Louis. She was 74.

Dottie Rambo is perhaps best known as a songwriter. Among her more than 2,500 published songs were gospel classics such as He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need, Sheltered in the Arms of God, Behold the Lamb, Holy Spirit, Thou Art Welcome, and We Shall Behold Him, the gospel music Song of the Year in 1982.

Her songs have been recorded by artists as varied as Elvis Presley and Whitney Houston to Alison Krauss and Rhonda Vincent.

She was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2006 and the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2007.

Last week was a good’n for bluegrass and old time music on the CMT Pure 12-Pack Countdown video competition. Uncle Earl’s Steak O’ Lean was the #1 viewer-voted video, and Mountain Heart’s Road With No End was #2.

These two beat out Dolly Parton and Toby Keith for the top spots, so we know that it was bluegrass fans that put them in. They are both in the running again in this week’s voting, along with Rhonda Vincent’s I Gotta Start Somewhere, which debuts in the competition this week.

You can see all the videos on the Pure 12-Pack Countdown web site, where you can also cast a vote for your favorites. Voting ends on Wednesday night, with weekly winners announced on Friday evening during the Pure 12-Pack Countdown show on CMTP.

The new music video from Rhonda Vincent has debuted this morning on CMT.com. It’s for the song I Gotta Start Somewhere from her latest Rounder project, Good Thing Going.

Watch the full video on CMT’s Country Music Blog.

You can also see some behind-the-scenes photos from the video shoot in our earlier posts here and here.

CMT.com’s Country Music Blog has just published Merlefest remembrances from three bluegrass artists. Rhonda Vincent, Blue Highway (Tim Stafford) and Sierra Hull share some thoughts about last weekend’s mega-fest in North Wilkesboro, NC.

Sierra had an especially poignant memory to cherish from Merlefest ‘08.

“One thing that was particularly exciting about this year’s Merlefest is that it was the first in which I’ve had my new album, Secrets (out May 6 on Rounder) for sale. Upon arriving to the festival Friday morning, I had not even seen a final packaged copy of the record yet. They were shipped directly there, hot off the printer! It was quite funny then having someone in the crowd bring me a copy to sign — that was my first time seeing it!”

Read all of these posts at CMT.com.

As a young man just gaining an interest in bluegrass music, the bluegrass festival was almost heaven for me. One of the first festivals I can remember attending was at Silver Dollar City in Branson, MO. I grew up there in Missouri so it seems natural I would have fond memories of this festival. This is where I first encountered the mandolin playing of Danny Roberts, the flatpicking of John Chapman, and the thrill of excitement of being at a bluegrass festival.

Silver Dollar City has hosted a bluegrass festival since 1975. Back then it was called the Mountain Folks Music Festival. Over the years the festival has changed names and dates more than once. Four years ago it became Silver Dollar City’s Bluegrass & BBQ Festival. The festival is a long running one, starting on May 10 and continuing through June 1, 2008. During these 23 days, the park will be running a total of nine stages throughout each day, with over 60 bluegrass bands performing. Each performance is scheduled at 30 minutes and during the course of the festival there will be in excess of 1000 sets.

I had the chance to speak with D.A. Callaway, the festival coordinator, and he shared some interesting details about the event. With that many stages running for this length of time, the technical staff will be working hard. Callaway tells me they have 25 full time technical staff to run sound and lighting during the festival. The park hours are 9:30 AM to 7 PM each day. The shows begin in the morning and continue throughout the day.

Silver Dollar City is a large theme park that attracts a lot of tourists, but Callaway assures me that of the 10,000 attendees the park will average each day of the festival, 40-50% of them are there for the music. These are fans that might not be at the park if it wasn’t for the festival. Those are great numbers to contemplate on both sides of that equation. 4-5K people per day in attendance specifically to hear bluegrass music is a great turn out. But 5-6K people each day who aren’t there for the music, will surely hear it as they enjoy the other offerings of the park. Perhaps a few new bluegrass fans will be born next month in Branson!

With 60+ bands performing I was curious how artists are selected for inclusion in the festival. (more…)

Following up on John’s post yesterday, I spoke with Rhonda, via email, about the new video.

She is very pleased with the results, not so pleased about the bronchitis, and offered a couple more of her favorite photos taken during the shooting of the video.

Rhonda Vincent has completed her newest music video, for the song I Gotta Start Somewhere, which will be the first from her latest Rounder release, Good Thing Going. This will be the 10th video for Rhonda and though she is delighted with the finish product, this one didn’t come without a cost.

One scene involved her walking barefoot alongside a creek, and the weather during the shoot in Bryson City, NC in late March wasn’t as springlike as they had anticipated. She developed an unpleasant case of bronchitis and had to cancel several shows as a result.

Herb Sandker, who functions as both Rhonda’s manager and husband (and nursemaid of late) shares a few details about the video:

“Rhonda’s band The Rage make their first video appearance, along with her driver ‘Yogi Bare’ who makes a cameo appearance as he shops in Clampett’s Hardware Store. Also appearing as a possible love interest is Vance Mitchell and several citizens of Bryson City who turned out to participate in the scene depicting a community dance social.

