{"id":17902,"date":"2019-08-23T06:00:50","date_gmt":"2019-08-23T12:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/?p=1810902"},"modified":"2019-08-23T06:00:50","modified_gmt":"2019-08-23T12:00:50","slug":"from-mama-to-murder-ballads-vince-gill-gets-personal-on-okie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/music-news\/from-mama-to-murder-ballads-vince-gill-gets-personal-on-okie\/","title":{"rendered":"From Mama to Murder Ballads, Vince Gill Gets Personal on Okie"},"content":{"rendered":"<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cmt.mtvnimages.com\/uri\/mgid:ao:image:cmt.com:680567?width=1200&amp;height=675&amp;.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"byline\">by <span class=\"author\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/author\/cmtcomstaff\/\" title=\"Posts by CMT.com Staff\" rel=\"author\">CMT.com Staff<\/a><\/span> <span class=\"date\">3m ago<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/artists\/vince-gill\">Vince Gill<\/a> has made one of the most eloquent albums of his career with <em>Okie<\/em>, which frames his sterling tenor among low-key, acoustic arrangements. It\u2019s hard to pin the project down to one musical genre, and that\u2019s OK with Gill.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like stretching where it itches,\u201d he tells <em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/shows\/hot-20-countdown\">CMT Hot 20 Countdown<\/a><\/em>. \u201cI have a lot of music that\u2019s inside of me. I don\u2019t just want to be a traditional country singer. I don\u2019t just want to be a bluegrass singer. I don\u2019t just want to be a singer-songwriter. I\u2019m going to be all these things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Editor\u2019s Note: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/shows\/hot-20-countdown\">CMT Hot 20 Countdown<\/a> airs at 9\/8c Saturday and Sunday mornings.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/g3g61DLbAZA?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/g3g61DLbAZA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><strong>CMT: Would you describe <em>Okie<\/em> as a personal singer-songwriter album?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Vince Gill: I think so. I think even more than that, it\u2019s a reflection of how old I am and how long I\u2019ve been doing this, and how my life is these days. I didn\u2019t want to make a record that\u2019s trying, necessarily, to get on the radio \u2014 big, hooky choruses and electric guitars. But I wanted to sing some songs that were special to me.<\/p>\n<p><em>Red Headed Stranger<\/em> [Willie Nelson\u2019s 1975 classic album] was a neat thing to remember. That was a neat record for the time, in that it was so simply done. And that\u2019s what I wanted to do with this record. I didn\u2019t play any electric guitar on here. There\u2019s no big choruses with lots of vocals. It\u2019s just the songs. And I never wanted anything to distract from the songs, so the music is very sparse and to the point.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s just a couple solos on the record and they\u2019re minimal at best. So it\u2019s not going to be a record that you\u2019re gonna go listen to, to hear a bunch of musicians show off. It\u2019s gonna be a reflective record of some pretty neat songs about some really truthful, meaningful, and deep subjects.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jfMqUAU5a5I?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/jfMqUAU5a5I?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><strong>Sounds like you\u2019ve made a record for adults to me.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Well, I would say that\u2019s correct, but at the same time, it\u2019s like when you have the opportunity to impose some life lessons to a young person, whether it\u2019s your kid or what have you. Experience is valuable and I think you can also inspire a young person to realize it\u2019s OK to make a mistake, to screw something up, and to be regretful about some things, to be forgiving about some things, even in yourself.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s one of the hardest things we have to do is to forgive ourselves. And it\u2019s powerful when you can own your own mess. In a sense, that\u2019s what these songs are. They are the truth, in my experience. Some are personal and some of them are just stories, but they\u2019re stories on tough subjects.<\/p>\n<p>There\u2019s a song on here about abuse, sexual abuse. There\u2019s a song on here about a young girl that gets pregnant and the whole premise of the song is not to cast any judgment. None of the songs have any judgment to them, saying you should feel this way or think this way. It\u2019s just posing what the scenario is. It\u2019s telling the story without judgment and that\u2019s what\u2019s beautiful about that song. It never tells what the girl should or shouldn\u2019t do. It\u2019s just, what choice would you make?<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mYUaJpRIql0?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/mYUaJpRIql0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><strong>Some are personal, some aren\u2019t, but these are all relatable topics.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yeah, it\u2019s a very personal type of topic, and unfortunately people probably have a hard time talking about that type of stuff. It is a tough subject. Once again, not a story being done with judgment, but with compassion.<\/p>\n<p>Once as a young kid, I was acted upon by my basketball and gym teacher \u2014 and the fortunate thing was I jumped up and ran. In seventh grade, no one knows what the hell your body does or what it\u2019s supposed to do, or any of that mess. And all I knew is that it felt completely wrong and I jumped up and I ran out of the room and I was spared. But a lot of other kids weren\u2019t \u2014 in that same situation, in that same school, with that same guy. So there\u2019s no telling how much damage he did to kids in those years.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b3njw06BRAA?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/b3njw06BRAA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p>But it\u2019s hard sometimes to put yourself in a vulnerable position in the way you choose to write a song. I mean, \u201cWhen My Amy Prays\u201d is a beautiful song, a tribute to my sweet wife, Amy, but it\u2019s also a vulnerable song for me because it tells the truth. I didn\u2019t have the church life that Amy had growing up. I\u2019m not like she is. People assume I am, because we\u2019re married, and so things like that are a little tough to throw out there and be willing to admit some things that are true.