Bluegrass royalty is in the house tonight.

"The Wall Street Journal did that," says Missouri star Rhonda Vincent, who carries the Journal-delivered title "new queen of bluegrass" with the same light touch she brings to the mandolin and other stringed instruments. "It's just become something and I do enjoy hearing it."

Vincent and her band, the Rage, play Centennial Hall tonight at 7:30 p.m.

It's being called the bluegrass event of the decade -- or maybe two -- in London. No argument here.

Vincent is, of course, the real deal. The singer and instrumentalist has collected all kinds of awards, including an unprecedented seven consecutive wins as female vocalist of the year at the International Bluegrass Music Association awards.

Like any good royal, she's willing to adapt. Told by one fan that it was a surprise to see how exciting she was in person after glancing at some less-than-regal photos of Vincent then in circulation, the star made some changes.

As a result, Vincent came up with a glam 'grass look that would have bluegrass icon Bill Monroe beaming. It's the same with videos and the Internet.

"You have to use the same technology or your music will sound dated," she says.

Vincent could, but doesn't, drop the names of other music royalty -- Keith Urban and Dolly Parton, for example -- who guest on her records. They're also happy to have Vincent return the favour.

Parton is one of her heroes. "She can do everything she wants to do," she says of Parton. The two are friends.

"When I was sick in 2005, she came to my house," Vincent says. Parton travelled hundreds of kilometres for the get-well visit.

Parton told Vincent she had see for herself how her friend was doing and offer support in person.

As a fifth-generation music maker, Vincent arrived on the scene early. She made her debut on stage singing and having her way with a snare drum as a member of her family's band, the Sally Mountain Show, when she was five. She picked up the mandolin at age eight. It was the same year she released her debut 45 -- the classic Muleskinner Blues.

She followed her bluegrass muse to Nashville. There, she even made commercial country records before returning, triumphantly, in 2000 to bluegrass, where she reigns.

Without losing touch with those Sally Mountain Show roots, Vincent is now at the stage where her latest album, Good Thing Going, is her most personal and autobiographical accomplishment. "I have never written five songs to include on an album," she says of the five originals or "co-writes" on Good Thing. "I have to be inspired to write a song . . . but there's been no shortage of inspiration lately."

On May 20, Vincent will be in Calgary to sing alongside a Canadian roots music icon, Ian Tyson. Vincent will sing the Tyson classic Someday Soon with the original hurtin' Albertan for a TV special.

Before that, she'll be making music with a few other Canadian musicians and probably some American fans who have travelled to Centennial Hall.

That's expected to happen at the finale of tonight's concert when the "new queen" of bluegrass is likely to invite some fans to play on stage.

"We usually do some gospel . . . I Saw the Light or I'll Fly Away. Or I just ask them (for a suggestion)," she says of how the big 'grass finale has worked in such places as Red Deer on her tour.

Vincent's fans from the concert-presenting Thames Valley Bluegrass Association (TVBA) stand ready to join the queen and her 'grass court. "Well, there'll be a bunch from TVBA bringing their instruments. I can't wait to see this," says a concert organizer, Gord De Vries, of the London band Foxtail.

The bluegrass queen can't wait to hear it.