Next Big Thing (CD - 2003)

Personnel: Vince Gill (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, mandolin); Al Anderson (acoustic & electric guitars); Mac McAnally (acoustic guitar); Dean Parks (electric guitar); Tom Britt (slide guitar); John Hughley (steel guitar); Stuart Duncan (fiddle); Jim Hoke (autoharp, harmonica, accordion); The Nashville String Machine (strings); Kirk Whalam (alto saxophone); Jim Horn (baritone saxophone); Charles Rose (trumpet); Steve Herrman (trombone); Pete Wasner, John Hobbs (keyboards); Willie Weeks (bass); Chad Cromwell (drums); Eric Darken (percussion); Amy Grany, Lee Ann Womack, Dawn Sears, Leslie Satcher, Billy Thomas, Harry Stinson, Bekka Bramlett, Kim Keyes, Jenny Gill, Emmylou Harris, Michael McDonald, Andrea Zonn, Jeff White (background vocals).

Recorded at Ocean Way, Seventeen Grand and Sound Kitchen Studios, Nashville, Tennessee.

"Next Big Thing" won the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Male Country Vocal Performance.

Audio Mixer: Justin Niebank.

Recording information: Seventeen Grand Recording, Nashville, TN; Sound Kitchen, Nashville, TN.

Photographer: Andrew Eccles.

This album's title is an ironic one, since Vince Gill has spent plenty of time as the Big Thing in country music. He started out as a hot-pickin' bluegrass guitarist before going solo in the mid-'80s. Some 20 years down the line, Gill has nothing to prove but still plenty to say. As always, his sound is a mix of Rodney Crowell-style '80s New Traditionalism, white soul, and pop, with a touch of that bluegrass influence coming through in his keening tenor. He's still the Mr. Nice Guy of contemporary country, soft-pedaling both the songs and the singing in a manner not unlike the Timothy B. Schmit portion of the Eagles' catalogue.

"Young Man's Town" ups the soul influence and adds a touch of Springsteen sentimentalism, while the aptly named "Old Time Fiddle" shows Gill's traditional roots, and "Without You" ventures into Ray Price-meets-Bob Wills territory. The marimba-laden "We Had it All" is something of a Marty Robbins update, and things close out tastefully with the gentle, soulfully sung "In These Last Few Days." If you're looking for gaudy power ballads or rock with a cowboy hat, try elsewhere. Honest emotions delivered with class are still a BIG THING with Gill. minimize