<\/p>\n<p>I watched Merle Haggard one time in an interview say, just tell the truth. It\u2019s out there, it\u2019s over, and you don\u2019t have anything to defend, and it\u2019s powerful. So I\u2019m trying to take those words to heart.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HSR5Jhygs0k?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/HSR5Jhygs0k?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><strong>I\u2019m curious about the song \u201cThat Old Man of Mine.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>You can\u2019t have a good country record without a murder ballad. We need another \u201cLong Black Veil\u201d out there for people to hear these days. \u2026 If you\u2019re a songwriter, you gotta be able to not have to tell the truth every time all the time. It\u2019s got its own element of truth in it, in very small doses, but what makes a great song \u2014 it\u2019s a great story. You paint great pictures, hopefully, with songs.<\/p>\n<p>The guy kills his own dad to protect his family \u2014 protect his mom, protect his sister. \u2026 I like those kinds of songs, always have since my bluegrass days. We call them the morbid murder ballads. I think they are a great part of our history. I like things that are dark. I like subjects that are hard. I like music that\u2019s melancholy. I like things to stir up emotions. I\u2019m moved by music and sometimes the darkest story is deserving to be told.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9OkBvNgc7t0?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9OkBvNgc7t0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><strong>You seem as satisfied as you have ever been, if not more so.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve always been satisfied. I\u2019ve always been pretty happy. It\u2019s like what my mom always said. When somebody asked her if she wished I would have gone to school and gotten a real job, she\u2019d go, \u201cNah, he\u2019s happy. I didn\u2019t care about having a rich kid. I wanted a happy kid.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So at all those junctions \u2014 when I was 18, living in an attic in a house for 15 dollars a month \u2014 I felt happy and I felt successful, because I could pay that rent and live on making music. And that\u2019s never changed, whether it was the leanest years, the most successful year, and now some more lean years, and now a new gig [in the Eagles] \u2014 it\u2019s changed everything once again. I just live in the moment and I\u2019m grateful every time.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Sd8r7M9GXac?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Sd8r7M9GXac?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><strong>What did your mom say the first time you played \u201cA Letter to My Mama\u201d for her?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I put some headphones on her and she teared up. It was really a sweet moment. \u2026 I think it was late last year I played in Oklahoma City in the Civic Center, which was the very first place I ever heard live music. I think that was the first place I heard the symphony play as a little boy. And I go to play that song in front of a full house \u2013 \u201cA Letter to My Mama\u201d with her in the audience \u2014 and she was more than pleased.<\/p>\n<p>I played a dobro solo on that song and I never play the dobro much anymore. I did when I was younger and playing in bluegrass. I was pretty good, but when the guys showed up that play really great, I was like, \u201cWhy do I play the dobro when I can get that guy to do it?\u201d But my mom said at one point after I had tons of success, \u201cYou\u2019ve done a lot of neat things, but my favorite thing you ever did was when you played the dobro. That\u2019s my favorite.\u201d So I was like, I have to play a dobro solo on this song, so its full circle.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hiGW-TOiPG4?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/hiGW-TOiPG4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p><strong>Why did you choose to close <em>Okie<\/em> with your tribute to Merle Haggard?<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I think more than anything because it\u2019s the countriest thing on the record. I have another song about Guy Clark on this record and I didn\u2019t want them back to back. So all of a sudden you hear a song honoring my friend Guy, and then you hear one honoring Merle. It was a little too disconcerting, so I separated those two.<\/p>\n<p>It just felt like the right thing to end the record with. He\u2019s my favorite. I always point to Merle Haggard as my favorite artist and the way he played, the way he sang, the way he wrote songs, the way he led a band, the way his band played, and the way the records were made. That was right in my wheelhouse. So I thought the last nod had to be to my fave.<\/p>\n<div class=\"deferred_content\">Embedded from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nGyXcGJnnM4?feature=oembed\">www.youtube.com<\/a>. <noscript class=\"deferred_content\" data-deferred-info=\"{&quot;type&quot;:&quot;iframe&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nGyXcGJnnM4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\">[embedded content]<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><\/noscript><\/div>\n<p> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cmt.com\/news\/1810902\/from-mama-to-murder-ballads-vince-gill-gets-personal-on-okie\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">via:: CMT News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>by CMT.com Staff 3m ago Vince Gill has made one of the most eloquent albums of his career with Okie, which frames his sterling tenor among low-key, acoustic arrangements. It\u2019s hard to pin the project down to one musical genre, and that\u2019s OK with Gill. \u201cI like stretching where it itches,\u201d he tells CMT Hot [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17902","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-music-news"},"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-06-13 05:39:27","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"distributor_meta":false,"distributor_terms":false,"distributor_media":false,"distributor_original_site_name":"KRKY Ski Country","distributor_original_site_url":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky","push-errors":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17902"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17902\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alwaysmountaintime.com\/krky\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}