It ain't exactly all country but it's DARN good. The baby faced country star Vince Gill is a storyteller and gifted musician. If you do not follow Nashville music or the country Genre, you may not know who he is. If you got this far in this review, I assume you at least know him. But for the non-country fans you can find more about Vince Gill here or here.
His last album is a self-produced collaboration with some friends and recorded in his home studio in Nashville, Tennessee. Being a mega music star is a brand in and of itself. Success allows you to have your own recording studio in your home or compound. It also allows you to pretty much record whatever the hell you want to and with a history of success, the record company will most likely publish it. Having your own recording studio means you can spend hours experimenting and over dubbing yourself with background vocals, instruments and harmony without the cost of studio rental which can get expensive. However, if you are a super star like Vince your studio is most likely state of the art. "As is often the case for him -- especially these days -- he had a hand in every facet of the album-making process, recording in his home studio, co-producing with respected engineer Justin Niebank, writing or co-writing every number, laying down lead-guitar tracks, and singing a lot of the background vocals". National Public Radio Here is the short bio from his website: "For Down to My Last Bad Habit, his 18th studio album, it would have been easy for Vince Gill to kick back a bit. After all, when you've sold more than 26 million albums, won 20 Grammys, and earned 18 CMA Awards (including two Entertainer of the Year trophies), you've done it all, right"? When I said it ain't country, I had some hopes readers would at least want to hear a couple of the songs on this album. It is a throwback to 1980's blues. I try to have wide-ranging taste in music and for the most part I enjoy it all. Forgive me Stan, but I even had a few favorite Bee Gee and Donna Summers songs from the disco era. Here is the track listing: 1. Reasons for the Tears I Cry (Vince Gill) 2. Down to My Last Bad Habit (Vince Gill, Al Anderson) 3. Me and My Girl (Vince Gill) 4. Like My Daddy Did (Vince Gill) 5. Make You Feel Real Good (Vince Gill) 6. I Can't Do This (Vince Gill, Catt Gravitt, Brennen Hunt) 7. My Favorite Movie (Vince Gill and Ashley Monroe) 8. One More Mistake I Made (Vince Gill, Adrianne Duarte) 9. Take Me Down* (Vince Gill, Richard Marx, Jillian Jacqueline) 10. I'll Be Waiting for You** (Vince Gill, Leslie Satcher) 11. When It's Love (Vince Gill, Richard Marx) 12. Sad One Comin' On (A Song for George Jones) (Vince Gill) I offer two cuts off this album. First is a good twist on the words. Vince wrote this when he met one of his friends in a cafe and asked how he was doing. The reply "Well, I'm down to my last bad habit". If you are a songwriter, you take a napkin and write that down. After it peculates for a while you may end up with this song. As an aside: This is not on the album but if you really want to see a tribute done right, watch Vince and Patty Loveless tribute to George Jones at the Opry. He almost did not make it through this. The song was written by Vince for his brother who committed suicide but he applies it to George who outlived or whipped the ass of his demons. The second song, which is on this album is his song written specifically about the late George Jones. Needless to say you can't talk about country music without mentioning George. George's nickname for Vince was "Sweetpea" and they had a close relationship. Vince tells George's story in this song.
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