Vince Gill Releases “A Letter To My Mama” Ahead of New Album
Just in time for Mother’s Day, Norman, Oklahoma native and Country Music Hall of Famer Vince Gill has released a new song for mom. Called “A Letter To My Mama,” the song is not some sappy ode similar to the cursive inscription you might find in a Mother’s Day card, it’s an honest, open, and thoughtful expression of remorse and gratitude to mom that we can most all relate to.
“A Letter To My Mama” is the first song from Vince Gill’s upcoming album called Okie to be released on August 23rd. The new album is said to be a step in a different direction for Gill. On his last record, 2016’s Down To My Last Bad Habit, you got the sense Vince was still trying to hold on to some of his mainstream popularity that has probably passed him over at this point. But Okie is more acoustic and songwriter-based.
“I thought this was going to be a songwriter record, not a concept album,” Gill says, who wrote or co-wrote all 12 tracks on the album. “It wound up being more information than I’d envisioned. A friend sent me an email saying, ‘You could have only written this record after living a 60-year-plus life.’ He said, ‘There’s no struggle in these songs, just truth and your experience.’”
On the record, there are tribute songs to both Guy Clark and Merle Haggard, and two songs about his wife Amy Grant. Now at 61-years-old, Vince Gill sees his window of creativity beginning to close, and wanted to do something more thoughtful. One of the best Telecaster players in country music, the record is said to have no guitar solos.
Vince Gill has been getting his fair share of playing guitar while being a primary member of The Eagles on recent tours, trying to fill the big shoes of Glen Frey who passed away in 2016. Gill was also recently in Oklahoma near his hometown paying tribute to Byron Berline and his Double Stop Fiddle Shop that was destroyed in a recent fire. Along with Larry Gatlin and the Turnpike Troubadours, they played a benefit to raised funds for the famed fiddle shop.
Pre-order bundles of Okie are now available.
May 12, 2019 @ 1:15 pm
What a musician -what a talent!! What a nice tribute.
May 12, 2019 @ 1:53 pm
A beautiful song from a legend that has always been nothing but class in my opinion. Always look forward to his albums.
May 12, 2019 @ 3:32 pm
I love your songs and god bless you
May 12, 2019 @ 8:59 pm
that vince has a one of a kind voice that delivers emotion like few can is undeniable .
that he can pick is evident in every outing ….acoustic , electric , mandolin etc.
i ‘m in the minority here and i’m used to that fact , but i’ve always felt he was overrated as a writer . this song , for me , as beautiful as it is at heart and as important as its intent surely is, doesn’t change my opinion on that count . i believe his aforementioned vocal gift often covers the fact that his lyric is too often generic , pedestrian and uninspired . there are just to many GREAT writers around i’d far sooner listen to .
the ‘vince’ package —writer/singer /player– is a force to be reckoned with , indeed . vince the writer always leaves me slightly underwhelmed .
May 13, 2019 @ 2:07 am
100% agree with you, Albert – there is a “sameness” to Vince’s recordings that even lesser-overall-talents, such as Garth Brooks, managed to avoid. Clint Black and Brad Paisley also seemed to fall into this trap of staying inside a “formula” of your own creation, which ultimately leaves an artist with a stale catalog same-sounding-recordings. Ralph Emery once wrote that it’s an artists ego-driven insistence on always recording their own self-written material – believing no one else writes better for you, than you that creates this stagnant feeling on record. While I believe it’s important for an artist to be able to write and create their own material to record, it’s just as important to have an “ear” for outside material that you instantly believe will fit you, like a glove.
May 13, 2019 @ 9:25 am
”Ralph Emery once wrote that it’s an artists ego-driven insistence on always recording their own self-written material – believing no one else writes better for you, than you that creates this stagnant feeling on record.”
the lack of sales and ridiculous revenue streams in these times seems to necessitate that an artist becomes his /her own cottage industry in all respects . this includes writing your own material so as to not have to ‘divy the spoils ‘ .however this also gives us sub-par material from singers/players who tHINK they are writers and obviously are not . there is so much weak material out there in all genres it is depressing …..from indies to label acts . weak material is a fact of the biz due , in no small part , to the above -mentioned revenue scenario .
vince , of course , has always written much of his own stuff …but as you say …its difficult to get through a few vince albums without being worn out by that ‘ sameness’ and often ‘trite-ness’ about his lyrics.
May 13, 2019 @ 2:37 am
Love it!
May 13, 2019 @ 5:57 am
Beautiful song with heartfelt lyrics that probably 99% of us can relate to.
May 13, 2019 @ 10:08 am
This is a beautiful song about my mama too.i lost my mama in 1997 and I miss her very much I’m 56 now I from Tulsa Oklahoma born and bred .im now living in Henderson Kentucky .im proud of my Oklahoma singers like Vince gill and all who are from Oklahoma.keep it coming my proud okies
May 14, 2019 @ 9:57 am
Nice little song, made better by a singular voice.
Vince Gill is so easy to listen to. A more stripped-down approach will bring his tremendous voice to the forefront even more. Pretty sure I’ll enjoy the new album.