Think you're busy? Try planning all the activities encompassed by a daughter who's a senior in high school - college campus visits, class rings, pictures, awards banquets, prom and, of course, graduation, complete with the nonstop flow of family coming in to offer their advice and congratulations. All this, folded haphazardly in and around a seemingly endless schedule of picking, singing and touring in support of a new record.

Welcome to Rhonda Vincent's world. Either event - a daughter's graduation or a new record - is enough to send one to the brink of exhaustion.

Yet Vincent's life has always been all about family and bluegrass. It's not likely to change much either, even with oldest daughter Sally heading off to college this fall.

Both have intertwined ever since Vincent was a child herself, when at the age of five she began playing drums with the family band the Sally Mountain Show (not ironically, her daughter's name) in her home state of Missouri. By the time she was 8, she played mandolin and eventually graduated to fiddle at the age of 10.

And now as Sally finishes high school and prepares to head off to Truman State University - it was called Northeast Missouri State when her mother attended college there as a teen-ager - mother and daughter are fittingly joined in voice for something of a farewell tour on Vincent's new record, "Ragin' Live."

As emotional as it is for a child's growth into adulthood, Vincent's been preparing for her child leaving the nest.

"Last year if someone offered us a date, we'd say, 'Sure, we're there,'" says Vincent while on the road with her cracker-jack band the Rage for a show in Fitzgerald, Ga., later that night.

"We were so busy last year. It was always a festival or a Martha White corporate event or something else. It got to the point where I developed a fear of being overbooked.".

Vincent's admission of too much time on the road is something of a revelation. Many performers talk with dread when they must hit the road.

Not Vincent. Like everyone in her band, she absolutely lives for the road.

It may not be for everyone, but music and performing is her passion, whether it be 25,000 folks partying it up at the Bean Blossom Festival or a hushed high school auditorium of 400.

Vincent's affable blend of in-your-face bluegrass and sweet country ballads has also led to a catalog of records a mile long and a list of honors, awards and appearances that clearly reveal Vincent has remained in the upper echelon of bluegrass music for well over a decade.

Vincent says she's determined to bring bluegrass to the masses. And, along with sister bluegrasser Alison Krauss, Vincent possesses the chops to achieve such an unlikely goal.

Vincent won a Grammy in 2004, was the International Bluegrass Music Association's Female Vocalist of the Year four times and carries a basket full of awards from the Society for the Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America.

Not surprisingly, decades on the road and an impassioned devotion to her craft have paid off.

"Touring isn't a necessity; it's something we all enjoy," says Vincent, who after leaving her family's band and her home state - a young Krauss temporarily filled in for her - appeared on TNN's "You Can Be a Star" while in her mid-20's. She then struck out on her own, singing with the Grand Ole Opry's Jim Ed Brown, which ultimately led to her first solo record deal with renowned bluegrass label Rebel Records in Charlottesville, Va.

"But this year, I made a conscious effort to block out time," Vincent says. "I realized my daughter graduates this year, and I need to be there for it all. I kid my (booking) agency that I've got prom and graduation. Don't plan on me for anything."

Because Vincent's the consummate planner - she was an accounting major at Northeast Missouri, confounding all those right brain-left brain theorists by being able to both pick and sing and do the math - she long ago mapped out 2005's schedule and is already working on 2006 and is looking ahead to 2007.

One peek at her official Web site shows an incredibly busy 2005, high school graduation notwithstanding, with dates planned well into 2006.

Vincent almost sounds apologetic for taking time off for Sally's prom and graduation, as she talks about a new venture later this year.

"To make up for taking the time off," Vincent says, "we'll do a Christmas tour. It's something we've never done before. I think it'll be a lot of fun."

Before the holidays, however, Vincent will still rack up enough miles ' that would make any long-distance trucker take notice. From Two Rivers, Wisc. this spring to San Francisco in the fall, Vincent and the Rage play festivals of all shapes and sizes, concerts, private parties and corporate events in support of the live album.

Out March 8 - Vincent will play the Sheldon Music Hall in St. Louis on March 10, where the album was recorded last year over 2 nights - the 21-song "Ragin' Live" is a project she's dreamed of doing for years.

"It turned out exactly how I wanted," Vincent says. "This is the best possible presentation of what we do on stage."

Note that Vincent, who spent several years in the mid-'90s recording for now-defunct country label Giant Records, which included country singers Clay Walker and Daryle Singletary, among others, rarely uses the term "I" when speaking about her music.

