Vince Gill

In yesterday's coverage of the CMA awards, an incorrect title was listed for a song performed by George Strait. The CMA's Male Vocalist of the Year sang "Blue Clear Sky."The Sun regrets the error.For the last couple of years, it seemed like the biggest reason Vince Gill was host of the annual CMA Awards show was to save time. After all, since he won most of the awards, why not have him up there on stage for most of the show?Last night, though, Gill had to relinquish much of the limelight to George Strait, as the laconic Texan stole Male Vocalist of the Year, Single of the Year and Album of the Year from Gill.

SouvenirsVince Gill (MCA 11394)Nice guys don't finish last in Nashville -- at least, not if Vince Gill's career is any indication. But as much as personal charm and easygoing humor have made Gill one of country music's best-liked performers, the 15 tunes collected in "Souvenirs" show that what made him a star was heartbreak, pure and simple. From the mournful high harmonies of "Never Knew Lonely" to the sweet-voiced pain of "Tryin' To Get Over You," Gill sings like a man intimately familiar with the ache of romantic regret.

Country music fans have two chances to hear top artists Vince Gill and Garth Brooks in live radio performances this week.First up, Mr. Gill's new greatest hits collection album, "Souvenirs," gets a hearing -- the day before its national release -- on WXCY-FM (103.7), a country station based in Havre de Grace.The broadcast is from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m. tomorrow, and is a simulcast of "Vince Gill's Souvenirs," a program on cable television's Nashville Network.And on Tuesday, "Garth Brooks: 'Fresh Horses' " can be heard from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. on both WXCY and Baltimore's big country station, WPOC-FM (93.1)

Vince Gill had an easily answered question for his audience Saturday night at the Baltimore Arena."Isn't it nice that country is hip now?" he asked teasingly at the end of one song. The sellout crowd roared back affirmatively.And if country is hip, then Vince Gill is probably its biggest star. Recently named the male vocalist of the year and entertainer of the year by the Country Music Association, Mr. Gill is perhaps Nashville's most talented artist.He is known mostly for having a gorgeous tenor, one of the most striking voices in pop music.

Forget what you may have heard about the laid-back country lifestyle. If last night's broadcast of the 28th Country Music Association Awards show was any indication, life in Nashville is every bit as frenzied as it is in New York or Los Angeles.Packing more stars into three hours than any awards show in memory, the CMA Awards show had so much talent on display that they actually had people singing from their seats in the audience -- no time for set changes, apparently. As such, it was a great deal for those who just can't get enough of country music on TV.Or even on the radio, since WPOC's Laurie DeYoung was named Large Market Radio Personality of the Year.

WHEN LOVE FINDS YOUVince Gill (MCA 11047)Anyone surprised by the outpouring of enthusiasm over the Eagles reunion obviously hasn't been listening to country music lately. Nashville today sounds increasingly like the Southern California of the '70s, and few singers capture that reborn country-rock vibe as easily as Vince Gill. Cue up a copy of his current album, "When Love Finds You," and by the time Trisha Yearwood's harmonies kick in on the chorus to "Whenever Love Comes Around," you'll swear you're listening to some half-forgotten J.D. Souther ballad.

Fulfilling the dying wishes of children has been a mission for Jan Emmons. Now the woman known as Sunrise the Clown is expanding her work to terminally ill adults."

Clint Black certainly knew the score at the 27th Annual Country Music Association Awards show last night. Mere minutes into the broadcast, Black teased co-host Vince Gill about hogging all the nominations."

If anybody knows awards shows, Dick Clark does.Clark, after all, has spent years helping to make trophy-giving an industry in itself. Since creating the American Music Awards two decades ago, he has churned out a dizzying array of similarly star-studded bashes, including shows devoted to the Golden Globe Awards, the Daytime Emmy Awards and the Academy of Country Music Awards. All told, he has probably contributed more to the tuxedo-rental business than any man in Hollywood.Even so, Clark's view of these shows isn't quite what the average viewer might expect.

I STILL BELIEVE IN YOUVince Gill (MCA 10630)As a stylist, Vince Gill is nothing if not versatile. In the space NTC of three songs, "I Believe in You," his new album, moves from the slick country rock of the Eagles-ish "Don't Let Our Love Start Slippin' Away" to the classic honky-tonk balladry of "No Future in the Past," to the plaintive white-soul groove of "Nothing Like a Woman." Yet as much as it might seem that Gill's genre-jumping is just his attempt to be all things to all listeners, what he's really being is true to his songs.