It’s a good time to be blue.

Bluegrass, that is.

Thanks largely to the 2000 film “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” there has been a resurgence of interest in a musical form that’s as old as Appalachia itself.

Why bluegrass now?

“I think people are seeking the authenticity of the music,” said Rhonda Vincent in a recent phone interview. “What you see is what you get. We all play around one mike, with no amplification.”

Vincent will play Saturday at the June edition of the Blistered Fingers Bluegrass Festival in Sidney (another festival will be held Aug. 21-24). She is firmly rooted in the genre. The 40-year-old mandolinist, fiddler and singer began performing in her family’s Missouri-based bluegrass band at age 3 and started performing on their local TV show when she was 5. The family added a local radio show the next year. In her teen years, she was a member of the house band at the Frontier Jamboree and Six Shooter tourist attractions.

By 23, she had recorded eight albums as a member of her family’s group, the Sally Mountain Show. Her father, Johnny, led the group, which included her brothers Brian and Darrin, her mother, Carolyn, and various other relatives. (Alison Krauss, then 12, replaced Rhonda when she left the group for a solo career.)

After Vincent competed on TV’s “You Can Be a Star,” the show’s host, Jim Ed Brown, hired her for his band. But she soon came home to Missouri, where she recorded three solo albums from 1988 to 1991.

Those releases were her entree to the big time, as she signed a country-recording contract with Giant Records, where she cut two CDs from 1993 to 1995.

Her Giant years meant straying from her comfort zone, but it was a learning time for Vincent.

“When I got into country music, I look at that as my college education,” she said. “I was working with top producers, learning microphones, studios and musicians. I was soaking in information, everything from publishing to songwriting to management. Before that, I was always in the safety of my family.”

After parting with Giant, the wayward daughter of bluegrass had a choice to make.

“I’d come to a crossroads,” she recalled. “I put together my first band, and we did a couple of bluegrass festivals. The response was overwhelming. Being there felt so natural. Things just fell into place for me.”

Bluegrass has been welcoming to Vincent. The International Bluegrass Music Association named her Female Vocalist of the Year for the past three years, and she was chosen Entertainer of the Year in 2001.

Her latest album “One Step Ahead,” released in April, has been earning much critical acclaim. Ray Waddell wrote in Billboard, “…powerhouse vocals, expert mandolin, and – as showcased here – burgeoning songwriting skills … what we have here is perfection.”

Despite more than 35 years as a performer, Vincent still appreciates the praise.

“It’s very exciting to have major publications review your album,” she said. “All the opportunities that have come my way have come from the popularity of this album.”

“One Step Ahead” has a wide variety of songs on it, from a cappella gospel to chestnuts from Webb Pierce and Melba Montgomery to a little ditty for her tour sponsor, baking goods company Martha White.

“You take different songs that you’ve recorded at different times, then try to arrange them in the right order,” Vincent said. “This did turn into a bit more diverse album. It has my first a cappella song, and my first instrumental on Rounder. Afterward, it was said, ‘This isn’t a project. This is a musical journey.’ You never notice that when you’re putting it together, because you’re too close to it.”

Vincent has five of her songs on the album. She said she’s writing more now, and credits writing partner Terry Herd.

“Once I hooked up with Terry, I really started writing,” she said. “You need someone you’re free enough to go back and forth with. He and I seem to have made that connection.”

These days, Vincent is mostly touring, to support her album. For side projects, she sang on Lorrie Morgan’s upcoming album, and she and brother Darrin sang with Sinead O’Connor on a number for a planned Dolly Parton tribute album.

She’s also looking forward to returning to Maine for the first time since Darrin’s wedding this time last year to a Maine native (“That means his anniversary’s coming up, doesn’t it?” she mused).

Vincent plays quite a few bluegrass festivals each year, and she enjoys that atmosphere.

“I love performing outdoors,” she said. “As you’re walking around, you can feel the music ringing through the ground. Also getting to meet the folks, that’s one of our favorite things.”

For more information on the Blistered Fingers Bluegrass Festival, call 873-6539 or access blisteredfingers.com.

Blistered Fingers Family Bluegrass Festival schedule for June 19-22

. Thursday: 5-5:45 p.m., The Bluegrass Brothers; 5:45-6:30, Yankee Soul Revue; 6:30-7:15, Close To Home; 7:15-8, Blistered Fingers; 8-8:45, 2nd Edition; 8:45-close, The Bluegrass Brothers.

. Friday: 11:15 a.m.-noon, The Bluegrass Brothers; noon-12:45 p.m., The Misty Mountaineers; 12:45-1:30, The Bluegrass Diamonds; 1:30-2:15, 2nd Edition; 2:15-3, Close To Home; 3-3:45, The Misty Mountaineers; 3:45-4:30, Bob Paisley & The Southern Grass; 4:30-5:30, dinner; 5:30-6:15, The Bluegrass Brothers; 6:15-7, Close To Home; 7-7:45, 2nd Edition; 7:45-8:30, Blistered Fingers; 8:30-9:15, The Bluegrass Diamonds; 9:15-close, Bob Paisley & The Southern Grass.

. Saturday: 10-10:40 a.m., Jim & Jennie & The Pinetops; 10:40-11:20, Bob Paisley & The Southern Grass; 11:20-noon, The Misty Mountaineers; noon-12:40 p.m., Fiddlin’ Tim Farrell; 12:40-1:20, lunch; 1:20-2:40, open stage; 2:40-3:20, Union River Band; 3:20-4, The Lewis Family; 4-4:40, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage; 4:40-5:40, dinner; 5:40-6:20, Jim & Jennie & The Pinetops; 6:20-7, Smokey Greene; 7-7:40, Union River Band; 7:40-8:20, The Lewis Family; 8:20-9, Bob Paisley & The Southern Grass; 9-9:40, The Bluegrass Diamonds; 9:40-close, Rhonda Vincent & The Rage.

. Sunday: 10-10:40 a.m., Smokey Greene; 10:40-11:20, Union River Band; 11:20-noon, Blake Mountain Band; noon-12:40 p.m., Jim & Jennie & The Pinetops; 12:40-close, Smokey Greene.