Vince Gill Keeps Timeless Music Jumping

Vince Gill announced earlier this year he is parting ways with his longtime label MCA Records, but while that may mean a temporary speed bump in his solo career, his band has taken off. The singer-songwriter is part of the Western swing group, the Time Jumpers, and he says, after almost 30 years of churning out solo hits, he feels like he has finally found his musical home.

"People miss that kind of music," Vince tells The Boot. "That's what I hope. Also, these guys are the most savagely talented musicians, and that never goes out of style. There may be things that were popular that people are kind of dismissive of, or think it's too poppy or whatever. This is in the dirt, great old stuff. It's neat because all this band ever wanted to do was play in the clubs, old Western swing and great old country music like the shuffles Ray Price did in the '50s, because you don't hear it anymore. It's sad but true. So it's something that was born out of a love for missing something and a love of doing something that you love to do."

"Little by little, this band came together," the Time Jumpers' fiddle player, Kenny Sears, explains. "It started in the dressing room backstage at the Opry with jam sessions, between spots. There were a few spots missed because we were back there and lost track of time. That's where the nucleus of the band started, right there. It has grown some throughout the years."

Grown, that is, into an 11-member band whose debut album hit stores last month to rave reviews. But that's certainly not inflating eleven egos. "It's not a band that's got their head in the clouds saying, 'We're going to be the hot new band in country music,'" Vince maintains. "That's pretty insane. It's a side project for everybody, pretty much. Everybody has other things that they make their living doing -- whether it's being a side man or a session man or a road dog -- and away we go on Monday nights having a ball."

The Time Jumpers play every Monday night at 3rd & Lindsley in Nashville, in addition to performances at several other venues, including the Grand Ole Opry. See their schedule here, and purchase their new self-titled album, released last month on Rounder Records, here.