Vince Gill Likes Living on the ‘Blue Side’

Vince Gill has carved an historic career out of recording emotionally-charged songs like 'Go Rest High on That Mountain' and 'Never Knew Lonely.' But while other stars might lean toward more positive, up-tempo tunes, the 54-year-old admits he actually prefers the opposite.

"I like the blue side," the Oklahoma native says (quote via GAC). "I've always liked the sad side of music ... the sadder the better. I grew up and played a lot of bluegrass music, and the songs were somewhat morbid in a sense. Somebody's going to die or something bad is going to happen. There was a great songwriter, Townes Van Zandt. He had my favorite quote of all time. He says 'there's really only two kinds of music: there's the blues and Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah.'"

Vince may gravitate toward darker songs for his albums, but his real life with wife Amy Grant is one never-ending love song. "We're still married! It was 11 years March 10, and we're happy!" he tells People magazine. "With Amy and I, there's no angst, no drama. It's really peaceful in our marriage, and that's how we like it."

The Country Music Hall of Fame member celebrated the July 4 holiday by sitting in as a guest on NPR's (National Public Radio) weekend broadcast. Vince acknowledges it was a surprisingly easy gig. "It was fun," he reveals. "I had a good time doing it. It wasn't hard; I just brought people on, took people off, cracked a few jokes and went home. It wasn't that tough."

The multi-platinum selling singer is getting ready to release his first studio album in five years, 'Guitar Slinger,' which he promises will offer something for everyone's musical tastes. "I feel like the emphasis has been on the songs and the songs have gotten better," Vince notes. "They really run the gamut of what they are about, how they feel, how they sound. It's not an all-traditional record, it's not an all-contemporary record; it's all over the map, like I kind of have always been. But it doesn't feel out of step with anything I've done previously."

Vince will perform several dates over the next few months with his wife, including two shows in Virginia at the end of July. Keep track of his concert schedule here.