-[Male VO] This program is brought to you in part by Santa Cruz Guitar Company and Santa Cruz Parabolic Tension Strings.

-[Narrator] Also brought to you by Paige Capos and by Peluso Microphone Lab.

Additional support provided by these sponsors.

Hello and welcome to The Life Of A Musician.

Tonight's episode is recorded live from Glaser Instruments in Nashville, Tennessee.

Let's step inside and listen.

-We'll start off like Papa Darling.

One and a two and a one and a two.

[guitars strumming] ♪ This nine pound hammer is a little too heavy ♪ ♪ Honey, for my size, for my size ♪ ♪ Roll on buddy, don't you roll so slow ♪ ♪ How can I roll when the wheels won't go?

♪ [guitars strumming] [laughs] -Almost.

-It's all right.

It's happening to me.

♪ This nine pound hammer, it got down Henry ♪ ♪ Won't get me Love won't get me ♪ ♪ Roll on buddy, don't you roll so slow ♪ ♪ How can I roll when the wheels won't go?

♪ [guitars strumming] ♪ This nine pound hammer, this ain't this tunnel ♪ ♪ That ain't like mine, Oh, that ain't like mine ♪ ♪ Roll on buddy, don't you roll so slow ♪ ♪ How can I roll when the wheels won't go?

♪ [guitars strumming] ♪ And when I die, won't you make a tombstone ♪ ♪ Outta number nine coal, outta number nine coal ♪ ♪ Roll on buddy, don't you roll so slow ♪ ♪ How can I roll when the wheels won't go?

♪ ♪ Roll on buddy, don't you roll so slow ♪ ♪ How can I roll when the wheels won't go?

♪ [guitars strumming] -It sounds like, "Where are you from?"

[laughter] -Well, folks, welcome to The Life of a Musician.

I'm your host, Brandon Adams.

We're sitting here with one of the coolest and nicest human beings on the planet, Mr. Vince Gill.

-Vince, brother, bless you.

-See you, buddy.

Thanks.

-Thanks so much for being here.

-Yeah, what a treat.

-Yes, it's cool.

It's a cool legacy and a cool hang.

-Absolutely, you know, it's fun for me.

I-- I love you flat picking, you singing, all that.

I don't do much of that anymore, and I'm a little rusty and struggle a good bit.

I-- I found out that writing songs was kind of a path for me that was more interesting, not more interesting, but just something I needed to do, and something I was decent at.

And so I don't get to cut loose and play as much grass as I used to.

So I'm a little rusty, but I'll be all right.

-If, you know, you might make a living on that rusty, man.

-Well, you never know.

-I believe you keep at this, somebody's gonna-- -I have a future.

-You got a future in this business.

-Somebody will notice, I think.

-Yeah.

-But now it's awesome to have you here.

I've been listening to you for forever, you know.

For me, that was like, you know, Vince was the guy to listen to.

-Oh, that's nice.

Thank you.

-What's kind of that like, life for you, because you're like, literally, the nicest, most down to earth, humble dude in the room right now.

-You know, I never took myself too seriously.

And I think the thing that was my mantra was, you've been given some gifts, you know, to play and sing like you do, and write songs like you do, but those gifts are special, but that doesn't entitle you, to make you think you're special.

And so I kind of lived that way.

And my folks were real normal, straight ahead, farm folks.

And you know, you weren't, arrogance was never a part of life, and you didn't get high and mighty and thinking you were this and that.

And so I just, you know, I just enjoyed my life.

I like to laugh.

I tell jokes.

I like to, once again, I just like being part of the process.

I-- I spent my life probably way more so in the supporting role than in the front.

You know, I never-- it never was my thing to have to be up front.

I like being a musician in the band.

You know, all those days of playing Bluegrass.

And my teenage years was-- everybody needed each other so you had this core of people that really depended on each other to make that music work.

And it wasn't so much about the front guy up there carrying, you know, the load of the attention.

