A Great Band Just Gets Better

Category:  Concert Review


It's hard to believe that eleven-time IBMA award winners Dailey and Vincent could get any better.  They have.  Dailey and Vincent gave a capacity crowd at the Ogle Center at Indiana University Southeast a program filled with laughter, tears, and most of all, great music.


On a tour to promote their new CD released for Cracker Barrel stores, The Gospel Side of Dailey and Vincent, the band performed four songs from the latest release as well as an ample selection from their other four albums as well as unrecorded but familiar songs.  Before launching into "Black-Eyed Susie" Jamie Dailey introduced new fiddler B.J. Cherryholmes from the now-defunct Cherryholmes Family band, proclaiming he would perform a new song he had written, "Tattoo of a Smudge."  That brought hearty laughter from Darrin Vincent (it is almost worth the price of admission just to hear Darrin laugh) and the audience.

Dailey and Vincent onstage at the Ogle Center

Part of the fun of Dailey and Vincent is the humor, usually at the expense of other band members.  While plugging a visit to Cracker Barrel earlier in the day for an in-store promotion, Jamie asked various members what they liked to order.  Banjo player Joe Dean sheepishly replied, "A Happy Meal," while the portly mandolinist Jeff Parker ("He's been on the same diet for five years," Jamie quipped at one point, "no carb left behind") said, "I like to keep things simple, I order page two."  They also told about their Grammy nomination from 2011 (for their version of the Statler Brothers song "Elizabeth" on their first Cracker Barrel CD), losing to Lady Antebellum:  "We slashed their bus tires on the way out."


Aside from the plentiful jokes, the highlight is, as always, the music.  Jamie and Darrin teamed up to do a positively mesmerizing rendition of the Louvin Brothers' "When I Stop Dreaming."  It is scary to hear people attempt a Louvin Brothers song because most people cannot match the tenor of Ira Louvin.  Jamie Dailey, however, is not "most people."  The version was a highlight of the show, and hopefully this will show up on a Dailey and Vincent album in the near future.


Other highlights included "Family Bible" with Darrin playing the archtop guitar, the stunning "On the Other Side," and the duo taking requests from the audience that resulted in abbreviated versions of the Oak Ridge Boys' hit "Elvira," with bass singer/rhythm guitarist Christian Davis rattling the floor with his bass part, "Elizabeth," their first hit "By the Mark" (performed a cappella) and the always pleasing "Don't You Wanna Go to Heaven."


Dailey and Vincent will continue their tour with their band with a series of "classic country" concerts featuring former Statler Brother Jimmy Fortune teaming up with Dailey and Vincent in the mix.  This band is not to be missed, for their high-quality shows just keep improving.


Dailey & Vincent's web site