Vince Gill: Time Jumpers Bring Career Full Circle

Vince Gill has a shelf-full of Grammy gold for his solo work, as well as for his collaborations with fellow artists, and he may be adding to that shelf in a few weeks for his contributions to country swing band the Time Jumpers, a group he says has him feeling like a kid again.

The Time Jumpers are up for Best Country Album for their self-titled CD, and also for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for their song, "On the Outskirts of Town," which features lead vocals by Vince. The Country Music Hall of Famer says it's important to him to live up to that title, and he finds his work with his new band definitely fits the bill.

"If you look at the 20 Grammys I've won, more than half of them have been with Earl Scruggs, Ricky Skaggs or Asleep at the Wheel, and I was always willing to share the gifts I was given," Vince tells The Boot. "I'm having arguably the best time of my life right now ... I'm playing music that really goes all the way back to my infancy, and I'm playing it in an authentic way, which means more than anything. Some of my contributions to this band feel countrier and more authentic than anything I've ever done. So I feel like a brand-new kid almost. Being inducted into the Hall of Fame a few years ago has inspired me to go earn it, and with that I want to earn it with honesty and with things that are authentic. Nothing drives me too much that's commercially motivated."

The Time Jumpers have a standing gig every Monday at Nashville's 3rd & Lindsley music venue. The lauded guitar slinger says their performances have upped his musical game, while also reminding him of his musical roots.

"I'm having the time of my life with these guys, and I'm a better musician because of it because they're so good," says Vince. "At the end of the day, we're getting to do some things that none of us probably ever thought we'd get to do. And the popularity of this band is really a blessing to watch, because there's not that much of this music going on. The people who come down there on Monday nights are crazy about this kind of music, and it reminds me of when I was a kid. People would come because that's what they wanted to hear, the bluegrass band I was in, and it wasn't a bar scene where you were background noise ... everybody came and they listened. That's all a musician ever wants anybody to do, is respond. Playing music is a conversation, and if it doesn't come back to you, there's no point in talking."