The video features scenes shot at Lands Creek Log Cabins, Clampett’s Hardware Store, and the Bryson City Train Depot.”

Herb says that Rhonda is back at full strength and is on the road this weekend with the band. You can find her tour schedule on the official Rhonda Vincent web site.

We received an interesting correspondence last night from Ashby Frank, mandolinist with Special Consensus.

He had just gotten a call from Rhonda Vincent asking if he might be able to fill her spot on stage this week, as she is at home recuperating from a bout with bronchitis that forced her to cancel shows over the weekend.

The deal is, Rhonda’s been under the weather this week, so she asked me to fill in with her band the Rage at a private event for Martha White in Houston on Wednesday. Rhonda and her husband Herb insisted that I have to wear one of her outfits, unless I can learn all of the words to her songs by Wednesday.

I think I can pull it off… How do I look?

APRIL FOOLS!

In all seriousness, I’m honored to be filling in for a day with Rhonda’s great band (in my own clothes), and I’m looking forward to it!

From Houston, I’ll be heading for Chicago for a “special” Special C show at Fitzgerald’s Night Club with the legendary Howard Levy (bluegrass folks may know him for his harmonica and sax work with Bela Fleck) and that’s no joke!

Tonight is a big night for Darrell Webb, the newest member of Rhonda Vincent & The Rage. Starting at 6:00 p.m., he’ll be recording a live album at the converted Bellamy’s Hardware building in Surgoinsville, TN. And the boss will be on hand to lend her support.

Rhonda and the band will join Darrell on stage for the live recording, as will fiddle legend Bobby Hicks and award-winning vocalist Marty Raybon. Songs set to be cut include bluegrass favorites like Little Maggie and Molly And Tennbrooks, plus You Can’t Have One Without The Other, which Darrell nows sings as a part of Rhonda’s show.

If you’ll be in East Tennessee, there is no admission charge to attend the taping, but seating is limited. Contact info can be found online.

A poster at the official Rhonda Vincent Message Board tells of an incident at a 2/23 performance in Augusta. GA. Three people were arrested at the Imperial Theater as they became unruly when unable to get into the show.

They arrived very intoxicated. Were asked to leave, yet they refused, they started to fight security. 911 was called, police arrived, and they started fighting the police. 5 officers came to arrest the men, and one officer was injured.

All 3 were arrested and taken to jail.

What some people won’t do to see Rhonda & The Rage!!

Indeed.

There are a number of great opportunities to catch some live bluegrass on TV and radio over the next few days, many being streamed online.

Today (1/15) at noon eastern, Balsam Range will be performing live on WDVX from Knoxville, TN. The show is streamed live online.

At 1:00 p.m., Claire Lynch will join host Gracie Muldoon for an interview on WorldWideBluegrass.com.

The Friday Opry from The Ryman on WSM will feature the Opry debut of The Steeldrivers, along with sets from The Whites and Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys.

Saturday’s (1/16) Opry show has The Whites again, plus The Del McCoury Band, The Grascals and Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press. Both Opry shows are steamed online at wsmonline.com.

On Sunday’s (1/27) Fox & Friends show on Fox News, Rhonda Vincent will be a guest. The show airs from 7:00-9:00 a.m. (EST).

Edward Morris has a piece up on the CMT Country Music Blog about Rhonda Vincent and her… shall we say, décolletage.

The tongue-in-cheek article is titled Deep In The Bosom Of Bluegrass, and discusses the writer’s favorable impression of Ms. Vincent’s choice in clothing - and the reaction that the cover of her 2003 CD, One Step Ahead, generated within the bluegrass community.

As one who is pure of heart, I barely took notice of Vincent’s stylistic swashbuckling until it came up at the 2003 International Country Music Conference. There, on a panel called “Country Music and Gender,” banjo player and magazine columnist Murphy Henry grouched about Vincent’s recent epidermal revelations and then flatly declared, “You don’t show cleavage in bluegrass!”

Read the full piece at CMT.com.

Video is now available online for Rhonda Vincent & The Rage’s recent appearance on the Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour. The hour-long show, hosted by Michael Jonathan, features Rhonda as the sole guest performing music from her new CD, Good Thing Going, and talking about her life and music.

She performs Who’s Crying Baby, Muleskinner Blues, All American Bluegrass Girl, Good Thing Going, Bluegrass Saturday Night and several others including Wow Baby, the title track from fiddler Hunter Berry’s solo project.

Her telling of how the question “Is she country? Is she bluegrass” has framed her career - which runs as a sub-theme throughout the discussion portions of the show - provides insight into both Rhonda’s perspective on the music business, and the paradoxical signals that business can send to its consumers at times.

Watch the full video online on the Woodsongs site.

Once again, this weekend’s Grand Ole Opry broadcasts have much to offer bluegrass and acoustic music fans.

Tonight’s Friday Opry (1/11) will feature performances from Old Crow Medicine Show, The Del McCoury Band and Jesse McReynolds & The Virginia Boys.

