We're celebrating our 10th anniversary all year by digging in the vaults to re-present classic episodes with fresh commentary. Today, we're revisiting our 2017 conversation with Vince Gill.

ABOUT VINCE GILL
Multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter Vince Gill launched his solo career in the mid-1980s, hitting the Top 10 on Billboard’s country singles chart a remarkable 25 times. All but one of those hits was written or co-written by Gill, and a dozen of his compositions have been nominated for either CMA Song of the Year, ACM Song of the Year, or the Best Country Song Grammy. These include “When I Call Your Name,” “Look At Us,” “Pocket Full of Gold,” “When Love Finds You,” “High Lonesome Sound,” “If You Have Forever in Mind,” “Feels Like Love,” and “Threaten Me With Heaven.” “Go Rest High on That Mountain” won both the CMA Song of the Year and the Best Country Song Grammy, while “I Still Believe in You” won the Best Country Song Grammy, as well as both the CMA and the ACM’s Song of the Year awards. Though he’s won four in total, Vince is the only songwriter to ever win three consecutive Song of the Year awards from the CMA. He has won more Grammy awards, with over 20 trophies, than any male country performer in history. These include two Best Country Song wins, as well as a 2017 win for Best American Roots Song for “Kid Sister,” which was recorded by Gill’s band, The Time Jumpers. He has won eight ACM awards and 18 CMA awards, including Vocalist of the Year five years in a row and Entertainer of the Year two years in a row. Other highlights from his long list of hit singles include the #1 hits “Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away,” “One More Last Chance,” and “Tryin’ to Get Over You.” In addition to writing his own material, Vince’s songs have been recorded by Loretta Lynn, Bob Seger, John Denver, Mary Chapin Carpenter, John Prine, Willie Nelson, Michael McDonald, LeAnn Rimes, and Alabama, who topped the country charts with his “Here We Are.” Vince was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2005, and the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2007. In 2014, he was named a BMI Icon, one of only twelve country writers ever honored with the prestigious award.

The All-American Rejects frontman discusses the evolution of his songwriting process and what it means for him to embrace his art.

PART ONE
Paul and Scott talk about their upcoming music-themed road trip.

PART TWO
Our in-depth interview with Tyson Ritter of The All-American Rejects

ABOUT TYSON RITTER
Tyson Ritter is best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and primary lyricist of The All-American Rejects. Formed in Stillwater, Oklahoma, in 1999, the band quickly rose to prominence in the early 2000s with their infectious blend of pop-punk and emo rock. Their self-titled debut album, released in 2002, featured the hit single "Swing, Swing," which propelled them into the mainstream. It was followed by the 2005 album Move Along, which achieved three chart-topping singles - "Dirty Little Secret," "Move Along," and "It Ends Tonight." In 2007 the group earned the ASCAP Vanguard Award. The following year saw the release of the When the World Comes Down album, featuring the smash hit "Gives You Hell” - the band’s most successful single to date, reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100. The All-American Rejects’ fourth studio album, Kids in the Street, was released in 2012, showcasing a more mature sound while still retaining their signature style. After taking a hiatus, the band returned to the studio in 2024. Their most recent single, "Sandbox," was released earlier this year.

We're celebrating our 10th anniversary all year by digging in the vaults to re-present classic episodes with fresh commentary. Today, we're revisiting our 2019 conversation with Valerie Simpson of Ashford & Simpson.

ABOUT VALERIE SIMPSON

Six-time Grammy nominee Valerie Simpson is best known as one half of the songwriting, production and performing duo of Ashford and Simpson, which she formed with musical partner and eventual husband Nick Ashford after they met at a church in Harlem, New York, in the early 1960s. After early successes with Aretha Franklin’s recording of “Cry Like a Baby” and Ray Charles’ recordings of “Let’s Go Get Stoned” and “I Don’t Need No Doctor,” Nick and Valerie signed with Motown Records, first as songwriters, where their early successes included the hit singles “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” and “Your Precious Love,” recorded by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. They soon began both writing and producing for the duo, with hits such as “Ain’t Nothing Like the Real Thing,” “You’re All I Need to Get By,” “Good Lovin’ Ain’t Easy to Come By,” and “What You Gave Me.” Additional writing and production credits at Motown came with hits by The Supremes, The Marvelettes, The Miracles, Gladys Knight, and Diana Ross, who found success with “Reach Out and Touch (Somebody’s Hand)” “Remember Me,” “Surrender,” and a remake of “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough” that topped both the pop and R&B charts. In addition to writing #1 hits such as Quincy Jones’s “Stuff Like That” and Chaka Khan’s “I’m Every Woman” after their Motown period, Ashford and Simpson began releasing their own recordings as a duo, landing nearly 40 songs on the Billboard R&B singles chart. Their list of Top 10 hits as artists, includes “It Seems to Hang On,” “Found a Cure,” “Love Don’t Make it Right,” “Street Corner,” “Outta the World,” “Count Your Blessings,” “I’ll Be There For You,” and “Solid.” Ashford and Simpson were the recipients of the ASCAP Founder’s Award, which is the highest honor bestowed by the organization. They were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame, named among Rolling Stone Magazine’s 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time, and provided the inspiration for the establishment of the Soul Train Ashford & Simpson Songwriter’s Award. Following Nick’s untimely death in 2011, Valerie has continued to write, record, and even appear on Broadway in the acclaimed musical Chicago.