02/24/11

Story by Peggy Graham

Vince Gill

Fans thrill to ‘An Evening with Vince Gill’

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — Good news for country music fans — superstar Vince Gill performs at 8 p.m. Thursday, March 24, in Yardley Hall of the Carlsen Center, Johnson County Community College. Gill is this year’s presenter in the Cohen Community Series. All proceeds for this event go to JCCC scholarships and educational programs.

An Evening with Vince Gill will feature Gill performing hits from his 30-year career backed by a live band. The playlist includes favorites like One More Last Chance, I Still Believe in You and What the Cowgirls Do. One of the most popular singers in modern country music, Gill has a love for country music, top-notch songwriting and world-class guitar playing, all wrapped in a warm tenor voice and a quick and easy wit.

Gill's music career has garnered 20 Grammy Awards and sold more than 26 million albums. In 2007, he was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, one of the youngest inductees ever.

If anyone in country music defines humility, it is Gill. His generosity and kindness are legendary. Hailing from Norman, Okla., Gill achieved his big breakthrough with When I Call Your Name, which won the Country Music Association’s Single of the Year award.  Since then, he has won 17 more CMA honors, including Song of the Year four times. 

Gill co-hosted the CMA Awards for the first time in 1992. He continued to host Country Music’s Biggest Night for 12 consecutive years, ending his run in 2003.  He has recorded 25 albums, including 2006's These Days, successfully weaving country, pop, gospel and rock influences together in a groundbreaking four-CD set. 

As a strong influential force on the country music scene, he has been a coveted duet partner, collaborating with Dolly Parton, Barbra Streisand and his wife, celebrated singer Amy Grant. A true humanitarian, Gill has been active in hundreds of charity events including Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Special Olympics, and his own Pro-Celebrity Golf Tournament ("The Vinny"), supporting junior golf programs in Tennessee.

Gill is the fourth presenter in the Cohen Community Series, inaugurated in 2008 in honor of the late Barton P. Cohen, president of Metcalf Bancshares, vice chairman and general counsel of Metcalf Bank and an attorney with Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin LLP. The Cohen Community Series was funded through a gift from Jon Stewart, vice chairman of the JCCC board of trustees, college alumnus, and former president of Metcalf Bank. Previous presenters have been George Will, Phil Vassar and Marcus Buckingham.

Tickets are $50, $65 and $100, available by calling the Performing Arts Series box office at 913-469-4445 or online at www.jccc.edu/TheSeries.

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