Oklahoma musician Vince Gill to receive Will Rogers Spirit Award in Tulsa
CELEBRATION: What’s not to like?

BY BRANDY McDONNELL Comments 0
Published: November 6, 2009

Singer/songwriter/guitarist Vince Gill considers humorist/cowboy/social commentator Will Rogers "the coolest Okie in history.”

Vince Gill Photo by Jim McGuire

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Rotary Club of Will Rogers 2009 Gala

→Theme: "Oklahoma Swing.”

→Honoring: Will Rogers Spirit Award winner Vince Gill.

→Benefiting: Blue Star Mothers of America Inc., Oklahoma Chapter 1.

→When: 5:30 p.m. Sunday.

→Where: Cain’s Ballroom, 423 N Main, Tulsa.

→Cost: $125 for individual tickets.

→Information: (918) 749-6661 or www.willrogersrotary.org.

So, it’s fitting that the Oklahoma-born country music star is traveling from Nashville, Tenn., back to his home state this weekend to receive the 2009 Will Rogers Spirit Award from the Rotary Club of Will Rogers. The club, along with members of Rogers’ family, will present the award to Gill during a gala Sunday night at Cain’s Ballroom in Tulsa.

"We look for somebody who exemplifies the spirit of Will Rogers,” said gala committee member Lucy Cravens. "He’s (Gill) raised a lot of money for a lot of different organizations.”

The "roast and toast,” given the theme "Oklahoma Swing” for a Gill hit song, will feature friends and colleagues of the star performing and speaking in his honor.

For Gill, 52, getting an award named for Rogers, who famously declared "I never met a man I didn’t like,” is a great compliment.

"I don’t know that they’re actually comparing you to (Will Rogers), but you do hopefully some decent things for people and live life for other people instead of just yourself. And that’s all I’ve ever really tried to do, is if somebody needs a hand up, you give it to ’em. And if somebody needs you to help out, you help ’em out. That just seems like a commonsense way of life,” Gill said in a phone interview from his Nashville home. "That to me comes from where I’m from.”

The Country Music Hall of Fame member and his wife, singer Amy Grant, are known for lending their talents to an array of philanthropic projects. The couple this year were hosts for a concert in Washington, D.C., to benefit Challenge America, a charity working with injured veterans. Since 1993, Gill has hosted his own pro-celebrity golf tournament, "The Vinny,” to support junior golf programs.

He has been busy this year working with the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. He serves as president of the museum’s board of officers and trustees and also is the creator and driving force behind its "All for the Hall” fundraising initiative.

"I asked everybody to just, when they’re playing out there and they’re doing 125 shows a year, just say, ‘Hey, while we’re in Omaha, we’re going to play for free and just take the proceeds from that show and give it to the hall of fame,’” he said. "Because it was always my belief that the reason I ever played music was because of how much I loved it. It was never how much I could get out of it.”

On Oct. 1, Gill joined Emmylou Harris, Dwight Yoakam, Melissa Etheridge and others in Los Angeles for the third annual "All for the Hall” guitar pull, in which the musicians traded off playing new and favorite songs.

A few days later, Gill and country star Keith Urban were co-hosts for the sold-out "We’re All for the Hall” benefit concert at Nashville’s Sommet Center. The event, which also featured Taylor Swift, Faith Hill and Brad Paisley, raised more than $500,000.

"It created a tremendous amount of attention, and I think it’ll be like dominoes. I think that it’ll inspire a lot of other people to do the same thing,” Gill said.

The 20-time Grammy winner finds inspiration in working with musicians and singers from across genres. He will perform with rock band Daughtry at the Country Music Association’s 43rd Annual CMA Awards, which will air Nov. 11 on ABC. They will play their country-rock collaboration "Tennessee Line,” featured on the band’s new album, "Leave This Town.”

"Not everything I do is country, you know. I’ve worked with Barbra Streisand, I’ve worked with Ralph Stanley, I’ve worked with Daughtry, I’ve worked with Mark Knopfler,” Gill said.

"That creates its own versatility, being willing to go play bluegrass with Del McCoury and then sit down at a jazz piano with Diana Krall and rock as hard as you want with Mark. ... It’s just an open mind is all that’s created all those kind of relationships. And I’m prouder of that than anything I’ve accomplished on my own. The reason I learned to play music was to play it with other people.”

Former Hootie & the Blowfish front man Darius Rucker praised the Oklahoma native for his musical generosity, noting that Gill sang on his debut country album last year.

"Vince is the coolest guy on the planet,” Rucker said. "There’s not a lot of people who are the real deal ... and Vince is the real deal.”