And so it was always a democratic process to me, and that still holds true for me today.

I still like just being in the band, you know, like, and I don't care what role I play, I like being the harmony singer.

I can be the rhythm guitar player, I can play the lead guitar player.

I can whatever is necessary.

And over the years, that's what I've done.

You know, I wanted to play and sing on people's records.

That's the one thing I did dream about doing.

I never dreamt about being a solo artist or star or any that kind of mess.

So at this point now, I think I've worked on over 1,000 artists records in the last 50 years, you know.

And I started making money doing this 50 years ago, 52 years ago now.

I'm 67.

And somebody paid me to go play a beer joint somewhere, happy hour something, and I said, "This is for me, this is what I'm going to do."

Never went to college.

I took off.

I lived in your home.

Stayed in Kentucky for a year and a half when I was 18.

And that's where I picked up this guitar.

It was when I moved to Louisville, Kentucky.

Played with a group called the Bluegrass Alliance.

I found this old guitar at a Bluegrass Festival, and it's been with me the whole ride.

-Who was in the Alliance?

-Back then?

Well, Lonnie.

Lonnie Pierce was--it was his group.

He was the fiddle player and tenor singer, banjo player named Bill Millet, a mandolin player named Al White.

Myself and Marshall Billingsley was the upright bass player.

And I still-- two of them have passed.

Bill is gone, and so is Lonnie, but I still--I'm still in touch with Al and Marshall, and still friendly, and have a relationship and kind of do with everybody I ever played with, never burnt too many bridges over the years.

-Well, that's how to keep a job.

You know how to keep a job.

-Well, you got to get one for your keepers.

(laughs) -Absolutely, I agree.

I agree.

All right, so you were going into some like, you know, for those of us in the Bluegrass world, like Bluegrass Alliance, that's kind of legendary, you know.

-Yeah, it was a big deal, and it was interesting because it, you know, when you're young, you don't really think or care much about money or how much you're going to make or any of that, you're just grateful to get to do it.

And it was, those days were so meager, you know, financially.

But I'm 18 years old, I'm playing with a nationally known Bluegrass group making records.

I got to make a record in 1975 with them, second record I ever made, and so it felt successful.

-[Brandon] Yeah .

-Even at a young age, you know.

And so that springboarded to the next gig with Ricky.

I was in a band called Boone Creek with him for a short time, but that was-- those were hard times.

They didn't have many gigs and this and that.

And I was the last one in so I was first one to go, and that sent me out to California to play with the great Byron Berline, fiddle player out in Southern California.

And he's an Oklahoma guy like me and so away I went, you know, -just brave enough to try.

-Yeah.

-Crazy enough to try.

-Yeah.

-And you know, those-- they were lean years, but they were great years.

-I hear you.

Well, it's about the music then and just the chance to get to do it, I totally get it.

And Byron, that was what pre-him, and Creary, -wasn't that?

-It was, yeah.

It's all around the same time.

He had a band.

The first band I remember, Byron had was-- golly, it won't come to me now, nothing comes to me now.

This is really sad, but Country Gazette, Roland White, him and Al and Mundy and Roger Bush, and I used to play the festivals.

We played that back where I'm from, in Oklahoma, and that's where I first heard Byron.

And then he had a band called Sundance, which included Dan Creary and John Hickman and Alan Wald, a guy named Jack Skinner.

I think that was about it.

And then I replaced Jack Skinner being the lead singer in Byron's band, and moved out to Southern California.

And that was-- that was a world changer.

You know, I'd never been out there and it was like this whole world opened up for me out there with different kinds of musicians and all kinds of music, and really expanded my thoughts on music and what I wanted to try to accomplish and, and then I joined a band called Pure Prairie League for a few years.

Did--that was a country rock band.

-I think I heard of them.

-Yeah.

I mean they, you know-- -I might've heard a tune or two.

