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After 40 years, Vince Gill is still at top of his game
By John Benson
Vince Gill is down to his last bad habit.
Actually, he’s not. “Down To My Last Bad Habit” is the name of his recently released album, but this does give us time to ponder: If he were down to one vice, it would most likely involve writing music.
While country radio no longer plays his tunes, the platinum artist, known for No. 1 hits such as “I Still Believe in You,” “Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away” and “One More Last Chance,” is busy as ever. In addition to recently touring with the swing band The Time Jumpers, the Oklahoma native, who is married to contemporary Christian artist Amy Grant, is going on a solo jaunt that includes a Sunday show at Packard Music Hall in Warren.
The Vindicator recently talked to Gill about the new album, the passing of his friend Arnold Palmer and why you won’t hear him sing bro country anytime soon.
Q. We’re excited about your return to Northeast Ohio. Any memories of the area?
A. Absolutely. One of my oldest friends, the great dobro player Jerry Douglas, is from Warren. We were teenagers who played in bands together. My real memories of Ohio came from my Pure Prairie League days in the late ’70s. We were an Ohio band. The guys were from that part of the world. So I have a lot of good memories.
Q. Congratulations on both the new album and finally being down to one vice.
A. (Laughs) Oh, it’s just a song title. I think I have a few more than one vice left. Somebody said that to me at breakfast. I sat at his table and said, “Are you doing alright?” He said, “Yeah, I’m about down to my last bad habit.” I said, “That’s awesome. I’m stealing that. I’m going to go home and write a song.” So it’s a song about the love you can’t get over: “I’m down to my last bad habit – you.”
Q. Stylistically speaking, what were you going after in the studio?
A. The record before, “Bakersfield,” was real traditional. We did the music of Buck Owens and Merle Haggard. I felt like I had scratched that real traditional country itch pretty hard, and I knew I was making a record with The Time Jumpers, a swing band I play with. That has a real traditional element. I said I just want to play my guitar and be a solo singer and pick the songs that move me. I’ve made records for 42 years, and this, hands-down, is my favorite singing record I ever made.
Q. Sadly, we recently lost your friend Arnold Palmer (Gill sang at his funeral). What did the golf legend mean to you?
A. I don’t think I’ve ever met a more gracious, kind and welcoming human being than Arnold Palmer. He’s not just my favorite golfer. I said at the service he’s my favorite person I ever met. I think he had a big impact on me, just watching the way he treated people. He never saw himself as above someone else, and he always epitomized what “created equal” really means. He never met a stranger.
Q. Looking over your career, you’ve sold more than 26 million albums and scored 50 top 40 hits. Which of those accolades are you more surprised by?
A. Both of them, any of them. When I set out to be a musician, to see if I could make a living doing it, everything that happened was unexpected. I never have any expectations. I always had hope in my back pocket because the first record I ever made somebody played it on the radio. I was a 17-year-old kid, and I heard it. It hooked me and it gave me this great sense of hope. So all of these years, I haven’t really done any of this with any great expectation. I always had a really honest hopefulness that somebody would respond to it. Whoever and however many it was, I don’t think it ever mattered.
Q. At this point in your career, country radio, which played your songs heavily in the ’80s and ’90s, isn’t spinning your songs. Do you accept that or do you feel you have another No. 1 tune waiting around the corner?
A. I’m always hopeful. I’m a realist. I don’t expect them to play my records much anymore, and they’ve proven that. They quit playing Elvis and Merle Haggard and George Jones. They quit playing all of my heroes. Why would I expect them to continue to play me my whole career? The only thing that’s awkward and a little bit strange is with my talent level, I’m better now than I was then. So when you’re doing your best work, and it falls on deaf ears, that’s the mind bender if there is one. But once again, I did this from the start for me and not the result. It’s still that way today, and I’m almost 60 years old. I’m still doing this for me. Whatever happens, I’m grateful for it.
Q. Finally, we’re just happy you didn’t go the desperate route by getting your hair frosted and cutting a bro country tune.
A. No, there’s no chance of that.