Vince Gill Next Big Thing CD

Personnel: Vince Gill (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin); Al Anderson (acoustic & electric guitars); Mac McAnally (acoustic guitar); Dean Parks (electric guitar); Tom Britt (slide guitar); John Hughley (steel guitar); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Jim Hoke (autoharp, harmonica, accordion); The Nashville String Machine (strings); Kirk Whalam (alto saxophone); Jim Horn (baritone saxophone); Charles Rose (trumpet); Steve Herrman (trombone); Pete Wasner, John Hobbs (keyboards); Willie Weeks (bass); Chad Cromwell (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Amy Grany, Lee Ann Womack, Dawn Sears, Leslie Satcher, Billy Thomas, Harry Stinson, Bekka Bramlett, Kim Keyes, Jenny Gill, Emmylou Harris, Michael McDonald, Andrea Zonn, Jeff White (background vocals).
Recorded at Ocean Way, Seventeen Grand and Sound Kitchen Studios, Nashville, Tennessee.
"Next Big Thing" won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.
Audio Mixer: Justin Niebank.
Recording information: Seventeen Grand Recording, Nashville, TN; Sound Kitchen, Nashville, TN.
Photographer: Andrew Eccles.
Vince Gill's studio offering following his paean to his new bride, Let's Make Sure We Kiss When We Say Goodbye, is one of the strongest recordings in a decade. Perhaps it's the freedom from the usual Nashville production bullsh*t -- Gill produced the album himself. His cast of players and singers is a veritable list of stars, including Emmylou Harris, Lee Ann Womack, the Doobie Brothers' Michael McDonald, life partner Amy Grant, Kim Keyes, Andrea Zonn, and Leslie Satcher. Famed producer and engineer Justin Niebank is at the mixing desk, and Gill's regular band propels a mixed bag of pop, boogie, swing, and neo-trad country tunes -- and odd for a Nash Vegas album, there are 17 of them, not ten or 12. Standout tracks are the rollicking title with its booming guitars; the mariachi-tinged "We Had It All"; the slow country stroll of "Young Man's Town," despite its sweeping strings and electric violin moan; and the stunning ballad "These Broken Hearts," with McDonald adding a depth of emotion rarely matched on Gill's records. There is also the Merle Haggard tribute "Real Mean Bottle" that features the opening guitar lines to "Mama Tried." But it's far from syrupy -- it's a tough song about a tougher, more visionary man than the singer could ever hope to be, sung in an unflinching manner. All of this said, there are the now-requisite Gill saccharine tracks such as "Whippoorwill River," an insufferable homage to his father that drowns in syrup. The hardcore honky tonk rock of "The Sun's Gonna Shine on You" is one of the strongest cuts on any Gill album, full of shuffling blues and rockabilly swagger. "Old Time Fiddle" is a cross-pollination of Cajun music and bluegrass that works surprisingly well considering how slick it is -- perhaps it's the layered accordions and the organic-sounding percussion. The album closes with "In These Last Few Days," another ballad; Gill always makes records that are at least 60/40 ballads to up-tempo tunes, and this track is that forlorn, bittersweet ballad that seems to close every record of his. But lyrically it's so strong and vulnerable that it works, leaving the listener haunted with the notion that something special has occurred, that he or she has born witness to a man becoming aware of the preciousness of his own life. In all, it's a strong effort. It's nice to see established artists reclaim control of their careers -- especially when the results are so rewarding. ~ Thom Jurek
This album's title is an ironic one, since Vince Gill has spent plenty of time as the Big Thing in country music. He started out as a hot-pickin' bluegrass guitarist before going solo in the mid-'80s. Some 20 years down the line, Gill has nothing to prove but still plenty to say. As always, his sound is a mix of Rodney Crowell-style '80s New Traditionalism, white soul, and pop, with a touch of that bluegrass influence coming through in hisEntertainment Weekly (2/14/03, p.73) - "...BIG represents a lively and assured return to form in which the balladry is just one component..." - Rating: A-