Vince Gill Joins Wade Bowen For Stunner of a Song
Texas music artist Wade Bowen has a new album coming out on August 12th called Somewhere Between The Secret and the Truth, and ahead of the new album, he’s just released a stunner of a slow, singer/songwriter country track called “A Guitar, A Singer, and a Song” featuring country legend Vince Gill. Co-written with Lori McKenna like numerous tracks from the new album, the song finds Wade Bowen reflecting on the impact his music has (hopefully) had over his career.
“The whole point of doing what we do is to not be forgotten, to try to leave a mark on the world with a guitar and with your songs and with your voice,” says Wade Bowen. “We don’t think about it until we get a couple decades into our career: ‘Have I done enough that people will remember me?’ When I brought the idea to Lori, of course she’s the kind of person that was just like, ‘oh yeah, I see what you’re talking about there.’ I’m so thankful for her friendship that helped turned this idea into the right lyrics.”
Adding Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill to the mix just lends to the already strong effort. “Wade is a great artist and this is a great singer, singing a great song,” says Gill. “That never goes out of style. I’m grateful to be a part of it.”
Lori McKenna also joins Wade for a song on the new album called “A Beautiful World” the pair wrote together. Other co-writers on the album that Bowen produced himself include Randy Montana on numerous tracks, Drew Kennedy, Eric Paslay, and Heather Morgan. Wade also released an EP in 2021 called Where Phones Don’t Work. The prolific moment comes after Bowen found himself in a writer’s drought.
“I was trying to find where I fit musically again,” Bowen says. “I’ve been doing this so long that I feel like I got off track from where I felt I fit—I was all over the place with my songwriting and my career. Ironically enough, COVID really gave me a chance to just turn my brain off a little bit and stop thinking. When I came out on the other side, I really found not only a renewed sense of my music and wanting to get out and play again, but I found a renewed sense of self. I found who I wanted to be as a writer, as a singer, as an artist.”
Somewhere Between The Secret and the Truth is now available for pre-order.
TRACK LIST:
- Everything Has Your Memory (Wade Bowen, Eric Paslay, Heather Morgan)
- Burnin’ Both Ends of the Bar (Wade Bowen, Randy Montana)
- Honky Tonk Roll (Wade Bowen, Randy Montana)
- The Secret To This Town (Wade Bowen, Heather Morgan)
- If You Don’t Miss Me (Wade Bowen, Ray Fulcher)
- A Beautiful World featuring Lori McKenna (Wade Bowen, Lori McKenna)
- She’s Driving Me Crazy (Wade Bowen, Eric Paslay, Heather Morgan)
- Knowing Me Like I Do (Wade Bowen, Clint Ingersoll)
- It’s Gonna Hurt (Wade Bowen, Drew Kennedy)
- Say Goodbye (Wade Bowen, Eric Paslay, Heather Morgan)
- A Guitar, A Singer and A Song featuring Vince Gill (Wade Bowen, Lori McKenna)
- Somewhere Between The Secret and The Truth (Wade Bowen, Lori McKenna)
July 20, 2022 @ 11:56 am
Strong writers on this album. I am very excited to hear it. The collaboration with Vince Gill is a keeper.
July 20, 2022 @ 12:01 pm
That is indeed a killer of a song. Instrumentation is exquisite. An immediate song-of-the-year candidate in my opinion. ‘Nough said.
July 20, 2022 @ 2:29 pm
It’s just one of those you have to stop what you’re doing and listen.
July 20, 2022 @ 3:29 pm
Vince Gill can do no wrong. What a talent.
July 21, 2022 @ 9:15 pm
Don’t be so sure he said he would be willing to collaborate with Lil Bi**h X.
July 20, 2022 @ 3:54 pm
Vince Gill. Oh, man. He definitely adds some magic to a very good tune. Thanks, fellas.
July 20, 2022 @ 4:07 pm
Welcome back,Vince !!!!!
July 20, 2022 @ 4:13 pm
Great song, I agree, great guitar and steel, very uncluttered, anybody know the personnel? Maybe Paul Franklin on steel since he and Vince are very close? And Vince Gill, Who can ask for more!
July 20, 2022 @ 4:29 pm
Every bit of heaping singer/songwriter praise we heap on the independent superstars can also be said about Wade Bowen. He is so damn good. Solid Ground was a tour de force. This song is great. I am so excited about this album
July 20, 2022 @ 4:35 pm
Vince is amazing. He truly loves music. He’s guests on so many tracks of artists beneath him. And I don’t say “beneath him” to demean those artists. Vince is at the top of country music and truly plays and sings for the love of it. There have been very few triple threats of his caliber.
July 20, 2022 @ 6:00 pm
The thing I’ve always found about Vince (as great as he is) is that he doesn’t really have any “famous” songs. Like obviously he has dozens of great songs, but none have really had any popularity in recent years, when compared to some of his peers.
