Rhonda Vincent – Good Thing Going

The ongoing dichotomy in bluegrass — one side traditional, the other exploring bluegrass-favored acoustic pop — is pretty much a given. Rhonda Vincent, by contrast, has always favored the middle ground, blending the contemporary with traditional roots dating back decades to her family’s band, the Sally Mountain Show.

Good Thing Going continues to span that divide. Vincent is at her best with her artless, forceful delivery of traditional fare, delivered on her surging original “I’m Leavin'” and on two Connie Leigh compositions, “Scorn of A Lover” (penned with Vincent) and “Who’s Cryin’ Baby”. Both complement her covers: a vibrant interpretation of Jimmy Martin’s 1950s favorite “Hit Parade Of Love” and Jim & Jesse’s “Just One Of A Kind” (a longtime Sally Mountain favorite, featuring a mandolin cameo from Jesse McReynolds). The rousing, swinging honky-tonker “World’s Biggest Fool” more than compensates for the cliched banality of “Bluegrass Saturday Night”. Serving the other end of the spectrum are the title song (a Vincent original), “I Give All My Love To You” (a duet with Russell Moore), “I Will See You Again” and “I Gotta Start Somewhere.”

Vincent hits a nadir performing the traditional “The Water Is Wide” as an arid, soulless duet with Keith Urban. Certainly, it’s smart marketing. But it’s also a reminder that beyond the hype, Urban has as much relevance to country as Kenny G has to psychobilly. Admirable as it is that Vincent functions in both camps, there’s little doubt where she sounds most comfortable.