Given that he has one of country music’s most beautiful tenors, seemingly innate guitar skills and a knack for songwriting, Vince Gill has worked with many other artists during his 30-plus year career. And it’s these opportunities to make music with other singers and musicians that mean so much to him.
“All I’ve ever wanted to do is collaborate with other artists,” says Gill. “My original plan was to be a session player. I’m still just a guitar player at heart.”

In 2006, Gill released “These Days,” a four-CD set that showcased his aforementioned musical talents. It was an album project that Gill admits got a little out of hand.

“I just went into the studio and started recording all these songs,” Gill recalls. “At one point I thought to myself ‘Now I’m in trouble. What am I going to do with all these songs?’ I went to the record label with the idea of a three-CD set. They suggested that I record a bluegrass album and make it a four-CD set.”
Gill invited nearly two-dozen artists to work with him on “These Days,” including his wife Amy Grant, daughter Jenny, Sheryl Crow, Michael McDonald, Bonnie Raitt, Emmylou Harris, Phil Everly, Del McCoury and Alison Krauss.

For Gill, one of the highlights of the These Days project was recording “Faint of Heart” with Diana Krall “because I am completely mad about Diana’s voice and piano playing.

“Another highlight for me was working with Guy Clark who is an old friend of mine. “These Days” was an opportunity for me to work with some old friends and to make some new ones too.”

After going on the road with a 17-piece band last year, Gill is back on tour but with a much smaller group this time, playing in theaters and concert halls. One thing that makes this tour unique is that there is no set list for the shows; the band takes requests from the audience.

“I went broke paying all those guys last year,” Gill jokes. “It’s been a fun time doing this tour. It’s a way for me to come out and see folks, and do the songs they want to hear. I have received several requests for the song I sang in the Fruit-of-the Loom TV ad, and the occasional requests for ‘Freebird.’”

Gill admits that the audiences “want to hear pretty much the same songs. Occasionally someone will call out an obscure song, including ones that I might or might not know.”

An avid golfer, Gill is recovering from arthroscopic surgery performed on his right knee a few weeks ago.

“The knee is still a bit tender, so I haven’t been able to play any golf since the surgery,” Gill explains. “I didn’t even bring my clubs on the tour bus this time. Of course, the weather has been perfect in every town we’ve played so far!”

Gill is performing three concerts in Central Indiana this week: Wednesday in Bloomington, Thursday in Wabash and Saturday in Muncie. Details are below.

Wednesday, Sept. 24
IU Auditorium, 1211 E. 7th St., Bloomington
8 p.m., $34.00-$54.00, all ages

Thursday, Sept. 25
Honeywell Center, 275 W. Market St., Wabash
7:30 p.m., $27-100, all ages

Saturday, Sept. 27
Emens Auditorium, 1800 W. Riverside Ave., Muncie
8 p.m., $33-48, all ages