A happy Gill breaks in new venue

Kirk Baird

Friday, May 25, 2001 | 9:15 a.m.

Fast Facts

What: Vince Gill.

When: 8 p.m. tonight.

Where: UNLV's Cox Pavilion.

Cost: $57.

Information: 895-3900.

A new marriage to Christian/pop singer Amy Grant. A father again, this time at 44. And the kind of success most artists -- country, rock, rap, etc. -- only dream about.

Who wouldn't be happy?

Vince Gill, who performs tonight at the inaugural concert at UNLV's Cox Pavilion, is no exception, and he has the record to prove it: "Let's Make Sure We Kiss Goodbye."

"If you know (the songwriter's) happy, in love with a beautiful woman and has a baby, you go, 'Ick, nobody should be that happy,' " Gill said in a recent phone interview from his home in Nashville, Tenn. "But it feels peaceful not to struggle."

And also, apparently, to be in love.

The disc often sounds like a love note to Grant: "I've found somebody that really does love me/And I know that she'll always stay/I'm the luckiest guy in the world / 'Cause my heart feels this way," he sings on "The Luckiest Guy in the World."

"It's kind of interesting, everybody perceives that it's probably true" about his writing the songs to Grant. "When your personal life is public, then everybody can draw a conclusion pretty easily about what it's about."

But, he added, "Ten years ago, nobody asked me, 'Are you OK?' when I'd write a sad song."

Whether penning sad or happy lyrics, many fans are simply glad to have Gill back -- musically speaking.

Ever the creative artist, some of Gill's recent work had ventured away from the more mainstream country style for which he's known and into the area of more traditional country. While country music purists may have enjoyed this departure and welcomed an "old-school" album from a contemporary artist, Gill said industry reception was tepid at best.

"These days what you would call 'real country music' you can't get played," he said. "Why should I record it if I can't get it played?

"I love hardcore, traditional music, but I have an obligation to my record company. It's an interesting battle you wrestle with the whole time."

Twenty million records sold, however, gives an artist a certain amount of clout, Gill acknowledged. That allowed him to mix up his musical styles and indulge his creative yearning.

"My career's in a place where I can do what I want. I always have. Sometimes I got lucky, sometimes I didn't. But I think it's all going to even out when I'm done," he said with a laugh.

Despite the lack of radio attention 1998's "The Key" received, Gill doesn't regret the direction he took with the album. In fact, in a nearly 30-year career, Gill harbors few regrets.

Or if he does, he doesn't share them openly, save one: In 1990 Mark Knopfler, singer, lead guitarist and, for all intents and purposes, the force behind the rock band Dire Straits, asked Gill to join the group as a guitarist and back-up singer for an 18-month world tour.

Gill, unsure how Knopfler had come to be aware of him, had just released his first album with MCA Records and was reluctant to leave country music to join a rock 'n' roll outfit -- not after his time with the country-rock group Pure Prairie League in the early '80s and as a solo artist with RCA through the rest of the decade.

"Musically," he said, "I totally regretted (declining the offer). I was like, 'If you'd asked me a couple of years ago, that would've been great, but I've invested a lot of years in country music."

Making Gill's decision all the more difficult was the fact he was still struggling at the time. Then "When I Call Your Name," the title-track and first single off the album, reached No. 1 on the country charts.

"After that, things got different," he said.

There were many more No. 1's: "Take Your Memory with You," "I Still Believe in You," "One More Last Chance," "You'd Better Think Twice" and "Pretty Little Adriana," among others. Gill also received 18 CMA awards -- more than any artist -- and 14 Grammys in the process.

With all that success, it would seem easy for it go to an artist's head.

Over the course of his career, however, Gill has earned a reputation as one of the country music's genuinely "nice guys," something that's apparent not only over the course of the interview, but which he backs up with his many charitable donations and efforts.

In 1993 he received the Minnie Pearl Award, named for the legendary Grand Ol' Opry singer/performer, for humanitarian efforts. In 1996 he received the BMI Humanitarian Award, among others.

So, is Gill the poster boy for the image of country music singer -- that is, God, family and clean living?

Gill laughed at the notion. Not because it isn't true, he said, but the idea of there being a perception of country artists as being clean-cut.

"Certainly there was a period of time where they all popped pills and drank," Gill said. "(But now) I don't think too many of us are out there trashing too many hotel rooms. I'm probably the least to fit that mode of anyone. I go on tour and play golf. I don't even see the hotel."