Not only is Vince Gill one of the more talented country music songwriters working today, but he projects warmth and charm when he performs, as he did Friday evening at the Chicago Theatre.
This tour is a return to performing his own music after filling in for the late Glenn Frey with the Eagles for the last few years.
Gill brought plenty of backup for this show. Two lead guitarists, two rhythm guitarists, two keyboardists, and Vince (who played lead and rhythm guitar) provided plenty of redundancy. The band was solid, but the steel guitarist seated to Gill's left frequently stole the show with his impressive solos.
Between songs, the singer told stories of his life, his music, and his inspirations for songs. A joke by a friend in a Nashville cafe inspired "Down to My Last Bad Habit," while an offhand remark by Mavis Staples inspired "These Times." A songwriter convinced him to change the lyrics of "Look At Us" to a happy ending - advice that paid off in the song's popularity.
Although many of his songs feature sad lyrics, he played one song about infidelity. "If it weren't for all these cheating songs, we wouldn't need all these Gospel songs," he quipped as an introduction to "Pocket Full of Gold."
His first set mainly consisted of country music, with the notable exception of the pop-sounding "Feels Like Love." He drew on his extensive song catalog but also mixed in covers of Merle Haggard's "The Bottle Let Me Down" and Buck Owens's "Together Again." Near the end of the set, he invited guitarist Jedd Huges to the front to sing his original composition "Loving You is the Only Way to Fly." Next, longtime backup singer Wendy Moten belted out Bobbie Gentry's "Ode to Billie Joe" before Gill returned to the microphone to close the set with "When Amy Prays," a tribute to singer Amy Grant, his wife of twenty-five years.
After a brief intermission, the band returned and played a selection of new songs from Gill's pen, many of which have not been released yet. He asserted that he was going through the most creative period of his career, and these songs provided strong evidence that he remains an impressive songwriter. Halfway through set two, Chicago blues harmonica player Billy Branch joined the band onstage for one song.
Vince Gill joked that his doctor ordered him not to sing two fast songs in a row. Mostly, he complied, as much of his music tells sad stories. (He insisted that the saddest song of all time is "Old Shep," which his father sang to him about a boy forced to shoot his dying dog.) But Vince broke the consecutive fast song rule at the end of set two when he followed the rowdy "What Cowgirls Do" with the upbeat "Oklahoma Borderline."
The show closed with a rousing 10-minute jam session of "Liza Jane" before exiting a final time.
Vince Gill poured his heart into this evening's performance for nearly three and a half hours. The audience left, feeling they knew him better because of it.