On April 18, 2009 dante had the privilege to sing with Rhonda Vincent and The Rage in concert at The Dunn Center in Rocky Mount, NC.
After Rhonda asked why no one was taking any pictures, dante walked from his seat in the back of the auditorium with camera in hand. He approached the stage and held up his camera to Rhonda to ask for a photo and she obliged by striking a pose. Then he asked if she would take one with him and she invited him on stage.
dante thanked her and began to leave the stage when she pulled him towards the microphone. She introduced him to the audience and asked if he could make a 'train whistle' sound. Of course he said yes, and she and the Rage began to sing "Passing Of The Train", and dante provided the train whistle sound at the appropriate time. He joined Rhonda on the last verse and harmonized with her.
After the song as he got ready to leave the stage (again) she asked "Do you sing?" dante said "Yes, I sing traditional country music." A short conversation followed and she asked dante to sing his favorite song.
Absolutely NOTHING came to mind. Here is dante's own words.
"As a big fan of Rhonda's I only wanted a picture of her and maybe one of the both of us. You can't imagine the thrill to be asked to take part (albeit a small one) in one of her songs. I'm no stranger to the stage, or speaking or singing in front of large audiences. So I can't claim being stage struck. I've been around major artists before too, John Rich, Mark McQuinn, Steve Holy. Although it's always exciting to be around stars and major artists, they are just people and I've never been awe-struck. But when Rhonda asked me to sing, I went COMPLETELY blank. Even though Micky Harris, the base player, offered several songs I might (and did) know, nothing came out of my lips but embarrassed stammering! After a few minutes of trying to pull myself together it was plain to see I wouldn't get my chance to sing, and Rhonda was SO nice, hugged me and off the stage I went."
"Of course once I got to my seat I thought of a dozen songs I could have sung. So... THANK YOU Rhonda for your graciousness and recognizing I can sing (even though I couldn't then). Hopefully someday you'll attend one of MY concerts and we'll do a duet together."