Culture
Vince Gill unpacks emotions of rare solo tour, persevering 50 years, Eagles flight and Mom’s support
By: Ian Saint
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COLUMBUS, Ohio (WOUB) – Vince Gill is returning to Ohio for a pair of rare solo shows—his first in the state this decade. While he’s performed in Ohio five times since joining the Eagles in 2017 following Glenn Frey’s death, these appearances mark his first solo stop in Columbus in years and his first in Cleveland since 2005.
On break from the Eagles’ Las Vegas residency at The Sphere, Gill plays the Palace Theatre (34 W Broad St.) tomorrow and Cleveland’s State Theatre (1519 Euclid Ave.) on Saturday, August 2, before heading to a residency at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.
Ahead of those shows, Gill spoke with WOUB’s Ian Saint. Find a transcript of their conversation, edited for length and clarity, below.
IAN SAINT: Welcome back to Ohio. Any special memories here?
VINCE GILL: My father lived in Columbus for his last 20 years, south of downtown; so I frequented places like Plank’s Pizzeria. He passed in 1997. It’ll be sentimental; a few pals of his are attending.
Your guitarist, Tom Bukovac, is from Cleveland. Heart frontwoman Ann Wilson spoke fondly about collaborating with Tom in our recent interview.
GILL: Yeah, I put them together. Ann asked me about producing her record. I said, this Cleveland kid is a monster guitar player, and he’d be a 10 times better fit. They had a great relationship. I’ve got a monster band — we play for over three hours. It’s a powerful person in every role. When I was an opening act, I promised that if I ever became a headliner, I’m playing for as long as they let me.
I’m excited to see Wendy Moten backing you.
GILL: I met Wendy after, sadly, the passing of Dawn Sears — who sang with me for years. I needed somebody to sing with me on the road, and somebody recommended Wendy. I watched her sing on tour with Julio Iglesias or Tim McGraw and Faith Hill, and it was mind-blowing. She’s become a great friend, and I let her sing a song (on lead vocal) — she’s got a voice I think the world should hear.
Several new songs are getting “road-tested” before they’re released. Which have been particularly revelatory to play?
GILL: It’s fun to watch different responses, because they’re about different subjects — sometimes tough subjects, like race and our pasts. One song going over well is When a Soldier Dies, for families of the men and women fallen to serving our country. A couple songs are about my life. I Gave You Everything I Had: I know deep in my heart, anytime I’ve had the opportunity to play, I’ve never phoned it in. “I sang every song, like it could be my last.” People are really resonating with that. I’m grateful.
Which older songs surprise you most with how they’re received now?
GILL: The song people are most emotional about is Go Rest High On That Mountain. That was released 30 years ago, and it’s remarkable how many people use it when they’ve lost somebody they’re crazy about. It’s helped them heal. It’s funny. When old songs like I Still Believe in You or When I Call Your Name were current, the place would go nuts when you’d start them.
Now, it’s a different experience, because they don’t go nuts — there’s a reverence that replaces the red-hot moment of a current hit song. Then the applause lasts longer, and it’s a richer feeling than the crowd screaming. I think how much a crowd applauds tells you how deeply it connects.
My mother’s favorite Vince Gill performance is duetting Go Rest High On That Mountain with Patty Loveless at George Jones’ funeral. Mom was moved by how emotional you became.
GILL: Truthfully, what tore me up was Patty’s voice. I’ve sung that song at countless memorials and funerals, and usually make it through. You see me fall apart when Patty starts singing, because the sound of her voice has always been so moving to me — and we were honoring arguably the greatest country singer that ever lived. I was embarrassed to lose it; but I’m grateful I did, because it seemed to let everybody be okay with shedding tears. You could feel the whole room (shift). It was amazing.
The Eagles are playing The Sphere, where videos enshroud you. How does that compare to playing historic theaters with your band?
GILL: My favorite Eagle songs to do are Desperado, and… I don’t watch most of the stuff up there — it’s too distracting, and a few songs make me a little wobbly and disoriented. I try to just focus on doing my parts well. It’s an amazing experience to watch, though. I jokingly say, The Sphere holds the most people I’ve ever been ignored by.
You sing the soaring Take It to the Limit beautifully. Your voice paired with The Sphere visuals must be jaw-dropping.
GILL: I’ve got to really focus on singing them high notes, because they’re higher than a man should sing, but I still have to do it. Playing with the Eagles has been amazing. They’re as big a part of my DNA as anybody else’s. I have tapes of me singing Eagles songs at 14 — it’s a great validation of my career and life.
Then you moved to LA at 19, months after your bluegrass band was booed opening for KISS in your home state. These could be very scarring experiences for a teenager. Looking back 50 years later, how did you navigate that?
GILL: I’ve always lived in the moment. I’m not afraid of failure. I think anybody who creates anything amazing fails more times than they succeed. My recording career has lasted 50-plus years, and not every recording is great — a handful are. No matter who the artist is, you get just a handful of those homerun songs; they’re not all going to be Desperado. So you take the good with the bad, and realize “I’ll probably miss more than I hit.” Like baseball; you could hit one out of three times, and get in the hall of fame.
So, I didn’t let results be my barometer of what I was or how I did. I felt if I’m getting better, my ears won’t lie; they’ll tell me “This is working, go with that.” Even at 68, I’m trying to get better. My songs are better now than ever — my perspective is deeper, richer, and has more history. Plus, the gratitude I have now is one hundred times more than at 19. I wasn’t afraid. I went out there and said, “Hey, what’s the worst thing that could happen? I’d have to go home; not a big deal.”
At the Opry’s 100th anniversary TV special, you paid homage to your mother as she’s also turning 100. It’s extraordinary that Mom’s been a pillar throughout your half-century career.
GILL: Yeah, she’s awesome. I didn’t go to college; I was crazy enough to move away from home right after high school, trying to play beer joints and bluegrass bars and get to record. Twenty to thirty years ago, somebody interviewed Mom and asked, “Did it bother you that your son took off and didn’t go to college?” She smiled and said, “No, I didn’t care about having a rich kid; but I sure cared about having a happy kid.” Isn’t that great?