Vince Gill on his role in the Eagles, and the wonders of playing with Joe Walsh

Nashville titan Vince Gill already had a hell of a resume before he was asked to join the Eagles in 2017. As the Eagles round out their career with their appropriately-named Long Goodbye tour, though, Gill has proven himself an invaluable – if unsung – part of the band's final lineup.

Given that the Eagles currently include Joe Walsh – co-author of one of the greatest guitar solos of all time – Gill isn't typically asked to provide much in the way of electric guitar fireworks onstage; and he's quite fine with that.

Speaking to Guitar World, Gill said that just getting to play the James Gang classic Funk 49 with Walsh has been worth the price of admission in itself.

“I trade licks with Joe on Funk 49, which is amazing,” Gill said. “That’s enough for me, and my head would explode if I had to go back and forth with Joe on a song like Hotel California.”

Gill's connection with the Eagles' music runs deep, and, the guitarist said, dates back even to childhood. 

“Some nights,” Gill told GW, “I look over to the side and see Joe Walsh while we’re playing Rocky Mountain Way, and I’m transported back to being a kid in my bedroom trying to learn that song.

“I played it at every school dance and there’s even tapes of me singing Eagles songs when I was a kid [laughs]. It’s been pretty amazing to be a part of keeping the legacy of those songs going.”

Gill also discussed his stable of Les Pauls, mentioning that the most valuable Les Paul that he takes on tour is a reissue of Eric Clapton’s 1960 “Beano” model. This would seem to imply that perhaps Gill's most valuable Les Paul, a true-blue 'Burst, is not on the road with him – and not without good reason.

Handed down to Gill from his one-time brother-in-law, the guitar holds enormous sentimental value.

“I bought [a] ’59 Les Paul from my brother-in-law from my first marriage [to country singer Janis Oliver],” Gill told Guitar Aficionado in 2017. “We were great friends, and he owned this great ’59 sunburst since 1959. He’d played it his whole life but got sick a couple of years ago. He called me and said, ‘There’s not much they can do for me. I’m probably not gonna make it. You’ve always been my favorite guitar player. Will you buy my Les Paul?’

“I didn’t have a sunburst Les Paul in my collection, and I previously couldn’t justify the expense because I don’t play a Les Paul that much, but this one came along and I said, ‘There you go,’” Gill continued. “I got the one I was supposed to have. My friend played it for 40 years, and now it gets to live on and still make music.”

• For a full list of the Eagles' upcoming tour dates, and tickets, visit the band's website.