Was Vince Gill ever a steel player?

David Cobb · Post by **David Cobb** » 3 Feb 2003 5:18 pm

Trivia time again. In an article in last Friday's USA Today there is a statement that when Vinnie was not yet 20 he was playing steel guitar with a band called Boone Creek, a bluegrass band that also featured Ricky Skaggs and Jerry Douglas. Any truth to this?

Terry Edwards · Post by **Terry Edwards** » 3 Feb 2003 7:05 pm

It is true that Vince played for a short while with Boone Creek (Skaggs band), although I think he was the guitar player with Ricky on mandolin and Jerry Douglas on dobro. They were hot!! I don't think Boone Creek had any steel - they were a straight up bluegrass band. I read an interview with Vince many years ago and he said Ricky fired him! In Vinces younger days he was prone to "party" a little and didn't take this band as serious as Ricky did and so Ricky let him go! Of course they remain best of friends and joke about it all now.

Terry

------------------
Terry Edwards
Fessy D-10; Nash 1000
Martin D-21; Flatiron F-5

Kenny Davis · Post by **Kenny Davis** » 3 Feb 2003 8:20 pm

Vince played Dobro, banjo, guitar, and did vocals in Mountain Smoke. After leaving Smoke in 1976, he played a very short while with Boone Creek, doing vocals and guitar. From there, he played with Bluegrass Alliance and then with Byron Berline & Sundance. From that point, he moved away from Bluegrass. I don't think he played Dobro beyond his time with Mountain Smoke.

While not a "pedal" player, I'm sure if the notion struck him, he could!

David Cobb · Post by **David Cobb** » 3 Feb 2003 8:32 pm

That's funny, but regardless, I'll bet they were great together. As for the USA Today music editors, that's not the first time I've caught them playing very loose with the facts. Thanks

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 3 Feb 2003 10:14 pm

He also won the Dobro contest one year at the Hugo bluegrass festival. If I remember it was when he was playing with Mike and Billy Perry. I think Vince learned a few things from Mike and Billy's brother-in-law, some guy named Jerry Douglas.

Kenny Davis · Post by **Kenny Davis** » 4 Feb 2003 8:16 am

Alvin - Did you ever hear Billy Perry's Bluegrass Jam album(s)? Done before we both joined Mountain Smoke, it featured some young, relatively unknown players:

Ricky Skaggs - Fiddle
Vince Gill - Guitar
Bobby Clark - Mandolin
Jerry Douglas - Dobro
Billy Perry - Banjo
Mike Perry - Bass

This was a rare situation where you had so many "superpickers" together at a young age, and before they reached their individual notoriety. By the way, I think Vince learned Dobro from Bobby Clark's father.

Brad Burch · Post by **Brad Burch** » 4 Feb 2003 8:40 am

Has anyone seen him on this tour? I have read here that he either has Jay Dee Manness or John Hughey on steel. I was wondering if you've seen it, that you could give me your impressions of the show. Does he do much in the way of his "bluegrass" or "bar room country" oriented stuff or is it mostly the syrupy, slow, love song radio pop? The only time I've seen him live was in an accoustic setting at the Ryman with Emmylou Harris, Guy Clark, Rodney Crowell, and Nancy Griffith. That show was phenominal...there wasn't a dry eye in the house for most of the performance.

Dan Tyack · Post by **Dan Tyack** » 4 Feb 2003 8:55 am

Vince is an amazing dobro player. I used to play with him in LA, and once I brought a dobro to his house, and he just ripped it up.....

He could play amazing pedal steel if he decided to.

------------------
www.tyack.com

Gene Jones · Post by **Gene Jones** » 4 Feb 2003 10:04 am

My daughter, attending Northwest Classen Highschool with Vince and Benny Garcia Jr. was not surprised.

www.genejones.com

Stephen Gambrell · Post by **Stephen Gambrell** » 4 Feb 2003 1:34 pm

I have an old Dan Crary album, where Vince is palying mandolin, and Dobro. And Ivan Guernsey built Vince a guitar a couple of years ago, I think. There oughta be a law against someboby being able to sing like that, write like that, AND pick like that!!

Alvin Blaine · Post by **Alvin Blaine** » 4 Feb 2003 8:27 pm

Kenny,
Yes I have that Billy Perry album. My cousins were good freinds with the Perry's, and they always gave me copies of there albums.That Billy was a great picker. I think on that album they were all under or around 21 years old.

Gary Brown · Post by **Gary Brown** » 4 Feb 2003 10:31 pm

Oddly enough, Vince Gill did play pedal steel for a very short time with Boone Creek.They started out to be a very progressive acoustic band, as their first album included drums, probably an attempt to be radio-friendly. But, they soon settled on a much more traditional approach, but with a more modern groove, as their second (and final) album will attest.
I actually remember seeing Vince with Boone Creek at a bluegrass festival, and he was playing pedal steel. I don't remember how well, but he will swear not very well. He says they let him go, he went home and sold the steel and that was the end of that.
That had to be 1976.
The next time he turned up was with Pure Prairie League I'm guessing.
He also told that story to the crowd at the Exit/In in Nashville. I was fortunate to be in town on January 14 when they were doing the 5 days of "rehearsal" for the public. Jay Dee was on steel, and though he didn't get to play much on the new album material, when he did he was awesome. And hearing him play his own stuff on the hits that they did in the second set was great.

Bob Blair · Post by **Bob Blair** » 5 Feb 2003 6:27 am

And he's a scratch golfer as well, I understand!!

David Cobb · Post by **David Cobb** » 5 Feb 2003 3:22 pm

That's great Gary, the article contained an indirect quote from Vince saying that he had played steel with this band. Would be fun to see what he could do with it. And as far as the golf, there was talk of going pro when he was younger. A big boy like him should be able to knock it into the next county. I'm glad he stuck with music tho.

Tom Kaufman · Post by **Tom Kaufman** » 5 Feb 2003 7:57 pm

I am fortunate enough to have a tape of Vince playing on the Grand Ole Opry a few years ago. This was around the time that Bashful Brother Oswold had that bad fall (don't remember the date) but he really played it well! As has been already pointed out, he could probably play any instrument that he wanted to..including the pedal steel!!

Winnie Winston · Post by **Winnie Winston** » 7 Feb 2003 8:09 pm

Vince also played with a GREAT bluegrass band (for a very short time the band existed) called "Here Today." David Grisman on Mandolin, Herb Petersen on Banjo, Jim Buchanan on fiddle and (I think) Emory Gordy on bass.
I had an opportunity to listen to a rehersal in Herb's kitchen in LA in 1982. Pretty nice!

JW

David Cobb · Post by **David Cobb** » 7 Feb 2003 9:10 pm

With a name like that it sounds like their longevity as a band was predetermined.

Mark van Allen · Post by **Mark van Allen** » 8 Feb 2003 12:37 am

Brad, I played a gig a month or so ago with Kecia Garland opening for Vince in Valdosta, he had Jay Dee with him on that date and they were smokin'. There was some syrup poured and plenty of hot doggin' as well. Years ago I was in a band in Columbia, SC and opened for Pure Prarie League and Vince blew me away. Some of the best rock guitar I ever heard. I do think he just gets better with age... and Jay Dee's always fantastic!