July 20, 2022 @ 6:32 pm
For all the references to ’90s country in current song lyrics and public statements by songwriters and singers, only a few ’90s hitmakers still get any airplay. When your local country station interrupts its endless repetition of Blake/Jason/Kane/Kenny/Maren/Luke(s) for a song by a “legend,” that legend is nearly always George Strait, Brooks & Dunn, Reba McEntire, Tim McGraw or Garth Brooks. Vince may as well be Billy Ray Cyrus for all the exposure his music gets now, which is strange, because he put out some very commercial, non-rootsy material and went to the top of the charts with it. Remember “Don’t Let Our Love Stop Slipping Away”? How about “I Still Believe in You” or his glossy, orchestrated duet with Reba, “The Heart Won’t Lie”? How do they not make him an acceptable country “legend” today?
July 20, 2022 @ 8:07 pm
That’s exactly what I meant, and I’m glad my comment wasn’t taken as a criticism of Vince or his music. I just can’t think of any of his songs that would be considered “90s classics”.
July 21, 2022 @ 4:36 am
@Hal, interesting point. I don’t think Vince, or his real fans want him to chase relevancy. Also Eric Clapton even saved him from a slump in the 00’s. Alan Jackson and George Strait haven’t had much radio success with new music either. I guess to casual country fans, Vince is in the same group with Steve Wariner and Ricky Skaggs.
I don’t know to what degree some older artists are more popular today because of name-dropping of them and their songs by current artists. If I could be the dictator of country music I’d outlaw any name-dropping in songs.
All of the “legends” you listed rode the neo-traditional country music fad that Vince and George laid the groundwork for by staying traditional and popular in the 80’s. I fully expect that Garth, Mcgraw, and many others would have had a far different sound if the Neo Trad country was not as popular as it was.
July 20, 2022 @ 8:12 pm
“Go Rest High On That Mountain” is the song I think of when I think of Vince Gill. Having been played at prominent funerals, I think it’s become his signature song, even though it only hit #14 when it was released.
I just went on Spotify, and it’s his 2nd most streamed song behind “Don’t Let Our Love Start Slipping Away,” which I feel is kind of mild. The other song I think of when I think of Vince Gill is “One More Last Chance.”
July 20, 2022 @ 8:41 pm
My favorite commercial country song by him is one of his first — “If It Weren’t for Him,” his duet with Rosanne Cash. I was also a big fan of “Pocket Full of Gold” and “When I Call Your Name.” His uptempo stuff never really connected with me. It paled in comparison to what Ricky Skaggs and even Steve Wariner were putting our around the same time.
July 21, 2022 @ 4:48 am
I can’t think of a higher honor than having a song so many people want to hear played at the funeral for a death of a loved one, famous or non-famous. I’ve heard that it’s the most popular song at funerals. Vince seems to realize this and not take it lightly.
July 21, 2022 @ 5:58 am
I think of Let Me Love You Tonight. Hit #1 on the contemporary chart and had a long run on the radio.
July 21, 2022 @ 1:08 pm
Yes, When he was in Pure Prairie League! Great song!!
July 21, 2022 @ 5:15 am
What??? “When I Call Your Name” is a top 25 all-time country song. It won every award. Including CMA Single and Song in 1990 and 1991. It was HUGE!
I remember that year it was played non stop on the radio.
That’s a famous song, no debating.
July 21, 2022 @ 6:28 am
It might be famous, but it’s not as popular in this era as some other songs. On Spotify, “When I Call Your Name” has 18 million streams. I compared it to several other songs from the same era (I tried not to pick anything too popular), which as John Deere Green by Joe Diffie (69 million streams), Small Town Saturday Night by Hal Ketchum (34 Million Streams) and Queen of My Double Wide Trailer by Sammy Kershaw (31 Million streams). I’m just saying that it’s too bad the Vince’s music hasn’t had a “reburst” of popularity, but I’m sure it will happen.
July 21, 2022 @ 6:53 am
That is interesting. Did you know the three songs you picked were on both American Aquarium 90’s covers projects recently released? I don’t know how much spike these songs saw from being covered by AA. Vince doesn’t seem to be part of this 90’s country music revival mostly because he’s stayed relevant throughout the years while Diffie, Ketchum, and Keyshawn haven’t been relevant since the 90’s and there music is being introduced to a younger audience for the first time.
July 21, 2022 @ 8:39 am
I hear the Diffie and Ketchum songs in the hourly “gold” slots on a couple of area country stations frequently. I assume other mainstream country stations across the country are doing the same, which probably accounts for their higher Spotify numbers. The only Kershaw song I’ve heard this millennium on radio outside of SiriusXM is “She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful.”
Oh, and “Keyshawn” for “Kershaw” is the best autocorrect error I’ve seen in a long, long time!
July 21, 2022 @ 8:28 am
I didn’t realize they were all covered on that album, just a coincidence I guess. However, I can’t imagine that album had much to do with the spike, though you make a good point about Vince Gill staying relevant. It still doesn’t change the fact that he hasn’t been part of the revival, however artists like Alan Jackson, Tin McGraw, Toby Keith, etc. (who all remained relevant for decades after the 90s) have been part of the revival.
