Vince Gill starts new tour tonight
Vince Gill at Cleveland Elementary Arts and Science Specialty School back in March. (Oklahoman Archive photo by Steve Gooch)
Oklahoma native Vince Gill embarks tonight on his U.S. concert tour, “A Special Acoustic Evening with Vince Gill.” His first show of the fall tour is taking place at the Lorain County Fair in Wellington, Ohio.
During the tour, Gill will be accompanied only by pianist Pete Wasner and percussionist Billy Thomas. Along with performing his hits and some new material, the singer/songwriter/musician also will share stories that reflect his warm and funny personality.
“In 2006 and 2007, I toured with a 17-piece band so I could reproduce the sounds of ‘These Days,’ the new album I’d made,” said Gill on his Web site. “And it was a lot of fun. This year, I’m not out promoting a new album so I wanted to do something really different.
“Recently I saw James Taylor on his tour. It was a kind of one-man band show, with just him, a piano player and all those great songs. I really enjoyed watching it and I knew I would enjoy performing in that setting as well. So I’m going to tour basically the same way - pared down and informal.”
The tour concludes Nov. 23-24 with a pair of dates in Alexandria, Va. Unfortunately, the 19-time Grammy winner won’t be stopping in Oklahoma on this particular tour.
But the concept sounds similar to the benefit show Gill put on in his hometown of Oklahoma City back in March. The sell-out show “Vince Gill: Back in Class” had Gill playing in 220-seat auditorium of Cleveland Elementary Arts and Science Specialty School, where he attended grade school.
The spring show raised $95,000 to refurbish the auditorium and honored Gill as Oklahoma Today magazine’s 2007 Oklahoman of the Year.
“What you kind of yearn for as a performer, I think, more than anything is that connection, that intimacy that happens when you’re in a smaller place,” Gill told me before the March show. “This’ll be fun. It’s just going to be me and a guitar and a piano player.”
-BAM
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