South Florida Country Music

Check out this first-hand account of Maggie Baugh’s experience on the recently concluded Country Cruise!

What an amazing week last week! I wanted to share it with you first.

I went on the country music cruise as a 13 year old girl with a dream, buying a ticket at the last minute for the cruise: http://www.countrycruising.com.

I hoped to meet some artists, or music industry people. I figured the worst that could happen would be a week of just listening to some really good country music.

The very first day, I went in to the artist picture event, with my fiddle, and the artists loved it and asked me to play. On the first day, I got to play my fiddle in front of:

Trace Adkins
Montgomery Gentry
Wynonna
Neal McCoy
Love and Theft
Craig Morgan
Lonestar

The legendary Mr. Neal McCoy was so nice to me that he told me to bring my fiddle to his show, and he will bring me on stage to play for the audience. AND HE DID!!! I played to half of the cruise ship on the Wednesday night. I think he liked it, because he invited me back on Thursday night to play in his show for the other half of the ship. I was so happy to be part of his show! If you have not seen Neal McCoy live, you are missing out. He is amazing and it was a blast to be part of it.

Here is the video of the first day with Neal McCoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIi1xSepa5o

The rest of the video’s will be posted on youtube and Facebook.

I also played for the nice people at the Flying Dutchman Travel agency that runs the cruise. They introduced me to the production manager and helped me get stage time. I performed a concert on Thursday night, and Friday night! On Thursday, I met the amazing Dave Oleson, who plays guitar for the band Steel Magnolia. Dave Oleson and I played together during the afternoon on the cruise deck. He is so good that we worked out some great licks for my songs. Dave Oleson was on stage with me for my first two shows and really took my performance to a new level!

Later that night, there was an artist jam, where I got to play background fiddle for other artists, and play a few songs. I sang the song Wagon Wheel with the most amazing professional artists in the band with me. Craig Morgan’s fiddle player on the cruise was so good at the fiddle part I really realized how much I have to learn.

The final day, I got to play on the main stage during the final spectacular showcase! This cruise was a dream come true. I have so many good pictures and videos I want to share! Please make sure you are following me on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/LikeMaggie so that you get to see them as I post them!

It will take a few weeks to post them all! When I wasn’t performing, I was meeting other artists and watching their shows. I learned so much.

Thank you for letting me share this wonderful experience.

I hope you get a chance to come see me this weekend! I play Friday, Saturday and Sunday!

Friday, Jan 24St Andrews Coconut Creek8pm – 9pm
Saturday, Jan 25South Florida Fair – 15 minute sets at 12:15, 1:45, 3:15 and 5:15
Sunday, Jan 26Deerfield Beach Festival of the Arts – 10:15 – 10:45

Love Ya!

Maggie Baugh

Rhonda Vincent is a well-decorated Bluegrass legend, with several awards over the years from the IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association), some of which include the 2001 Entertainer of the Year and several Female Vocalist of the Year awards. She has had seven albums peak at #1 or #2 on the Bluegrass charts, and has even had some crossover success with her songs being played on country radio and on country video channels. She is also a sweet woman, who I had the pleasure of meeting at CMA Fest in 2012.

Her latest project is a 2-disc combo album that drops on January 28th. The first disc is a 6-track Bluegrass album that features collaborations with Willie Nelson and Daryle Singletary, while the 2nd album features six tracks, five of which are covers of classic country songs.

The Bluegrass album starts off with “Busy City,” an uptempo song with some quick pickin’ and fiddlin’. The album then takes a 180 degree turn with “I’d Rather Hear I Don’t Love You (Than Nothing at All).” It’s a much slower song with a message that I’m sure many a lady wishes they could say to their man!

Willie Nelson joins Vincent on the title track, which is a really catchy song that blends their voices together perfectly. This is probably my favorite track on the Bluegrass album and is written by Billy Yates and Roger Brown. “The Bluegrass pickers on this song are some of the best that I have ever heard. When I think of Bluegrass, this is the sound that I hear,” says Willie Nelson. “Rhonda’s voice is beautiful. I am thankful for her letting me be a part of it all.”

“We Must Have Been Out of Our Minds” is another treat on this album because it lets us hear the great voice of Daryle Singletary. The Bluegrass album ends with the Bluegrass/Gospel/Inspirational song “It’s Never Too Late.”

The Country album starts you off with a nice heavy dose of steel guitar on the self-penned ballad “Teardrops Over You,” a great song that could’ve been played on the radio in the ’90’s.

“Once a Day” is a great cover of Connie Smith’s 1964 #1 smash hit, a song that sat at #1 for 8 weeks and was written by the legendary “Whisperin'” Bill Anderson.

“Beneath Still Waters” is her cover of the Dallas Frazier penned song that was first released as a single by Diana Trask in 1970 with minor success, then again in 1980 when Emmylou Harris made it a #1 hit. It is very nicely done here (also heavy on the steel guitar, which I love!).

Bill Anderson’s influence is back on the next track, as he co-wrote “Bright Lights & Country Music,” a song he had a hit with as a single in 1965. Another one of my favorites on here.

“When the Green Grass Grows Over Me” is a great classic country song that was a #2 hit for George Jones in 1968 and has been performed by many artists from Conway Twitty to Tammy Wynette, and even covered by modern stars such as Rodney Atkins. Vincent fits right in with all of these stars with her own great version of it.

The album finishes with “Drivin’ Nails,” a cover of Ernest Tubb’s 1946 #5 hit “Drivin’ Nails in My Coffin.” Vincent changes the lyrics up slightly to make it gender specific, and produces a toe-tappin’, honky-tonkin’ finish to a great mix of music.

Overall this is an interesting project showing Vincent’s strengths as both a Bluegrass and Country vocalist. I especially enjoyed the duets on the Bluegrass album, and loved the covers on the country album. In a country music world where country music isn’t so country anymore, it’s nice to have a new album out that reconnects to the past.