August 10 - 13, 2023 El Rancho Manana, 27302 Ranch Rd, Richmond, MN 56368
MORE INFORMATION WILL BE AS IT BECOMES AVAILABLE. Purchase Tickets
We are looking for volunteers for the following festival staff positions:
Please email us if you can help! | 2023 Main Stage: Rhonda Vincent & The Rage
genre of music today. From humble beginnings in the tiny town of Greentop, Missouri, Rhonda’s musical heritage traces back 5 generations of the Vincent family. Her dad would pick her up from school each day, and they would sing and play till dinner. After dinner, friends came over, and they would sing and play till bedtime. She began her professional music career singing in her family’s band The Sally Mountain Show. It was an immediate “on the job training,” as they had a TV show, radio show, and made their first recording when Rhonda was 5 years old. She picked up the mandolin at eight, the fiddle at twelve, and learned a valuable life lesson as a teenager performing with her family at Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri. While they were playing in the pouring rain to empty seats, and what they thought, no one listening -- a week later they received a call from Hal Durham, general manager of the Grand Ole Opry at the time, and who just happened to be listening with his family around the corner. Mr. Durham loved what he heard and invited the Vincent family to appear on the Opry. Rhonda’s life of music evolved into a successful career in bluegrass music; after being discovered by Grand Ole Opry Star “Jim Ed Brown,” and later spending what she calls her musical college years recording for Giant Records; and learning about the music business from Nashville’s best like James Stroud, Jack McFadden, and Stan Barnett. It was her pivotal bluegrass album “Back Home Again” that transformed Rhonda Vincent into the All American Bluegrass Girl, and crowned the New Queen of Bluegrass by “The Wall Street Journal” in 2000. A multi-award winner, with a 2017 Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, an Entertainer of the Year 2001, Song of the Year 2004, and unprecedented 7 consecutive Female Vocalist of the Year awards from the International Bluegrass Music Association 2000 – 2006 and an 8th win of IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year in 2015. Her lifelong dream came true when she was invited to be a member of the Grand Ole Opry on February 28, 2020. Rhonda waited an unprecedented 345 days and was officially inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry on February 6, 2021. Her powerful vocal style transcends the boundaries of bluegrass music, as evidenced in her collaboration with Dolly Parton on the Elton John / Bernie Taupin Tribute Project. 2023 Main Stage: Larry Sparks and the Lonesome RamblersTHE YOUNGEST FROM THE FIRST GENERATION OF BLUEGRASS Larry Sparks is a dedicated leader for bluegrass music. Larry is among the most widely known and respected touring musicians in bluegrass and gospel music today. Larry began his career in 1963 as a guitarist with the Stanley Brothers and later became lead vocalist for Ralph Stanley and the Clinch Mountain Boys. Larry went on to form his own band in 1969. (The Lonesome Ramblers) He has recorded and toured with his band for 53 years, releasing over 60 albums and delighting countless fans with his soulful vocals and unparalleled musicianship. Releasing such hits as John Deere Tractor, A Face in the Crowd, Tennessee 1949, Blue Virginia Blues, I Just Want To Thank You Lord. Love of the Mountains, Goodbye Little Darlin, You Could Have Called, Tribute to Hank Williams, Green Pastures in the Sky and the list goes on. Larry has performed on such world famous venues as the Grand Ole Opry, Austin City Limits television show on PBS. Song of the Mountains on PBS. Also having toured the United States, Canada, and Japan. Larry has been recognized as the International Bluegrass Music Associations Male Vocalist of the Year. Larry also was awarded Album of the Year and Recorded Event of the Year with his album Larry Sparks 40 featuring several artists such as Alison Krauss, Vince Gill, Ralph Stanley, Ricky Skaggs, Tom T. Hall and many more. Larry was inducted into The International Bluegrass Music Hall Of Fame Oct 1st 2015. Larry received the honor of being inducted into the Bill Monroe Bluegrass Hall of