-I was playing Bluegrass, and then they asked me to join their band.

And away I went playing loud electric guitar again.

And that was fun, like my high school days, being in the garage bands and playing rock and roll, but-- -Don't get to a fight the banjo.

-Yeah, it's the only way to work.

I have a volume knob.

(chuckles) I'm gonna win.

-Exactly.

It's always fighting the banjo and that mandolin cuts no matter what's-- -Oh yeah, yeah.

It's a great instrument.

It's, to me, you know, I'm really just completely torn up about losing Jimmy Mills.

-Yeah.

-One of--he was my favorite banjo player I ever played with.

He--when I would play some Bluegrass, he would always be the first guy I'd call.

And I did some tours playing Bluegrass here and there, and played the Ryman every year at their Bluegrass series, and he would always come and play, and that tore me up.

-He just played with-- I got to step in and a couple of gigs behind Crow.

And he was, I mean, you couldn't get out of time -with JD.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

And Jim was one of those guys-- I never got to play with him, but I got to sit down, actually, at your show with him.

-Oh, really?

-And got to see that, like, right up there.

And it was just, it was like, -Yeah.

-the same amount of power.

-Yeah, you know, it just takes you right along with him.

And the banjo, to me, has always been the definitive sound of Bluegrass.

-[Brandon] I agree.

-You know, and once Earl showed up, started playing with Bill, it gave them, you know, Bill gave it, you know, it's notoriety with the songs and the singing and all that, but it's that sound of the banjo that finally gave it-- its real definition of what Bluegrass was.

I think that's what you-- that's what I always think of when I think of Bluegrass is that instrument, the banjo.

-Me too.

It's my favorite Bluegrass instrument that I never learned to play.

-Yeah.

I played a little bit.

My dad was a wannabe banjo player.

When I was a kid, I thought he was, thought he was incredible.

Turns out he wasn't very good at all.

[laughter] -[Brandon] I get it.

-But, yeah.

-Well, is there anything that you picked up from, you know, because I just want to pick your brain a little bit and make the morning as hard as possible.

-It's all good.

It won't take long to pick this brain.

-But is there anything that you picked up from Bluegrass that just kind of carried over?

-Well, yeah, I think there's a whole lot of that that is very present.

I mean, you--my first big hit was a song called 'When I Call Your Name'.

And Patty Loveless, great Kentucky girl sang harmony on it and that song is what it is, because my knowledge of how Bluegrass harmony works, -[Brandon] Yeah.

-How it bends, how it, you know, does the things that it does.

And I always thought that that song had an element of Bluegrass to it in the way that the harmony was structured.

-Yeah, it was just like that mountain family kind of harmony that just and it cut through when you heard another.

I remember when as a kid, the first time I heard that, I was like, "Well, that's just Bluegrass."

-Yeah, it really is.

-[Brandon] Yeah.

-I mean, most songs are truly folk songs, till you do what you do to them and add whatever instruments you do and direction you take it.

Yeah, I-- I've always used it, you know, in the way that I hear things.

I mean, I'll sing harmony with people in them, they go, "I never would have thought about singing that harmony that way, and that note," so I just--it's ingrained in me.

And, you know, I'm-- I think I'm a fairly unique harmony singer because of that.

And I think Bluegrass is big part of why I'm able to do what I do.

-Well, and it just give you that foundation, you know, look, this is live and uncut, and we got to make it happen, night in and night out, and it's got to be good every night.

-Yeah.

-You know, and-- -And I've been lucky to sing with some great singers, you know.

-One thing I have been dying to ask you, is your range is just crazy, you know, do you ever hit falsetto notes, or is that just all your hitting that natural?

-Most of it's full voice, you know, it's-- there's certain notes that I struggle to hit, like playing and singing Bluegrass, a B note is hard, full voice B note as it is for most tenor singers, but there's some that can just knock it right out of the park.