It could be argued there's no "I" in band, to coin the sports cliché, but Vincent truly appreciates her colleagues on stage. It shines through in spades on the live album. In fact, it could be argued that there's a little too much Rage and not enough Rhonda Vincent.

"It took a lot of planning to get everyone there," Vincent admits. "There were times when it was a bit of a frenzy."

While not completely flawless, the album nonetheless is pure Vincent - bluegrass played by family and friends who absolutely love what they're doing. There are 8 new songs among the 21 tracks, along a number of Vincent favorites.

"We re-recorded our most popular songs," she says. "But we spiced them up."

"I'm excited to see how it goes. And you never know with bluegrass radio. You can ship the album to them, and it's always interesting to see what they play. It's not at all like country radio. They tend to be pretty spontaneous with their selections."

There's the aforementioned duet with Sally on "One Step Ahead of the Blues," where daughter's sweet harmonies delicately surround mom's lead.

Harmonies, of course, are part and parcel with Vincent's music.

Each band member adds their harmonies to Vincent's lead, yet she gives each their due, whether picking out a solo or taking center stage vocally. All get at least one song in the spotlight.

Bassist Mickey Harris takes a solo on "Heartbreakin' Old Achin' Blues," guitarist Josh Williams belts out "Cheatin' Kind of Life," and fiddler/mandolinist Hunter Berry performs several songs, including an instrumental duet with Williams on "Son Drop in."

But it's legendary banjo picker Kenny Ingram who ignites the crowd with his instrumental "Road Rage" and Flatt & Scruggs' gospel-tinged "So Happy I'll Be."

Vincent, who introduces Ingram as someone she listened to every morning on the Martha White Hour while growing up, added that it was hard to believe he was onstage with her, let alone a member of the Rage.

"Kenny was retired," Vincent recalls of Lester Flatt's longtime banjoist. "One day I just called him. It took me six months to get his phone number. He's very guarded. So I called him, and he didn't seem very interested."

"He changed his number twice. I did a little research on him, and so I called him a third time and a fourth time. I said, 'You're the man. We need you.' And he said, "I made a mistake. I should have said yes the first time.'"

The thought was, Ingram wasn't up for being on the road. Considering the nonstop schedule, few would be.

"Someone said, 'Oh, Kenny can't take the road.' But he loves it. This is his fourth year. He said, 'Anyone who doesn't like the road doesn't like playing music.' Everyone in the band shares the same passion for the road and travel and their music."

While the travel may be a grind, Vincent and the band at least ride in style.

"We get to travel in the Martha White Bluegrass Express," Vincent proudly notes of the Southern kitchen staple. It's one of the perks for being the spokes-band for the flour company that sponsored the likes of everyone from Tennessee Ernie Ford to Alison Krauss + Union Station. "We're in negotiations to renew with them. Hopefully we'll get a new bus out of the deal."It beats the heck out of a cramped 12-passenger van, which many a bluegrass band would even consider a luxury. Vincent's been there. And she's also enjoyed the spoils of being a Nashville star, albeit for only two records, both of which met with limited commercial success.

"You get a $150,000 recording budget in Nashville," she says. "You get the best microphones, top producers, your make-up is done for you, the whole works. In bluegrass, you get a budget of about $10,000, and you do everything."

Though it wasn't what most would consider a commercial success, Vincent fondly recalls her time with Giant.

"That time brought me to where I'm at today," she says. "I look at it as my college years in the music business. It eventually all trickles down. When I went to Northeast Missouri State, I majored in accounting, and I took photography and business law. Each day, each year I learned from those experiences."

There's also practical experience. Vincent believes many people still carry a dim view of bluegrass music and its performers.

"Bluegrass is still stereotyped," she says. "People still think it's 'Deliverance.' So one thing we do is make sure we look good when we go on stage, not like we just mowed the grass."Yet, she also believes her band's success starts with the music.

"Hunter fits musically what we do; Mickey plays ahead of the beat. I like that; it makes the music exciting."

Performing live is also instinctive, she says.

"You walk on stage and from the first song you feel out the audience. Our show can quickly shift. If the fiddler takes a break and the audience goes crazy, we do fiddle tunes."

Not exactly like mapping out a year's worth of shows, where pretty much every date is locked in.

"I'm starting to plan three years in advance now," Vincent says, already looking toward 2007. "I need to make sure and block out time. That's when my youngest daughter graduates."