On Saturday, Del and Old Crow return along with Bobby Osborne & The Rocky Top X-Press, The Whites and Rhonda Vincent. The televised portion on GAC’s Opry Live will include Rhonda, so be looking for that at 8:00 p.m. (EST) on GAC.

Opry Live will be rebroadcast on GAC Sunday (1/13) at 12:00 a.m. (midnight Saturday) and 12:00 and 7:00 p.m., and then again on Tuesday (1/15) at 8:00 p.m.

The Friday Opry is broadcast from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. (EST) and the Saturday show runs from 7:30 p.m. until 12:30 a.m. Both shows are available over the air in the Nashville market on WSM AM 650, and simulcast worldwide via online streaming at wsmonline.com.

Rhonda Vincent’s latest CD, Good Thing Going, is officially released today on Rounder Records.

Like her previous bluegrass projects, this one features a number of new Vincent-penned songs and is co-produced by Rhonda and Darrin Vincent. She is joined on three tracks by her crack stage band, The Rage, with the remainder of the tracks featuring ace studio musicians Ron Stewart (banjo), Bryan Sutton (guitar), Darrin Vincent (bass) and Stuart Duncan (fiddle).

Notable guest artists this time out include country mega-star Keith Urban, who adds harmony vocals on The Water Is Wide, and Russell Moore who duets with Rhonda on I Give All My Love To You. Mandolin legend Jesse McReynolds adds his unique crosspicking style to Just One Of A Kind and harmony vocals are provided on several tracks from Becky Issacs and Kathy Chiavola.

Fans of Rhonda’s live shows with The Rage will surely get a kick out of her version of the Jimmy Martin classic, Hit Parade Of Love and Rhonda’s new composition, Bluegrass Saturday Night.

Audio samples can be found on Rounder’s site, or in iTunes.

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.

This Christmas memory comes from Rhonda Vincent, who will be sharing some of her favorite Christmas music and memories on Sirius Bluegrass on Christmas Eve at noon and 9:00 p.m., and again on Christmas day at 3:00 p.m. (EST).

Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year. I think because it’s also my mother’s favorite holiday. She always made sure the house was decorated for Christmas; and that everyone had plenty of gifts under the tree.

We went to the Good Shepherd Church in Greentop, Missouri, every Sunday night. Several weeks before Christmas, every child was given a verse to read. I always got so nervous. I would worry if I could remember my verse, when it was my time to recite.

The program was a live interpretation of the birth of Jesus. Someone was chosen to be Mary, Joseph, the Wise men, 3 Kings, and Angels. Oh how I always wanted to be an angel! But only the teenagers were chosen as angels.

I was too small. And all the younger children would sing a group song and read their verse.

My family would also sing a special Christmas song. Family friend Phil Baker would always sing a song that spelled out the word C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S. That was my favorite, until the day I heard Beautiful Star of Bethlehem. I learned the song immediately; and that became my Christmas standard; that I was always asked to sing every Christmas after that.

And when I became a teenager, I was also lucky enough to be one of the angels. I was so proud to wear the white gown and the golden halo.

When my first daughter Sally was born on October 14, 1986, she joined the program as the baby Jesus in the manager, and my husband Herb and I were Joseph and Mary.

I spent many hours in our church. We lived one block from the church; and some of my fondest memories when I think about Christmas; are of the program, and how each family was given a bag filled with hard candy and fruit.

It’s a very special memory. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Sirius Bluegrass will have a special program featuring Rhonda Vincent on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Rhonda Vincent’s Christmas Memories finds her in the studio with her family and several friends, discussing their Christmas memories - and playing her favorite bluegrass Christmas music as well.

The show airs on 12/24 at both noon and 9:00 p.m., and again on Christmas Day at 3:00 p.m. All times Eastern.

The folks at Martha White Flour have made one track from the upcoming Rhonda Vincent CD, Good Thing Going, available for previewing on their web site.

You can listen to Bluegrass Saturday Night in its entirety online.

Martha White is a major sponsor of Rhonda Vincent & The Rage, and has a long history of supporting bluegrass music, starting with Flatt & Scruggs. Their many packaged baking products are sold in grocery stores throughout the southeastern United States.

XM Satellite Radio’s Bluegrass Junction will debut their newly recorded episode of Studio Special on Friday (12/7) featuring Rhonda Vincent & The Rage. For many, this will be the first chance to hear the latest edition of The Rage, with Darrell Webb on guitar and vocals.

The one hour program will include both live (in-studio) performance and discussion with host Kyle Cantrell, who tells us that several songs on the show are ones that Rhonda has never recorded, and a few she has never before performed publicly.

They will surely talk about Rhonda’s next CD, Good Thing Going, due on January 8, 2008 - and play a few of the songs as well.

Look for Rhonda and The Rage on XM (track 14) at 8:00 a.m. (EST) on Friday, and then again on Saturday at 11:00 a.m., Monday (12/10) at 8:00 p.m., Tuesday (12/11) at midnight and again on Thursday (12/13) at 3:00 p.m.