Fame. He has also been inducted into The George D. Hays Hall of Fame Founder of The Grand Ole Opry. Larrys 50th Celebration CD came was released in the spring of 2014. Featuring Bluegrass Legends. Ralph Stanley, Curly Seckler, Bobby Osborne, Jesse McReynolds, Alison Krauss and Judy Marshall. While Sparks is most definitely a stylist and his approach to the music is more than a style, it is real with no gimmicks. After fifty years in the spotlight, Larry is still on a roll and creating some of his best music. Larry Sparks is bluegrass musics Ray Charles, no one can touch him. He is an absolute original - Alison Krauss Sparks style is mature, seasoned and deeply expressive. Throughout his long career Larry has stuck with what works. He has followed his vision and he has made an enormous contribution to the music. Larry Sparks has kept his music real. 2023 Main Stage: Larry Cordle Band
Cordle is also an award-winning and chart-topping singer. achieving success with his solo and band albums. He is often featured as a lead and background vocalist on some of Nashville's most awarded and popular music. In addition, he's provided harmony vocals for artists such as Garth Brooks, Blake Shelton, and many more. In 1992, Larry Cordle, Glen Duncan, and Lonesome Standard Time received a 35th Annual Grammy Award Nomination for Best Bluegrass Album for Lonesome Standard Time and took home the 1993 IBMA Song of the Year Award for the title track.” In 2000, the band received a 43rd Annual Grammy Award Nomination for Best Bluegrass Album for Murder On Music Row, with the title track winning the 2000 IBMA Song of the Year Award, which remains one of the most popular songs of his career. In addition, he received an IBMA Song of the Year nomination for "Black Diamond Strings.” Cordle is featured on Livin, Lovin, Losin: A Tribute to the Louvin Brothers, which won a Grammy for Best Country Album in 2003 and received the IBMA Recorded Event of the Year Award in 2004. Cordle is featured on two tracks of Moody Bluegrass, released in 2004, alongside Tim O'Brien, Alison Krauss, John Cowan, Harley Allen, et al., and again as lead vocalist on Moody Bluegrass II. In 2006, Celebration of Life: Musicians Against Childhood Cancer won the IBMA Album of the Year Award. In 2011, Cordle released his Americana album, Pud Marcum’s Hangin.” In 2012, he co-produced the IBMA Recorded Event of the Year Award-winning album Life Goes On. The album includes the talents of Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, Ronnie Bowman, Jerry Salley, and more. In April 2015, Larry Cordle was inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame, celebrating his impressive career in music. The same year he received an IBMA Recorded Event of the Year Award Nomination for the song "Against the Grain" by Larry Cordle & Lonesome Standard Time featuring Garth Brooks, produced by Cordle on Mighty Cord Records. In 2017, Cord released his powerful all-gospel album Give Me Jesus, which received a 2018 Grammy Nomination for Best Roots Gospel Album and a 2017 IBMA Gospel Recorded Event of the Year Nomination for the title track, a traditional tune arranged by Cord. In 2018, he released another album on his Mighty Cord Records label titled Tales From East Kentucky, followed by Where The Trees Know My Name, in 2021. In 2022, he received a Gospel Music Association Dove Award for Bluegrass/Country/Roots Recorded Song of the Year for the song, “In the Sweet By and By” by Dolly Parton, featuring. Larry Cordle, Carl Jackson, Jerry Salley, Bradley Walker. The group also took home two International Bluegrass Music Association awards including Collaborative Recording of the Year Award and the Gospel Recorded Song of the Year Award. In addition, Cordle popped back on the radio charts with his original song, “East Kentucky Blues,” which reached #1 numerous times on the Bluegrass Today Top 20 Weekly and Monthly Song charts and was named in the publication’s Top 50 Songs of 2022 and continues charting into 2023. Cordle regularly records and performs. He is still, first and foremost, a songwriter, now writing independently for his own company, Wandachord Music, BMI. He is a long-time resident of the Nashville suburb of Hendersonville, Tennessee, where he lives with his wife, Wanda.
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