Rhonda Vincent at the McDowell County Roundup (8/12/22) – photo by Laura Tate Photography
When the Queen of Bluegrass, Rhonda Vincent, releases new music, people in our industry sit up and take notice.
And so they will today, as Rhonda has released a music video in support of her latest single, a remake of Please Mr. Please, which was a hit for Olivia Newton John back in 1975. It’s a classic heartbreak song written by Bruce Welch and John Rostill with the protagonist asking patrons in a bar not to play a certain song on the jukebox because of how it relates to her recent breakup.
Vincent says that the idea to grass this one up just popped into her head one day while making preparations for their next album.
“I was working on the song, Four Strong Winds (our new project theme is ‘Destinations’), and as I turned from working on that song, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I started singing Please Mr. Please. There was something similar in the songs. My heart started to race and I instantly thought, ‘This will be a great bluegrass song!’ I couldn’t wait to tell the guys in The Rage. When I mentioned it, none of them had heard the song before. This made it even better.
I found so many people have never heard of the song. It’s like having my own original bluegrass song. We rehearsed it at sound check, and then started performing it on our shows. You could instantly tell this song was special. People react to the song, many singing along, and best of all, people are asking for the song, saying they have to hear it again. I love that! So here it is. Ready for radio!
I asked the videographer to capture the pure essence of bluegrass: the family atmosphere, kids playing bluegrass, adults playing bluegrass, banjos ringing throughout, dancing, fun; these elements all wrapped into one video.
Our video of Please Mr. Please is what he captured. I hope it makes you smile!”
Filmed at SPBGMA back in January, the video features Rhonda and The Rage – Mickey Harris on bass, Aaron McDaris on banjo, Zack Arnold on guitar, Adam Haynes on fiddle, and Jacob Metz on reso-guitar – along with a whole slew of bluegrass stars and festival attendees singing along. It truly is great fun.
Please Mr. Please from Rhonda Vincent & The Rage is available now from popular download services online.
