Darrin Vincent, and his father Johnny
According to Darrin Vincent, the bass playing half of Dailey & Vincent, his daddy, Johnny, always told him, “Things come in season.”
The era of the 1960s was a season of beginnings for Johnny. He was married in May 1961 to Carolyn Thompson. By the next year, the young newlyweds had become parents to Rhonda, now one of the top performers in the bluegrass industry. At the end of the ’60s, on December 27, 1969, Darrin Vincent was born, and the rest is history.
During the 1970’s, the Vincent family band, The Sally Mountain Show, took advantage of vast opportunities at festivals throughout the midwest coming from their appearances on radio and TV in Missouri. Festivals are very similar to a family reunion, or attending a musicians convention, filled with not only some of the greatest musicians, but some of the best fans. It is just good wholesome family entertainment, and the Vincents performed it well.
In 1974, the family of music was residing in Texas, performing at an amusement park and a local country music show. By the bicentennial year of ’76, The Sally Mountain Show had performed in Oklahoma, Missouri, Georgia, Florida and Arkansas. In 1977-78, they were working as entertainers in Branson, MO during the summer months.
Then came the ’80s. Not only was big hair in vogue, so were their nominations for awards. Rhonda was the recipient of the Best Female Vocalist/ Traditional in 1980 and 1981 at the SPBGMA National Convention.
From the hills of Sally Mountain, to the stage of the Grand Ole Opry, Darrin has been places that he never fathomed. In 1989, Charlie Louvin, a member of the Grand Ole Opry since 1955, actually gave up the stage to allow Vincent and his family to play.
In the late ’90s, you could find Darrin singing harmony and playing guitar with Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder. Darrin has won 5 Grammy awards, 8 IBMA awards, and performed on Grammy-winning albums with Dolly Parton (The Grass is Blue) and Jimmy Sturr (Top of The World). This just skims the surface of the artists with whom Vincent has shared the stage and his talents. Emmylou Harris, Earl Scruggs, Bruce Hornsby, Vince Gill, John Hartford, and more are on his resume. But Darrin has never won the IBMA Bass player of the year. Jokingly we discussed that he may have the Susan Lucci disease of being nominated but never winning. With his trademark giant laugh, he reminds us all that it is a blessing just to be nominated.
In 2017, early spring (March 11), Dailey & Vincent were inducted as members of the Grand Ole Opry, something he had dreamed of all his life. Darrin remembers how this all unfolded.
“We had decided to do our 10th anniversary of performing on the Opry on our 100th show in 2016. We wanted to finish the year at the Grand Ole Opry. Jamie and I were told there would be cake, we just figured it was for our anniversary. We only had a 30 minute slot, but we thought since it was our anniversary we would share the stage. They had told us to invite a few friends, and we did. John Carter Cash and his wife sang Daddy Sang Bass [with Vincent’s Mom joining in], and we also invited Marty Stuart. Marty walked onto the stage, stopped the show, and invited us to members of the Grand Ole Opry. I started crying turned around to my bass, and said, ‘Thank you God.’ ”
Just as Johnny Vincent, chiseled the memory that “things come in season,” the seasons never change for Darrin Vincent. He is always walking in sunshine, following paths of childhood memories that sparked a fire within for a life filled with music.
