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"The Storm Still Rages"
In recent years, Missouri-born Rhonda
Vincent has become one of a handful of extraordinary singers
whose voices personify the grace, power, and poetry of contemporary
bluegrass music. The 13 exquisite cuts on Storm Still Rages (which
she produced, and on which she is joined by luminaries like singers
Alison Krauss and Sonya Isaacs, and guitarist Bryan Sutton) is
a worthy follow-up to 2000's critically acclaimed Back Home Again,
which marked Rhonda Vincent's return to bluegrass after a foray
into mainstream country. Whether on a rousing tribute to the
late Bill Monroe ("Is the Grass Any Bluer"), spirited
bluegrass reprises of honky-tonk classics ("Drivin' Nails
in My Coffin" and Hank Williams's "My Sweet Love Ain't
Around"), a sterling Vincent original ("On Solid Ground"),
or a fervent, old-timey gospel number (Carl Story's "You
Don't Love God if You Don't Love Your Neighbor"), Vincent
reminds us what great singing, and great modern bluegrass music,
is all about. --Bob Allen |
