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Vincent JRigney

About

Vincent Joseph Rigney, born in the steel town of Corby in Northamptonshire, England.
Born into a family of working entertainers, Vincent cherishes many occasions where his grandfather, father, uncles and aunties would sing their hearts out whether it was at family gatherings or social gatherings up and down the country. He recalls “I was always encouraged as a child to get up and sing a song which was usually “Can’t help falling in love” by Elvis Presley. I loved that song at the time. I remember my Dad asking me to sing it for the first time at a visit to my uncle’s house when I was 8 or 9, maybe that was my first audition! I didn’t even know I could sing but my Dad obviously thought I had a voice so I guess I just took his word for it and began singing at most of the family functions and getting these huge rounds of applause at each event. It was so much fun, what with each family member doing their party piece. I now know that this was a great training ground for me as an artist as far as building up confidence and being shown how to conduct myself on stage”.
With never having any singing lessons Vincent has always maintained his singing ability which obviously came from listening to his relatives. “Funny! When I think back today it was like no one ever really talked in the family, they just kinda, well, sang! What they had to say, it was comical at times. The men would sing songs by Sinatra, Tony Bennet, Roy Orbison, Matt Monroe, Johnny Cash, The Beatles, Englebert Humperdinck, Tom Jones, Neil Diamond, Elton John, Barry Manilow and Rod Stewart. The ladies would sing songs by Doris Day, Billie Jo Spears, Tammy Wynette, Dusty Springfield, Patsy Cline and many more”.
It was inevitable that in 1991 Vincent, aged 23, would go on the road himself as a solo vocalist. As soon as he passed his driving test he bought himself a load of backing tracks and a PA system. He found himself a few agents to work with and hit the club and pub circuit up and down the country. It wasn’t too long before he began performing at holiday parks, hotels and theatres in the UK and abroad and even winning a few talent contests along the way.
“I remember my first gig. Well, I was terrified. There were about 100 people just staring at me waiting for me to start and I think to be honest they were just pissed off that I’d interrupted the bingo! Anyway, turns out I did alright as apparently they didn’t clap for many singers”.
Over the years Vincent would go on to perform at countless venues as a solo act and he has also worked with some very talented musicians whilst fronting live bands. The songwriting story begins when Vincent sadly lost his father to a short illness in 2005 aged only 58. Joseph Rigney accompanied Vincent to a lot of his performances over the years and was a real inspiration in many ways. This in turn led to Vincent taking some time off. In fact for a long while he didn’t sing a note and almost lost interest in the music business all together. It was in the early hours one Sunday morning in 2006, around the anniversary of his fathers passing, that he just decided to pick up his guitar, which was only ever used when he came back from gigs to wind down, and begin to write his first song called “Forever in My Life”, dedicated to his father.
Vincent recalls “The words just came flooding out, it was easy. I didn’t have to think about each line I was writing, although when I listen back to the original recordings maybe some of the words didn’t really make much sense to others, only me, and that would have been no good if I wanted anyone else to relate to the song. The song wasn’t very melodic however I knew I had something that I really wanted to build on, as I had so much I wanted to say and I was also getting fed up singing other artists songs, as much as I loved it. I just wanted to be me, Vincent J Rigney, a recording artist, a musician making music, and bring out this creative music side of me I didn’t know I had until I picked my guitar that morning”.