One Step Ahead (CD - 2003)

Cody Kilby (guitar, banjo, mandolin); Darrin Vincent (guitar, acoustic bass, background vocals); Bryan Sutton (guitar); Ronnie Stewart (banjo, fiddle); Tom Adams (banjo); Sam Bush, Aubrey Haynie, Andy Leftwich (mandolin); Molly Cherryholmes, Stuart Duncan, Luk Bulla (fiddle); Jim Britton (whistle); David Smith (acoustic bass).

Recorded at Sound Control, Mountainside Audio Labs, Watershed and Lighthouse Studios, Nashville, Tennessee. Includes liner notes by Robert K. Oermann.

ONE STEP AHEAD was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album.

Personnel: Rhonda Vincent (mandolin); Cody Kilby (guitar, banjo, mandolin); Darrin Vincent (guitar, acoustic bass); Bryan Sutton (guitar); Ronnie Stewart (banjo, fiddle); Tom Adams (banjo); Aubrey Haynie (mandolin, fiddle); Andy Leftwich, Sam Bush (mandolin); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); David Smith (acoustic bass); Aaron Minick (box).

Audio Mixers: Darrin Vincent; Rhonda Vincent.

Liner Note Author: Robert K. Oermann.

Recording information: Lighthouse Studio, Nashville, TN; Moutainside Audio Labs, Nashville, TN; SOund Control, Nashville, TN; Watershed Studio, Nashville, TN.

When Rhonda Vincent first hit the national bluegrass scene in the early '90s, fans were amazed by her clear voice and fleet-fingered fiddle and mandolin playing. Over time, however, the depth of Vincent's musical talent has become even more impressive than her chops. With ONE STEP AHEAD, the musician truly comes into her own as one of the giants of the genre, even writing five of the albums' 12 tunes. Backed by a band that includes stalwarts Stuart Duncan (fiddle) and Bryan Sutton (guitar), Vincent approaches both her originals and the carefully chosen standards with the same full-bore energy.

Of special note are the absolutely spine-tingling harmony vocals she and brother Darrin share on "Pathway Of Teardrops" and "Fisher Of Men." Like other sibling vocalists such as The Everlys and The Delmores, Rhonda and Darrin sing as one instrument, their perfectly in-tune voices often sounding a bit like two notes on an accordion being played at once. Sonically, the disc is pristine, giving even the traditional numbers a contemporary feel. An exciting mix of hot picking, stellar vocalizing, and wonderfully varied material, ONE STEP AHEAD reveals Rhonda Vincent as one of the finest all-around talents in bluegrass. minimize