The Eagles guitarist Vince Gill recently sat down with Guitar World for a new interview to discuss his experience playing rhythm guitar for the Eagles. He also shared his thoughts on who the best guitar player is of all time is.
In the chat, the rocker said he doesn’t believe in a single greatest guitarist ever. He also shared his confusion about why people feel the urge to crown someone as the ‘greatest’ in the music industry:
“People always ask me, ‘Who is the greatest guitarist ever?’ I always say, ‘There’s no such thing.’ Why does anyone have to be the best? There’s a bunch of good players; it’s funny how guitar playing turns into a matter of outplaying each other. I don’t want to show anyone up. I like things simple. That’s how I live my life; that makes sense to me.”
Gill’s Bandmate Is His Inspiration
Though Gill doesn’t believe in naming one single guitarist as the greatest, he has some names that inspire him. In fact, those names include one of his bandmates.
In another interview, the guitarist was asked what he took inspiration from in his music career. In response, he said Joe Walsh was one of the people who inspired him with the way he plays:
“My mindset is all about brevity and restraint now. That’s what I love about the way Joe plays – he shows tremendous restraint. He could play more, but he doesn’t. I really enjoy that.”
In addition to Walsh, there are ‘little things’ that inspire him to do what he does today:
“My inspiration comes from the little things I’m trying to do, like sounding better and choosing the right guitar for the songs. This is an interesting gig for me with the Eagles because I only play a little lead guitar; there are only two or three songs that I solo on, which is different from what I’m used to, where it’s solos all night long.”
