Vince Gill discusses Ryman residency, his career, country's timeless impact

For the remainder of 2024, three world-renowned venues will feature Vince Gill's peerless artistry on their stages: Nashville's Grand Ole Opry House, the Ryman Auditorium and Las Vegas' Sphere.

The Country Music Hall of Famer and Grand Ole Opry member laughs for almost 30 seconds when made aware of this fact.

The "Go Rest High on That Mountain" vocalist plays The Ryman in residency from Aug. 1-4.

Tickets are currently available via ryman.com/event/2024-vince-gill.

He's also playing the Sphere because he's been a touring member of The Eagles since 2016.

Of late, Gill has also made appearances on fellow Oklahoma native Kaitlin Butts' album "Roadrunner!" and Megan Moroney's just-released "Am I Okay?," along with having songwriting sessions with Post Malone.

Vince Gill humbly enters a new chapter of acclaim

"Man, I'm certainly drawing well these days," Gill, 67, joked about his career viability after five decades while seated in his impressive home studio, surrounded by somewhere in the vicinity of 100 guitars, certificates and iconic award trophies, in West Nashville's Belle Meade neighborhood.

He retains an impressed wonderment about the ability to share his talents as a musician, singer and songwriter with the world.

"I have a fun job where I show up and do my part," he said. "If I never had a hit song but instead was one of those collaborators listed on the label copy on the back of a record, I'd have loved that."

Being a member of The Eagles for nearly the past decade, instead of touring solo, has drawn him away from his material. As a result, his Ryman residency allows him to spend time with beloved classics in his favorite venue.

He's excited about playing with a 10-person backing band. Presume that steel guitarist and Musicians Hall of Famer Paul Franklin — with whom he collaborated on the critically acclaimed 2023 album "Sweet Memories: The Music of Ray Price & The Cherokee Cowboys" — will be present.

Early era reflections

At the five-decade point of a career, it's often valuable to highlight successes in retrospect and draw the analogies that have sustained creative viability.

Talk to Gill about his late-70s breakout success as an adult contemporary and mainstream country-leaning guitarist and vocalist, and he's swift with a joke about the magnificence of his hairdo in 1980.

He's also equally as quick to tip his hat to current Eagles bandmate Don Henley, validating his work, even back to his days in Pure Prairie League, by noting that Gill's "knowing how to be a part of a band" allowed him to develop the skills not so much to be a star for a short period, but rather "be a musician for the rest of his life."

When recently deceased music executive Mary Martin became an A&R at RCA Records, Gill's background — similar to Rodney Crowell's — as a top-tier all-around music industry asset led to Gill being signed to the label in 1983.

"People responding honestly to how much they love the art you make as good — and not BS — then force you, via constructive criticism, to grow as an artist, are important," Gill reflected.

What's on the Ryman setlist?

Gill has enough No. 1 and top-10 charting global singles to play a three-hour set. However, he's also collaborated on over 1,000 other releases in his lengthy career. Plus, again, he's a member of The Eagles, who have five Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 singles, a total of 18 top-40 pop hits and one album, 1976's "Hotel California," that is domestically a 26-times platinum-seller.

Thus, compiling a setlist for The Ryman has proven daunting for Gill.

"I can't just sing the songs that I want to sing. Imagine if I didn't play 'When I Call Your Name' or 'Go Rest High On That Mountain.' (On some level), people pay to see me because of their familiarity and comfort with my catalog (which guarantees them) that they'll hear the songs they love," he said.

Reflecting again, he recalled when he opened Roy Orbison in the 1980s and did not have a "boatload of hits that can move a crowd."

The "Oh, Pretty Woman" vocalist responded to Gill's concerns about opening for him in sizable concert halls with a funny perspective on that matter that has remained with him:

"Kid, I'm just playing here like it's just a bigger beer joint," Orbison told him.

The Ryman Auditorium, though daunting, is the size of a "bigger beer joint."

Country music's timelessness

"A great singer singing a great song never goes out of style," offered Gill when asked what has remained similar about country music in the past five decades.

Thus, there's a through line from Merle Haggard and Dolly Parton to Post Malone and Lainey Wilson that feels connected when sitting and listening to Gill's work.

He laughed uproariously when asked if artists from the former era could connect like those in the current one.

"You're asking the wrong guy," Gill said. "I've never made a social media post on the Internet or sent anyone a text message."

But, upon further review, he added another note regarding the timelessness of great singers and songs:

"If it were on in 1949, I absolutely believe that Little Jimmy Dickens would've won on 'American Idol,'" he said.

Gill continued by using a deceptively simple statement to double down on why country's industry grows most effectively when it's in the hands of knowledgeable creators who understand all facets of their craft:

"A great song allows me to tell you a story by also allowing me to paint it like a picture," he said.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Vince Gill's next chapter? Residencies and making more music