Bluegrass Legends Dailey & Vincent Reflect on Getting ‘The Last Cut’ By Don Schlitz on New Album: ‘So Grateful’
Categoria: Musica
‘A Beautiful Life’ also features songs written by Dolly Parton, Bill Anderson, Carrie Underwood and Tenille Townes.
Por Billboard | 12/06/2026
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. “Jami