Dailey & Vincent Interview by Christian Lamitschka for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show

Dailey & Vincent Interview by Christian Lamitschka for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show

Lamitschka:  Music has many new fans throughout Europe who may be hearing about you for the first time. How would you describe yourself and the music you play to someone who has never seen or heard you?

Answer:  Dailey & Vincent music is an acoustic/country cross, with 4 part harmony, to duet singing with Gospel and folk flavoring.   And aside from the singing, we have an award winning band when soloing will bring you out of your seats.  We love to mix in comedy, we all have a funny sense of humor and love to make people laugh and cry at the same time.

Lamitschka:  How was the last year for you? What were your highlights?

Answer:  Last year was one of the most  amazing years of our life, starting out Dec 30 2016 being asked to become the newest member of the Grand Ole Opry by Country Music icon Marty Stuart on our 10th anniversary of Dailey & Vincent and our 100th performance on the Grand ole Opry and not less on the stage of the Ryman Auditorium. March 11, 2017 was our induction by Country legend Jennie Seely, and Fold/Americana icons Old Crow Medicine Show.  If that wasn’t enough, we recorded season 3 of our nationally aired TV show every Saturday night 9:30 eastern time on RFD-TV.

Lamitschka:  What is your latest CD and how’s it doing?

Answer:  Our latest CD is Patriots & Poets on Dreamlined Records. An all original written recording from Dailey & Vincent, we had special guest artists Bela Fleck, Doyle Lawson, Taranda Greene, David Rawlings and the amazing actor/musician/comedian Steve Martin.

Lamitschka:  How did you choose the title for the CD?  Is there a story behind the name?

Answer:  Our manager Zach Koffler came up with it, looking over the titles and effort to write the entire CD, he said you all are Patriots for always honoring our veterans and families, and poets for writing all the stories within this CD.

Lamitschka:  Do you write the songs yourself? If not, how do you go about finding the songs for your CD?

Answer:  We wrote them all ourselves with friends.

Lamitschka:  What is the difference between your last CD and your current one?

Answer:  The last CD/DVD we did was a live performance at the Hilton Center in Manassas, VA.  It was a collection of new and old. Patriots and Poets was our first studio recording in a few years.

Lamitschka:  What kind of songs do you like to record the most?

Answer: My favorite is singing gospel music, lyrics that lift up and tell about our savior Jesus.

Lamitschka:  What is your favorite song among all the songs you have recorded and what’s the story behind it?

Answer:  My favorite was written by Jimmy Fortune of the Statler Brothers, I Believe.  It talks about three things I live my life for Heaven, Calvary and Jesus.  Jimmy was faced with leaving his home to follow his music dreams, his house sold in 4 days, and while thinking over his move and new life away from his childhood home he walked out on the back porch and wrote this song.

Lamitschka:  How much creative control do you have over your music?

Answer:  Jamie & I have 100% creative control over all our endeavors. We’ve been so blessed to find great partners to team up with who see our vision and desires for great music, and pray we continue to create and team up with awesome companies in the future.

Lamitschka:  Do you have any interesting stories about how fans have been affected by your music?

Answer: The first song we ever recorded together as Dailey & Vincent was a Gillian Welch/David Rawlins’s tune called By the Mark.  We had no idea what an impact it would make on our careers and others lives.  I remember playing a show and a fan came up and asked for a few moments of our time privately.  He began to share driving one Sunday morning listening to Sirius/XM radio and The Mark came on, he felt the pulling of the Holy Spirit so much he began crying and stopped the car, got out and bowed on his knees and rededicated his life to Jesus.  Looking in his tear filled eyes we were all crying and rejoicing.  Since then, there have been countless testimonies like that over and over.

Lamitschka:  Who inspires you musically and how deep do your musical roots run?

Answer:  I was inspired by my father Johnny Vincent, I think I’m the 4th generation of music.  It’s in my heart and soul, I love to play and sing music.

Lamitschka:  What do you think about today’s music scene versus its past and where do you see it going in the future?

Answer:  Today’s music scene seems very sad to me, auto makers removing CD players from vehicles, record stores closed, sections for music in stores gone, and the traditional entertainers who birthed music and entertainment are all gone as well.  I’m not sure the future of music sales and what it’s going to look like in a few more years.  As for recording and musicianship it seems to be thriving and well.

Lamitschka:  What do you think about today’s music industry?

Answer:  Today’s music industry is dying out, thanks to technology, it takes less
and less people to send music out around the world, live disc jockeys are almost
a thing of the past with automation on most radio stations.  This is an odd time to be in music
sales and the business.

Lamitschka:  If you had the chance to change something about the music industry, what would it be?

Answer:  Figure out away to pay the writers/publishers/musicians/artist fairly for the work that’s put in to creating and making music.

Lamitschka:  As an artist, you so many tasks such as recording, touring, interviews. What do you like best, what’s your favorite activity?

Answer:  I really enjoy creating in the studio, music recorded is forever and to create and do your very best is very rewarding to me.

Lamitschka:  Are you doing anything to take music beyond its current borders or are you happy where it is?

