A Little Place Downtown

Rhonda Vincent was barely five years old when she began performing with her family band, the Sally Mountain Show. She's been in the spotlight ever since. Named Female Vocalist of the Year seven times by the International Bluegrass Music Association, this ace mandolinist has dozens of albums to her credit, including her latest, Only Me, brand-new on the Upper Management label. The Rage is: Hunter Berry (fiddle), Brent Burke (Dobro), Mickey Harris (bass), Aaron McDaris (banjo), and Josh Williams (guitar).

As a reviewer in Bluegrass Today magazine put it: "There are powerful people in every walk of life. Mike Compton is the General George Patton of the mandolin." Joe Newberry is known for his powerful banjo work, in addition to being a prizewinning guitarist, fiddler, and singer. Together, these two effortlessly move from traditional songs to contemporary instrumentals, from classic "mother" ballads to original compositions. Live, the duo's debut recording, mines the brother duet music of the 1930s and '40s.

The Nightingale Trio is Nila Bala, Rachel LaViola, and Sarah Larsson, who met as university students performing with the Yale Women's Slavic Chorus. After finishing their degrees - in law, film, and anthropology - the three reunited to sing folk songs that have spanned centuries of Slavic culture, music rich in stunning dissonances, asymmetric rhythms, and intricate ornamentation. Letya is the trio's first album.

Keyboardist, composer, and arranger Richard Dworsky is music director for A Prairie Home Companion. He has also accompanied Garrison Keillor on U.S. and European concert tours and has collaborated with numerous other performers, including Al Jarreau and singer/actress Kristin Chenoweth. Among his many CDs is So Near and Dear to Me (Prairie Home Productions). Gary Raynor (bass) has performed with the Count Basie band and Sammy Davis Jr., with whom he toured for several years. He was first call for dozens of touring Broadway shows, including the first presentation of The Lion King. Gary teaches at the McNally Smith College of Music in St. Paul. When Richard Kriehn turned 10, his mom bought him a mandolin; at 19, he'd won the Buck White International Mandolin Contest. He went on to play with the Nashville Mandolin Ensemble and bluegrass group 1946. On the classical side, he has performed with numerous orchestras and was principal second violin for the Washington/Idaho Symphony. Guitarist Dean Magraw studied at the University of Minnesota and the Berklee School of Music in Boston. His first recording, 1994's Broken Silence, won the NAIRD award for Best Acoustic Instrumental Album of the Year. Dean has since turned out a bunch of dazzling albums, including his latest, Reservoir (Acoustic Music Records), a collaboration with Sandor Szabo.