Once you're inside of a Vince Gill song, you enter an entire world. In power ballads and two-steppers, he crafts intimate songs about how we treat each other: a relationship that has weathered the decades, one that's broken and another fighting to revive the spark. Some are silly, most are tearjerkers, but in these three-minute songs, you always come away with a full shape of humanity.
For 50 years, that tender storytelling — paired with the voice of an angel and guitar licks that playfully dance on the fretboard — has taken Gill to the Country Hall of Fame. He's collaborated with the likes of Patty Loveless, Dolly Parton and Maren Morris. He's a member of the Eagles. He's Mr. Amy Grant ("The best thing I ever pulled off," he told me.) How do you encapsulate that career into a Tiny Desk? By showing us what's been and what is, with the same care that's guided Gill all along.
This set sandwiches '90s hits with new material in the middle. There's the party song "One More Last Chance" — somewhere, George Jones' ghost is raising hell on a tractor. "Whenever You Come Around," written about the first time Gill saw Grant's smile, will make you swoon. "Heroes" is yet to be released, but will eventually appear on the 50 Years from Home project, where Gill will release one EP per month for one year. "When a Soldier Dies," inspired by a visit to Arlington Cemetery, is one of many songs already featured in that series.
As he strums the familiar chords and the keys play the last song's mournful melody, Gill simply says, "This song came from losing my brother 33 years ago." There are several reasons why "Go Rest High on That Mountain" was just added to the National Recording Registry, Library of Congress' list of significant recordings that reflect the nation's heritage, but mostly, it's a masterful song that not only understands our need to grieve but our capacity to love someone beyond this life.
SET LIST
- "One More Last Chance"
- "Whenever You Come Around"
- "Heroes"
- "When a Soldier Dies"
- "Go Rest High on That Mountain"
MUSICIANS
- Vince Gill: vocals, guitar
- John Meador: guitar, background vocals
- John Jarvis: keys
- Jimmie Lee Sloas: bass
- Billy Thomas: drums
TINY DESK TEAM
- Producer: Lars Gotrich
- Director/Editor: Kara Frame
- Audio Director/Mix: Josh Newell
- Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter
- Videographers: Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant, Maia Stern
- Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault
- Production Assistants: Ashley Pointer, Alina Edwards
- Photographer: Elizabeth Gillis
- Copy Editor: Hazel Cills
- Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed
- Executive Director: Sonali Mehta
- Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton
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