Vince Gill Apologizes to His Mother in New Song ‘A Letter to My Mama’

Vince Gill apologizes to his mother for being selfish and getting “too old to need you” in his heart-tugging new song “A Letter to My Mama.” The ballad is the first offering from the Oklahoma native’s just announced new album Okie.

While the song begins with Gill saying ,”I’m sorry” for the transgressions of youth, it soon finds the 62-year-old tearfully thanking his mother for all she’s done and admitting he can never pay her back. It’s vintage Gill, an artist known for wearing his emotions on his sleeve.

Okie is set to be released August 23rd and follows up Gill’s 2016 effort Down to My Last Bad Habit. In a statement, Gill said he began the project as a songwriter’s record — he wrote or co-wrote all 12 of the LP’s tracks — but it evolved into a concept album. “It wound up being more information than I’d envisioned,” he said. “A friend sent me an email saying, ‘You could have only written this record after living a 60-year-plus life.’ He said, ‘There’s no struggle in these songs, just truth and your experience.'”

In between solo shows and his usual Monday night appearances with the Time Jumpers in Nashville, Gill has been on the road with the Eagles, whom he’ll join later this month for a European tour. In April, Gill and his wife Amy Grant announced 12 dates for their annual Christmas shows at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium.