Watch Vince Gill’s Touching Tribute to the Most Important Player in His Career

Country music legend Vince Gill has never shied away from giving props to the important people who have supported and influenced him throughout his career, but in 2016, he delivered a touching tribute to (arguably) one of the most important players in his professional life: his 1942 Martin Prewar D-28.

After all, natural talent can only get a player so far. The best musicians pick the right tool for the job, and Gill has cherished that ax ever since he negotiated a trade for it in the mid-1970s.

Vince Gill’s Touching Tribute To His Guitar

Vince Gill released “This Old Guitar and Me” as the penultimate track to his tenth studio album, The Next Big Thing, from 2003. It’s a tried-and-true country classic—one certainly would expect nothing less from the likes of Gill—but what makes the song even better is its autobiographical nature. Gill appropriately busted out this song during Guitar Center’s 2016 OnStage contest, where participants competed for a chance to win thousands of dollars in cash and gear, studio time in L.A., and an opening slot for Gill.

Gill’s stripped-back set at the competition finale featured only himself and his trusty acoustic. Sitting on a stool in front of an attentive audience, Gill sang the story of his beloved instrument. This old guitar and me, the things we’ve been through, Gill began. C.F. Martin built it back in 1942. I remember when we met, I was only 17. I spent all my college money on a half a dozen strings, the country star sang with a smile on his face.

The song tells the story of Gill traveling the country with the Bluegrass Alliance: Well, home was just a highway. We’d roam from town to town. Just me and that old flattop, not caring where we’re bound. In a bit of artistic liberty, Gill adopts the perspective of an older man: Now, my dearest old companion lies underneath my bed. Well, our travelin’ days are over. Man, but the memories fill my head.

How The Country Icon Found His Favorite Guitar

In a 2016 episode of Kentucky Collectibles, Vince Gill spoke to vintage instrument appraiser Mike Reeder about the vintage Martin he sings about in “This Old Guitar and Me.” He said that while he first purchased a Martin D-41 as a teenager in high school, he sold it only a few years later to acquire an even more esteemed Martin: his herringbone, pre-war D-28.

Gill said that he and Kentucky musician Harry Sparks were walking around a music festival in the mid-1970s when they encountered a man with a Martin guitar case with a sign that read: “Martin Prewar D-28, herringbone, $2,500.” Gill recalled, “I said, ‘Is that really an old herringbone in there?’ And the man said, ‘Yeah, kid, do you wanna play it?’ I said, ‘Man, I’d love to.’”

“I pulled that thing out of the case, and it still had the shine on it, mint condition. It just felt right in my hands. These old Martins, man, from that era, there’s nothing like them in the world. They just have such a beautiful voice.” Determined to make this vintage guitar his own, Gill emptied his bank account to scrounge up $1,600, which he gave to the man along with his Martin D-41. “I was dead broke, but I had that 1942 D-28.”

Photo by AFF-USA/Shutterstock