I think the highest note I ever sang on the record was... ♪ ♪ ♪ ...full voice was an F sharp up there on Kim Karns record.

And I was there's blood and guts and rock and roll, and I was just letting her go, and I got it, I got it, you know, and, so I think there's certain notes that are willing to show up, and some that aren't, and just do the best that I can, but I don't sing a lot of stuff falsetto.

-I know that people used to talk about, you know, Monroe, where they'd say, he would say, "Well, I'll do a falsetto, but you're not gonna be able to tell."

-Well, yeah.

-And I don't, you know, I'm not Bill, but as that's-- that's with your voice control.

It's like, if you're doing falsetto, I don't hear it.

-Yeah, I don't much.

Yeah.

I mean, there's an occasional, you know, occasional part that I would have to sing falsetto, you know, if it's a background part or whatever.

I mean, I remember, there's a record I did with Reba McEntire, and I did all the backgrounds.

There's a song called 'You Lie', and I had to sing higher than you could ever imagine.

And I had to do all of it, obviously falsetto, 'cause, like I said, full voice some things that B notes about as high as I can get, but there are other times when I can sing full voice higher than that, but sometimes it's not appropriate to sing full voice that high, so you have to sing.

It just depends on what you're doing and how it's going to sit with what you're doing it with.

-Yeah.

And you've got that control where you can hit that note, but it's you're not, you're not screaming it, you know, it's just coming out with good tone.

-Yeah, I'm doing most of my songs in the original keys that I did them of all the records I've made and for some reason, I, you know, I'm still able to sing as high as I always could.

Sing like a girl, doesn't bother me.

I live in a nice house because I sing like a woman.

It's my old joke.

-Well, I personally don't think that.

And I've heard, some women who don't sing that good, so.

-Yeah, that's fair.

-Was--is there another tune you want to pick, or anything coming to mind that you feel?

-I don't care.

I can sing a song about this guitar I bought.

-Please do.

-It's not a flat picking song.

It's just a sweet story song.

-We'll sing after later if you want.

-Okay.

[laughter] When I was-- when I moved to Louisville-- I'll tell you the story behind this song, where it came from was-- everybody wanted a nice old Martin box, you know, when you're playing Bluegrass.

And I had a early 70s D 41 that I'm still trying to find.

I haven't been able to find it, but I traded it and $1,650 in 1975 for this guitar.

And that money I spent on this guitar was all the money I'd saved in my future, for my future.

And I emptied out my bank account.

I had no money.

I was living at Bickels's house, and the rent was $15 a month.

He let me have a room in the attic.

And we made a couple 100 bucks a week when we played.

And I see if I can remember the words.

They're getting harder.

You have trouble remembering the words?

-[Brandon] All the time, especially if I wrote it.

-Yeah.

But this is a story of me and this old guitar.

[guitar strumming] ♪ This old guitar and me ♪ ♪ And the things that we've been through ♪ ♪ C.F.

Martin built him back in 1942 ♪ ♪ I remember when we met, I was only 17 ♪ ♪ Spent all my college money on a half a dozen strings ♪ ♪ I thought my folks would kill me ♪ ♪ But I found out I was wrong ♪ ♪ They said your future's written on your face ♪ ♪ When you sing those travelin' songs ♪ ♪ So we headed for Kentucky ♪ ♪ With a suitcase full of dreams ♪ ♪ My rough-out books, a few t-shirts ♪ ♪ A worn out pair of jeans ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ Oooh ♪ ♪ Oooh ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ This old guitar and me ♪ ♪ We spent a lot of nights alone ♪ ♪ Sometimes we'd get lucky and take bar maid home ♪ ♪ One night stands for breakfast ♪ ♪ Two strangers with the blues ♪ ♪ We'd wake up in the morning and both feel a little used ♪ ♪ Home was just a highway We'd roam from town to town ♪ ♪ Just me and that old guitar not caring where we're bound ♪ ♪ From Maine to California ♪ ♪ With a five piece travelin' band ♪ ♪ Singin' songs about the hard times ♪ ♪ That face the common man ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ Oooh ♪ ♪ Oooh ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ This old guitar and me ♪ ♪ Lord, we did the best we could ♪ ♪ One was born a sinner and one a piece of wood ♪ ♪ I've settled with my family here in the hills of Tennessee ♪ ♪ To teach my children's children ♪ ♪ 'Bout this old guitar and me ♪ ♪ Ooh ♪ ♪ Oooh ♪ ♪ Oooh ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ -Ah, it's-- that's beautiful, man.

