One last Vince Gill note

Making it clear that Country Music Hall of Fame member Vince Gill has nothing against the Grammys or the Recording Academy and will indeed attend the Feb. 10 telecast, a spokeswoman for the artist passed along the following statement:

"Vince has always been 100% confirmed to attend the Grammy’s since the day the nominations came out. He has just chosen not to perform in the scenario the TV committee presented to him and his manager, Larry Fitzgerald."

As noted earlier, Gill balked at the performance scenarios outlined to him by Grammy producers. The earlier post states that Gill's attendance was in question, but only Gill's performance was ever in doubt.

Gill was quoted in Washington Post blog Post Rock as saying he turned down a pairing with Brad Paisley. "They asked me to perform a minute of a song of mine and then have Brad Paisley to do a minute of a song of his," Gill says. "But it didn't seem like the right thing to do."

Gill's "These Days" is nominated for album of the year. While it's odd that an album-of-the-year nominee would not perform on the show, the 50th Annual Grammy Awards are heavy on communal performances and duets. Another album-of-the-year nominee, Herbie Hancock, was announced today to take part in a tribute to George Gershwin, rather than a performance recognizing his "River: The Joni Letters."

(Photo courtesy of Associated Press)

Comments

[Frankie R.]

To get a good sense of how the Grammys are put together for television, recommended reading of Ken Ehrlich's book AND THE GRAMMY GOES TO is a must...It seems Mr. Ehrlich and company have worked out a formulaic niche for the Grammys...that being pairing musical artists with eachother whether it be a duet or medley of one's hits, to produce that spontaneous magical musical moment...this formula sometimes works wonders and most times it doesn't...It would have served Vince and his music better with only him and his band performing and not some lame pairing/duet....otherwise go with the predictable...pair him with his wife Amy Grant to perform together...how schmaltzy Tim McGraw/Faith Hill would that be?...I feel cheated already with the Herbie Hancock segment...Gershwin would be better served if it were performed by John Williams and an orchestra or even Marvin Hamlisch (you remember him Best New Artist 1974)....Yes, I'm a big Joni Mitchell fan..y que?...You have a well respected artist like Herbie Hancock pay tribute to her and her music and he's playing Gershwin on the Grammys..go figure...simply a bone-headed decision and a great opportunity to pair Herbie & Joni together on TV to let it all slip away...Mr. Ehrlich, what were you thinking?...Jeers to the Grammys for this!

[-Todd Martens]

Nice post, Frankie. I had completely missed the oddity of having Hancock pay tribute to one artist when his album-of-the-year nominated release pays tribute to another.