“All American Bluegrass Girl” (Rounder Records) – Rhonda Vincent

The title of this 12-track set minimizes the diversity within the album itself, because while it is predominantly a bluegrass disc, Vincent shines as well with offerings more traditional within the country music realm.

Vincent, dubbed by The Wall Street Journal as the “New Queen of Bluegrass,” is one of the top attractions at bluegrass festivals around the country each year – with scheduled 2006 stops including the Blistered Fingers Festival in Sidney on Aug. 26 and at Thomas Point Beach in Brunswick on Aug. 31. And this year’s stops most certainly will draw heavily from this compilation.

Vincent’s fifth album kicks off with the upbeat biographical title track – one of three songs she wrote – then quickly shifts to the more thoughtful “Forever Ain’t That Long Anymore.” It’s a transition between styles common to this work, which also offers the gospel of “Jesus Built a Bridge to Heaven,” the instrumental “Ashes of Mt. Augustine” and an impressive cover of Country Music Hall of Famer Roy Acuff’s “Precious Jewel,” displaying Vincent and her band of session musicians, the Rage, in their most traditional light.

Vincent also holds a special place on this album for the sacrifices made by soldiers and their families in “Till they Come Home” and “God Bless the Soldier.”

Two highlights are duets, “Heartbreaker’s Alibi,” featuring the one-of-a-kind harmonies of the legendary Dolly Parton, and “Midnight Angel,” performed with bluegrass legend Bobby Osborne.

Vincent may lurk in the shadows of Alison Krauss among America’s most commercially popular bluegrass performers of the modern era. But it’s not about competition, because as a six-time International Bluegrass Music Association Female Vocalist of the Year, Vincent has carved out a considerable niche that holds its own not only in CD sales, but especially in live shows.

It’s the variety that makes “All American Bluegrass Girl” work, because for every song that makes you want to hit the highway in a convertible on a sunny weekend morning, there’s another song that will make you hit the brakes and think for a moment.