Vince Gill may have country roots, but he's not just a country guy

Boston Globe

09-05-2025

He has slowed down a little on the album front, releasing his last solo effort, the autobiographical 'Okie,' in 2019, and 'Sweet Memories,' a tribute to Ray Price that he made with steel player Paul Franklin in 2023. He hasn't gone out on tour in a while, either — at least, not by himself. That's because for the past nine years he has been doing something that some people view as a bit of a left turn — playing guitar and singing as
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Gill recalls somebody asking Eagles main man Don Henley why he'd asked a 'country guy' to be in his rock band. 'And [Henley] smiled and he said, 'because he knows how to be in a band.''
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That was a great affirmation, says Gill. For most of his career, he's been the front man; his albums and his tours have had his name alone on them. But he's also been a session guy throughout his career. He's been the harmony singer for other people, and the guitar player for other people. So, he says, 'I don't differentiate. Whether it's my show or it's their show, it's all about playing the music to the best of your ability. I don't need the spotlight. I'm comfortable with it, but I don't have to have it. It's been fun for me to not have to be the decider of all things.'
He was able to surprise Henley with what a country guy could do, though. 'I was playing power chords on [Eagles member
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The Eagles are currently off the road for the summer, which has given Gill the opportunity 'to put my bunch of knucklehead musicians together and go out and see if I can remember any of my songs.' At the end of the day, he says he's out there because he misses his songs. 'I spent too much time writing them and digging them out of the dirt and the blood and the guts. It's important to me to honor what I've accomplished' by playing them, he says.
He also expects to put out some new music this summer. 'It's so odd to think about a new way to do things,' he observes, 'because we've spent our whole lives putting out a 10- or 12-song record every couple of years, and now all the rules are changed and the way you can accommodate and get music to people is so different.'
By his reckoning, he's written some 150 songs in the last three or four years; he recorded a bunch of them last year and is now looking for a way to put more than just the usual 10 songs out. 'I did ['These Days'] however many years ago it's been, and that was 43 new songs on four different CDs. So, something to that effect.'
In short, Vince Gill plans on continuing to do what he's been doing for half a century.
'The only goal I ever had was to pay the rent,' he says with a laugh. 'I don't know that I ever set goals for myself. I never did try to plan it, try to write the script before it happened. I always was good at living in the moment, and I still do it to this day. I don't have any reservations about the past and I don't worry too much about tomorrow. All I've got is this moment right here and I'm OK in it.'
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VINCE GILL
At the Orpheum Theatre, 1 Hamilton Place, Boston. May 17, 7:30 p.m. $53.25 and up. www.livenation.com
Stuart Munro can be reached at [e-mail].