Cruise down lower Broadway in Nashville
on a Saturday night, and chances are
you’ll run into a guitar picker with jaw-dropping
technique and tone for days. It doesn’t
take long to learn this is a musician’s town, and in order to make a dent, you need to
have your musical ducks in a row. Over the
last 30 years, Vince Gill has not only survived
in Music City, he has carried the torch of the
old-school country crooner who can break
your heart with a ballad one minute and then
rip into a blistering solo the next.
In 2006, Gill released the most ambitious–
and expansive–album of his career.
These Days is a 43-song, four-disc opus that allowed him to explore everything
from hardcore country to gospel and blues.
When it came time to write music for his
latest effort, Guitar Slinger, Gill knew that,
in the end, he was at the mercy of the
songs. “I was thrilled that the first song
that I wrote after that project was ‘The
Old Lucky Diamond Motel.’ It’s a real neat
story song, kind of Americana,” remembers
Gill. “I finished it and then looked back
at the last record and said, ‘Wow, that’s a
relief. It’s nothing like anything on the last
record.’ It gave me a really good jumping
off point and I think, more than anything,
that I am so much more interested in the
songs these days and what they are and
what they’re about than anything else.”
Even though the album title brings to
mind finger-busting licks, Gill demonstrates
the restraint and well-developed sense of
taste that he’s known for. “The songs lead
me to play more guitar, or be more country,
or rock harder,” states Gill. We catch up
with Gill to discuss vintage guitars, balancing
the roles of a songwriter and guitarist,
working with your heroes, and if he would
ever work with a band again.
Did the title for the album come about
while you were writing the material, or
did you already have it in mind?
The idea for the album title came from my
manager, Larry Fitzgerald, who I’ve been
working with for 28 years. As he listened
to the record he said, “There is something
different about your playing. It just sounds
completely free on this record. Generally,
you would drift towards a solo in the middle
and that would be about it. These songs have
like two-minute jams on the end. You are
really blowing it up, so I think you should
call this record Guitar Slinger.” At first, that
song wasn’t going to be on the record. I
said, “Well, if we don’t put that song on the
record, that doesn’t make a lot of sense.” I
like that it had a sense of humor in it. It’s
poking fun of Amy [Grant], and poking fun
at me losing all that stuff in the flood last
year. I like the sense of humor in that song.
poking fun of Amy [Grant], and poking fun
at me losing all that stuff in the flood last
year. I like the sense of humor in that song.
You really let loose on some of these tracks.
I guess it’s more guitar than usual for about
half of the record. The other half is mainly
country and story songs. Still, I had a blast
playing a little more than usual.
“Threaten Me With Heaven” has one of
the most powerful solos on the album.
I felt like the power of that song needed
that kind of angst in it. Not a choir-like
thing, but with those background singers
it sounds like arena rock to me. I’m always
trying to play what’s appropriate for the
song and the arrangement, so that’s the
reason, to me, that it has that non-stop kind
of blitzing mentality at the end. I made this
record with Justin Niebank, who is a great
musician, and he said, “There is this one
time where you hit this two-note thing and
the bottom note almost harmonically does
something. It is so emotional.” To me, that’s
what playing is all about. It could be a subtle
solo on something like “Who Wouldn’t
Fall in Love With You”—the greatness in
playing is in the subtle things that really
have emotion. You can play every lick in the
world, but if there is nothing in it that has
emotion, it’s not going to move anybody.