Michael McDonald News

Usually when an artist releases a multiple-CD collection, it's a boxed set of greatest hits, perhaps with a few previously unreleased tunes thrown in. In a possibly unprecedented move, Vince Gill's new project is a 43-song, four-CD set of new material.

Gill's first release in three years, "These Days" (MCA) hits shelves on Tuesday (October 17).

"I'll always write a whole bunch of songs and then try to pick what I like best out of that batch of songs," Gill says. "I found that some pretty good songs just kind of get put in a desk drawer somewhere and you kind of lose sight of them."

This time, Gill decided no song should be left behind, so he went to Universal Music Group Nashville co-chairman Luke Lewis with the idea to release multiple CDs over the course of a year. Instead, Lewis encouraged him to record another CD of acoustic music and said the label would release all four simultaneously.

"These Days" showcases his diverse talents. "Each record is quite different," Gill says. "I don't think it would work if it were one guy singing 43 songs of the same thing."

The four discs are subtitled "Some Things Never Get Old" (country), "Little Brother" (bluegrass/acoustic), "Workin' On a Big Chill" (which has more of a rock sound) and "The Reason Why" (more of a soul/jazz flavor).

Guests include Diana Krall, Bonnie Raitt, Gretchen Wilson, Trisha Yearwood, Phil Everly, the Del McCoury Band and Emmylou Harris, Gill's daughter Jenny and his wife, Amy Grant.

With Gill issuing four CDs simultaneously, some might wonder whether he's at the end of his contract with MCA and trying to hurriedly fulfill the number of albums left.

"This isn't an attempt to end my deal at all," says Gill, who has been with MCA 17 years. He adds that in terms of his contract, "These Days" will count as only one album.

But perhaps the most burning question is, How did country music's most avid golfer find time to record 43 songs? "It rains every now and then," he says with a laugh.

Reuters/Billboard