For nearly two decades, bluegrass duo Dailey & Vincent has used their blend of bluegrass, country and Gospel sounds to not only forge hits such as “By The Mark” and “When I’ve Traveled My Last Mile,” but regularly place a spotlight on classic artists that have influenced their own music, such as their 2010 tribute album to country group the Statler Brothers.
Now, with their new album, A Beautiful Life, which releases today (June 12), Jamie Dailey and Darrin Vincent are honoring another act: Osborne Brothers. While they never planned to record their version of the 1970 Osborne Brothers classic “Ruby” (which has also been recorded by Buck Owens), that changed when the Grand Ole Opry came calling.
Last summer, Opry members Dailey & Vincent were asked to take part in a tribute to the Obsorne Brothers and Jim & Jesse, where the Opry recreated the its final show at the Ryman Auditorium in March 1974, before the famed venue moved to its current location at the Opry House.
“They wanted us to read the teleprompter and say exactly what the Osborne Brothers and Jim & Jesse said on that night on WSM Radio, and ‘Ruby’ was one of the options they sent for us to sing, because the Osborne Brothers had sang it that night,” Dailey recalls. “When we walked out there and sang it, the audience’s reaction from the first note was overwhelming. We came offstage and decided we would record it. But that song will never be recorded or performed as good as Bobby and Sonny of the Osborne Brothers. It can’t be done. This was our best effort to honor them the best way we could.”
On Dailey & Vincent’s version, which opens A Beautiful Life, Dailey’s unmistakable high tenor lead vocal is enchanting, at one point holding a full-throated, crystalline high note for about 18 seconds. “All I know was I was holding on for dear life,” Dailey says. “For me, personally, I was scared of it because of how high you have to sing it, and you can’t sing those notes falsetto — you have to sing it full voice.”
Their new album also highlights songs written by well-known musical friends and colleagues, including Dolly Parton, Bill Anderson and Carrie Underwood. “I look at the songwriters on this record and I’m almost embarrassed, [they] have written Mercedes and Maserati [caliber] songs, and my songs are like tricycle songs,” Dailey chuckles modestly.
Anderson, Underwood and Jon Randall wrote the title track, while the album also includes a version of the Bruce Hornsby and John Hornsby-written “Jacob’s Ladder,” originally recorded by Huey Lewis and the News.
The Parton-penned “Smoky Mountain Memories,” was originally recorded under the title “Appalachian Memories” on Parton’s 1983 album Burlap & Satin. Parton later recorded it as “Smoky Mountain Memories” on the 1994 live album Heartsongs: Live From Home. When Dailey brought the song to Vincent as a possibility for the album, Vincent was already very familiar with it. “Jamie had picked that one out and I said, ‘Man, I’ve already recorded that with Dolly on that Heartsongs album,’” Vincent recalls, noting he sang harmonies on the album.
Another standout song that made its way onto A Beautiful Life is “When I Meet My Maker,” a solo write from singer-songwriter Tenille Townes. “At the publishing meeting, ‘Meet My Maker’ came on and I made them play it three more times,” Dailey says. “I’m the kind of guy, when I listen to songs, I have to listen to it multiple times to make sure all the nuggets are in the song that I think are there. I was in tears and was like, ‘We have to record this.’ Darrin loved it, and it’s been moving our audiences onstage.”
Dailey contributed two songs on the album, including the stunning solo write “I’ll Keep Going,” which he crafted specifically with Vincent in mind. “Darrin has certain songs and styles that he likes to sing, and not everybody writes songs in that style that are new,” Dailey says. “We can find plenty that have already been written and recorded, but I wanted him to have something fresh and new to sing.”
Adds Vincent: “’I’ll Keep Going’ is going to be another bluegrass standard, in my opinion. It’s just a great mid-tempo song.”
They credit their manager, Morris Higham Management’s Robert Filhart, for helping them source songs for the album. “He’s one of the best songsters in Nashville,” Dailey says. “He’s worked in publishing and been around the greatest writers. We would never have gotten to some of those songs if it had not been for Robert.”
The album also includes “I Grew Up in Heaven,” written by Josh Kear and Country Music Hall of Famer Don Schlitz — a song made more poignant given that Schlitz, known for songs including “Forever and Ever, Amen,” passed away in April.
“His wife had texted Robert [Filhart] and said this was the last cut,” Vincent says. “Jamie had always been kidding with him, ‘When’s Dailey & Vincent going to do a Don song?’ And sure enough, we got the last cut. When he had passed, I got a text from Jerry Douglas, who played dobro on there, and he said, ‘I guess we played on Don’s final cut,’ and I said, ‘Indeed, we did.’ The musicianship we had on this record, it’s really incredible and we’re just so grateful that people help us create music that we love.”
Mainstays and trailblazers in the bluegrass genre, Dailey & Vincent are three-time International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) Awards entertainer of the year winners and have earned six No. 1 albums on Billboard’s Bluegrass Albums chart, most recently with 2018’s holiday-oriented project The Sounds of Christmas. Now, they’re also watching as artists including Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle and Sierra Hull have continued to further open doors for bluegrass music.
“It’s wonderful,” Dailey says. “They’ve brought in a lot of new ears and eyes and it’s great. It’s great music and to see artists like Billy Strings going back and getting Doc Watson cuts and all these older songs and bringing them to a younger audience, is the coolest thing. We’re on a different circuit obviously, but with [the The Dailey & Vincent Show] at RFD-TV, we are taking the older style of music and new stuff we find and putting it on [the show].”
Dailey & Vincent are now on the road headlining their A Beautiful Life Tour, which runs through October, including their annual Dailey & Vincent Music Festival slated for Sept. 17-19 in Hiawassee, Georgia. The fest includes performances from Rhonda Vincent, Ricky Skaggs and Wyatt Ellis. While the festival has been a mainstay in the South for over a decade, the duo views it in the same boundaryless way they have approached their music.
“We always thought of doing one of those festivals like that on the West Coast,” Vincent says. “We always cater to our home areas, but we’ve always had a dream of teaming up and doing something like that for the West Coast.”
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