THE KUDZOO INTERVIEW VINCE GILL
by Richard Brent Vince Gill is known as a country music
superstar, but truth be known he’d rather be known as a musician. A guitarist first and foremost. After paying years of dues to be- come one of the most popular country stars of the ‘90’s, playing everything from bluegrass to southern rock, singer and multi-instru- mentalist, he joined the country-rocker band Pure Prairie League for several years, singing on several of the bands hit records. He went on tobe a major player in the ‘80’s new coun- try movement before striking gold as a con- temporary country hitmaker. Gill has won more CMA Awards than any performer in his- tory, and his 14 Grammys tie him with Chet Atkins for the most ever by a country artist. Vincent Grant Gill was born April 12,
1957, in Norman, Oklahoma. His father, a judge, played banjo and guitar, and Vince had picked up both by his teen years, later adding fiddle, dobro, mandolin, and bass to his repertoire. After many years of successes and a few
failures, Gill remains at peace with himself, sharing his life with his love, singer Amy Grant, and generally enjoying life. In this ex- clusive interview, Allman Brothers Band Big House curator, guitarist and writer Richard Brent speaks with Vice about music, guitars, his life, guitars, his heroes, guitars, and of course, guitars.
How old were you when you started playing guitar?
I don’t really remember the actual age I started ploying, because I can’t remember ever not playing. There’s some pictures of me as a baby - unfortunately, in a dress, but that’s another story. (Laughing) But I had my arm around this guitar on the sofa. It had a lamp shade cord for a strap and I drug it around with me everywhere I went. So yeah, I really can’t remember ever not playing.
Most people. when they start out play- ing guitar, they get a Japanese model of a guitar from Western Auto. You were fortunate enough to start out on some- thing better. Well, I had my father’s instruments around to play before I got my own guitar. When I was ten, Christmas of ‘67. I got a Gibson 335 and a Fender Super Reverb. Of course I had played a lot up until that tenth birthday, and my par- ents knew that I was serious about it, that I wasn’t just dabbling in it. You look back on it and thing, what a gift that was to be given tools like that a young age. But my dad had several guitars in our house. There was a big archtop Harmony guitar that was built like a Mack truck. I couldn’t get my hand around that neck for nothing. He had an old, early ‘50’s ES 125. I played that, and at the same time, my dad had gotten me a similar guitar, but it was a tenor guitar and only had four strings on it, so my little hands could start making rudimentary chords, so I learned the basic chords on the first four strings of a tenor guitar. Of course a tenor guitar is not tuned like a regular guitar, but I tuned it like
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