-Yeah.

-Y'all can clap if you want to.

[applauding] -Let's get it in there.

-I just like telling stories, you know, I love, I love weaving a tale and trying to complete a story in just a few minutes.

-You wrote that in just a few minutes?

-No, I just-- it's a three-minutes song.

I tell you, it took a lifetime to figure it out, but, -Yeah.

-you know, concise it all in to a cohesive story.

And a three, three and a half minutes is not easy.

It's just what I love doing.

-I wanted to pick along with it, but I want to listen to it too.

I can't hardly do both.

-Sound good.

Well, getting harder.

-But I just, you know, one thing I was never able to do is somebody would sit and say, you know, "Write me a song about..." and I felt like, as soon as somebody told me I had to, -I wasn't able to.

-Yeah.

-I always had a mountain of respect for folks who could do that, it's a real skill.

-Yeah, me too.

I had my heroes, songwriters, you know.

And it was kind of the last thing to come along for me was writing song, so.

When I joined Pure Prairie League, I had written seven songs total in my life, you know, and they were terrible, but they asked me, said, "Do you have any songs we're going to make a record?"

And I said, "Yeah, I got some songs," and I played them for them, and they liked them, and they recorded five of the seven songs I'd written.

So then all of a sudden, I'm a songwriter.

And from there, it just, you know, it's like, it's like playing you just, the more you do it, the better you get at it, you know.

And I think what I've learned is, as life has gone on and I've done all these things, I've--I'm always trying to cast out what I don't need, you know, and leave out just what the information that's necessary is what is the most interesting to me and it's affected my playing, you know.

I play a solo on a record.

I played.

Okay, that's nice, but how could I edit that out and make 12 notes, B nine notes, then nine notes B.

Because I think you can make more speak with less sometimes.

But, you know, the Bluegrass, they like to pick, and they like wild frenzy picking and all that.

And I kind of, went the opposite way that as life's gone on.

-I've listened to--like I was, I was telling you the other night, I was listening to that grass album you put out in that big box set, and you're picking, I mean, it fits, you know.

-Well-- -It doesn't matter what the style was, whatever you do, it fits.

-Yeah.

I mean, that's what I want most to do.

You know, I come by my Bluegrass, honestly, but a lot of people don't know that.

-[Brandon] Right.

-And so people that don't know that if they hear me do it, I want it to be authentic enough that they go, -that's real.

-[Brandon] Yeah.

-That's not a country singer trying to be a Bluegrass singer.

You know, and that's the real difference.

You know, the beauty of music is when it's authentic.

-[Brandon] Yeah.

-You know, and it doesn't feel like it's being forced into something that it isn't, you know.

It's easy to spot.

-[Narrator] Tune in next time for the exciting conclusion with Vince Gill.

Thank you for being a part of our show.

We look forward to seeing you on the next episode of The Life Of A Musician.

♪ I remember when we met, I was only 17 ♪ ♪ Spent all my college money on a half a dozen strings ♪ ♪ I thought my folks would kill me ♪ ♪ But I found out I was wrong ♪ -[Man VO] This program is brought to you in part by Santa Cruz Guitar Company and Santa Cruz Parabolic Tension Strings.

-[Narrator] Also brought to you by Paige Capos and by Peluso Microphone Lab.

Additional support provided by these sponsors: