Grammy Winner Rhonda Vincent Coming To ETSU Martin Center On March 11

From East Tennessee State University:

February 14, 2022

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. – East Tennessee State University’s Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies will present a highly anticipated concert at the ETSU Martin Center for the Arts
on March 11 featuring Grand Ole Opry star Rhonda Vincent and The Rage.

This concert will kick off a yearlong commemoration of the program’s 40th anniversary.
The ETSU Bluegrass Pride Band will open the concert at 7 p.m. Tickets are available
for purchase at the ETSU Martin Center website: etsutickets.com/martincenter/Online/default.asp.

Vincent powers one of the hottest bands in any genre of music today, organizers said.
Vincent’s early life of music evolved into a successful career in bluegrass music
after Grand Ole Opry Star Jim Ed Brown discovered her, and later spending what she
called her “musical college years” recording for Giant Records. It was her bluegrass
album “Back Home Again” that transformed Vincent into what the Wall Street Journal
called the “New Queen of Bluegrass” in 2000.

Awarded a 2017 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, IBMA Entertainer of the Year in 2001,
IBMA Song of the Year in 2004 and an unprecedented seven consecutive IBMA Female Vocalist
of the Year awards from 2000-2006, Vincent “seamlessly sets the stage for a breath-taking,
one-of-a-kind, must-see performance,” organizers said.

“Rhonda is one of our ETSU family members,” said Program Director Dan Boner. “Both
her daughters, Sally and Tensel, earned degrees at ETSU. Her son-in-law, Brent Burke,
was our first-ever graduate with the B.A. degree in Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots
Music Studies. Her longtime fiddler, Hunter Berry, got his start in an ETSU bluegrass
band over 20 years ago and now teaches for our program. I can’t think of anyone better
to help us launch our 40th anniversary series of events.”

The program, founded in 1982 by Jack Tottle, will celebrate this milestone anniversary
throughout 2022 by holding a series of festivities and events with well-known and
prominent artists who have connections to the university. The program has awarded
116 degrees in Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies since the Bachelor of Arts
was launched 12 years ago.

ETSU Bluegrass, Old-Time and Roots Music Studies is one of a variety of educational
programs that are offered in the Department of Appalachian Studies, along with graduate degrees in Appalachian Studies and in Heritage Interpretationnand Museum Studies; an Appalachian, Scottish and Irish Studies program with a study abroad experience; and several undergraduate minors. For more information, contact the department of Bluegrass, Old-Time, and Roots Music Studies at (423) 439-7072 or bluegrass@etsu.edu.

This press release was produced by East Tennessee State University. The views expressed are the author's own.