Answer:  Dailey & Vincent keep stretching ourselves further away from the traditional sounds of Bluegrass.  It’s for different reasons. One is to compete with the Keith Urbans of the world, acoustic instruments cannot hold up to big productions like his, so we added drums and piano to help fill in the foundation so our vocals and other solo instruments could hold up.  Two, adding a legitimate bass vocal and tenor to our sound has helped the overall sound feel and sound bigger as well.

Lamitschka:  What was your big break that got you into the music business?

Answer:  I’ve always been in the music business, I’ve never had a day job I depended on to support my family.  From age two I’ve been singing and playing onstage. It’s like the circus.

Lamitschka:  Before you became a star, were your friends and family supportive or was it a struggle?

Answer:  I don’t see myself as a star. I’m very blessed to get to sing and play for people all around the world.  My entire life friends, family, wife and kids have been very supportive.
Its hills and valleys in this business, you enjoy and learn from each of them.

Lamitschka:  What inspired you to become an artist?

Answer:  Jamie Dailey asked me if I ever thought about starting a band, I said no and Jamie said you need to, in fact we need to together and it’s been the best advice and adventure I’ve
ever been a part of.

Lamitschka:  What drives you?

Answer:  Making myself a better musician, singer and entertainer inspires me. I really love watching and talking to others who are so gifted, that’s inspiring as well.

Lamitschka:  What’s unique about you that will differentiate you from other artists?

Answer:  I believe we’re genuine and very down home both Jamie and I and our band members.  Egos are not welcome around us.  I would hope others would see that.

Lamitschka:  What has been your greatest challenge in the music business?

Answer:  Making sure we make good decisions that will keep the best musicians and singers in our group that they all can support their families is very important to us.

Lamitschka:  What moments in your career stand out in your memory as highlights and achievements which you are proud of?

Answer: My highlights would be: our first year out being nominated for 9 IBMA awards and winning 7 was pretty amazing and being the only ones to win  Emerging Artist and Entertainers of the Year the same year.  Having a cooperate Sponsor with Cracker Barrel old country store and Springer Mountain Farms Chicken was a huge blessing. Having a monthly radio show on WSM and a weekly National TV show on RFD-TV amazing, but the ultimate was being asked by Marty Stuart to become the 213 member of the family to the Grand Ole Opry.  We’ve been blessed.

Lamitschka:  Any thoughts of retirement ahead?

Answer: Yes, we’ve always agreed in 20 or so years we would get out and let the younger ones have it. We want to go out while we still have our health and spend time with family. We will always play the Grand Ole Opry our home.

Lamitschka:  Who is your biggest critic, yourself or others?

Answer:  I believe we are our biggest critic. We’re pretty hard on ourselves and want to do our best with integrity.

Lamitschka:  When you get time off, how do you like to relax?

Answer:  My time off is spent with my wife and 4 children.  I love being home fixing whatever the kids have broken, or just going to a high school football game, very simple.

Lamitschka:  Is there anything in your life that you would change if you could?

Answer:  No, I feel I’ve done my best and am where I need to be.  I’m blessed the Lord has had grace and favor on us, I want to keep doing the right things the right way with the best people possible.

Lamitschka:  What hopes and desires do you have?

Answer: My hope and desire is to be the best husband and father I can be, treat others with love and kindness, and to always live and represent my savior Jesus.

Lamitschka:  What has been the biggest disappointment in your life?

Answer: It would be not spending enough time with my family, a career will take away the birthdays, anniversaries, a lot of firsts I would have liked to been a part of.

Lamitschka:  Is there any place you haven’t played that you would like to?

Answer:  I would love to play in Russia, and China.  I’ve never been there but would like to see how they would take to what we do.

Lamitschka:  What can your fans expect to see when they see you in concert?

Answer:  Lots of music and singing, along with entertainment and laughter.

Lamitschka:  When you’re on tour, do you have time to play tourist?

Answer:  Very few times do we get to enjoy our surroundings, I enjoy coming back months later with my wife and enjoying the places I’ve been.

Lamitschka:  Do fans mob you everywhere you go or do they respect your privacy?

Answer:  All our fans are very respectable and never bother us. Were blessed.

Lamitschka:  Many music fans today get their information about artists online. Do you have your own website and what will fans find there?

Answer:  We have our Official Dailey & Vincent page, along with our personal Instagrams.

Lamitschka:  What’s the best compliment a fan has ever given you?

Answer:  How the songs we sing changed their life.

Lamitschka:  What message would you like to send your European fans?

Answer:  We love you, and want to come visit more often than we do, if you visit the USA, come see us in Nashville, TN at the Grand Ole Opry.

Lamitschka:  Most careers don’t last as long as yours.  What’s given your career the staying power?

Answer: It’s the Lord, and the wonderful fans that keep us going.  As long as both want to see and hear the music and entertainment we will be happy to travel the miles and work the long hours to bring you the best we have. Thank you for being there for us.

Christian Lamitschka ( Ch.Lamitschka@t-online.de ) for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show