July 21, 2022 @ 7:43 am
When I said Vince is at the top of country music, I meant it in the way that Merle Haggard’s music is at the top of country music.
July 20, 2022 @ 5:57 pm
I’ve always been a Vince Gill enthusiast.
July 20, 2022 @ 5:57 pm
Hopefully it’ll be good.
July 20, 2022 @ 5:58 pm
I really wish I could listen to the song, unfortunately I don’t have access to the internet (my son Bill is typing this out on his computer because he has internet at his house).
July 21, 2022 @ 12:21 am
There is a chance that this is humor in layers – fair play to you. Funniest comment I have read in a long time.
July 21, 2022 @ 5:27 am
You have a good sense of humour then.
July 21, 2022 @ 4:42 am
What a beautiful song, both the music and the lyrics. The instrumentation and production, the fact there is no bass-line, gives it a nice feel. Well done.
July 21, 2022 @ 7:41 am
Wow.
This song is beautifully produced.
Agree with Tommy Birkes, above. This song makes you stop and listen.
July 21, 2022 @ 8:42 am
Thank you, Trig.
July 21, 2022 @ 9:13 am
I wasn’t a big fan of VG until I saw him live several years ago. It was an incredible show. “Go Rest High on that Mountain” was written for his brother I believe.
July 21, 2022 @ 9:24 am
listen to the Pocket Full of Gold album all the way through, or youtube any Time Jumpers performances with him.
July 21, 2022 @ 9:32 am
For Keith Whitley, I believe. Vince and his family are from Oklahoma, where mountains do not exist.
July 21, 2022 @ 9:58 am
You’re both right.
Vince Gill started writing the song for Keith Whitley, but then finished it after the death of his brother four years later.
July 21, 2022 @ 10:39 am
The Ozark Mountains start in northeast Oklahoma. Haven’t you ever seen, “Where The Red Fern Grows”?
Also, the Ouachita Mountains occupy southeastern Oklahoma.
Dude, you need to visit OK sometime.
July 21, 2022 @ 11:01 am
Always took the “Mountain” in “Go Rest High On That Mountain” to be the hypothetical spiritual “Mountaintop” in reference to Heaven, not necessarily a geographical reference.
July 21, 2022 @ 12:05 pm
I agree, Trig. I was replying to the individual who stated, “Oklahoma, where mountains do not exist.”
July 21, 2022 @ 2:40 pm
My apologies, King. I have been in Oklahoma, but only traveling south-north and stopping for the night in OKC on my way from Houston to Kansas City nearly 40 years ago.
July 21, 2022 @ 9:47 am
Vince was Fantastic with the Eagles, October, ’18, in Cleveland.
So fortunate was able to attend that show.
Think you are correct, that Vince wrote that song for his brother.
July 21, 2022 @ 6:05 pm
The harmonies are exquisite topped off by killer pedal steel. I was thinking maybe Jeff Queen played steel.
July 22, 2022 @ 2:53 am
Lori Mckenna? i’m on.
July 22, 2022 @ 4:56 pm
Self-congratulatory and about as poetic as ketchup, but Vince Gill is a country musician of the first rank.
July 22, 2022 @ 8:49 pm
Funny I always thought that about Vince and now somebody has written that. He has a couple of big songs, but a whole lot of great music that were never big songs. When I saw him in concert, it was hard to think beforehand what will he play. Like they say, he can sing the phone book!
He is an amazing talent and like Marty Stuart, such a proponent of country music. But also like Marty and unlike a lot of stars, I feel he is know more for his body of work then his hits. Which is ok with me!
July 23, 2022 @ 2:34 pm
I always kind of feel bad for Vince that “Go Rest High On That Mountain” became such a popular song for funerals. I’m sure he considers it an honor to be asked to sing for the memory of his friends and heroes but it can’t be enjoyable to go through the normal grieving process with the stress of a live performance on top of that. You can see his pain when he broke down at George Jones’ funeral.
And in case anybody thinks I’m saying men shouldn’t cry or something, that’s nonsense. I was raised that way too but I came to realize that it’s as wrong to suppress your emotions as to allow them to free rein. It just can’t be pleasant to be driven to such a height of feeling so publicly and in a way that interferes with what you’re trying to do, a tribute to those you loved. Writing a song with such impact for so many people and that led to such personal consequences, well it’s got to be a blessing and a curse.
July 23, 2022 @ 6:31 pm
“You think you’re singing a song, but the song’s singing you…” That’s gold.
July 25, 2022 @ 6:29 am
A lot of love for Vince Gill here, which is fine. Not nearly enough for Wade Bowen. He is hugely underrated. Also, seems like a great guy. Stopped to chat with me at Mile 0 last year.
July 25, 2022 @ 7:19 am
Yeah I really liked the Where Phones Don’t Work EP and of course the Hold My Beer stuff…Wade’s the goods!!! A woman I was dating in 99 was absolutely obsessed with Vince so she turned me on to him and I’ve been a fan ever since. Probably the first Country artist I seriously listened to in detail for sure. I was happy when this union came about. Love the song!