When Vince Gill first encountered comedian and actor Steve Martin, he thought someone was playing a practical joke on him. While working on his 2009 album The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo, Martin called Gill up to ask if he’d contribute some vocals to a song with Dolly Parton.
“‘Hello Vince, this is Steve Martin,’” Gill recalled of the phone call and his response,”‘Yeah, and I’m the Pope! Who is this?’” I thought someone was just yanking my chain,” added Gill, a longtime fan of the comedian since his earlier comedy days, decades earlier on Saturday Night Live. “I didn’t think it was real at first.”
Once Gill realized the call wasn’t a hoax and learned more about Martin’s musical project, he obliged and sang “Pretty Flowers” with Parton on the album, which also features Mary Black, Earl Scruggs, Tim O’Brien, and Tony Trischka. The album later picked up a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album, and both later reunited when Martin made his debut at the Grand Ole Opry in May 2009, along with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band‘s John McEuen, who also produced the album.
Before The Crow, Martin won a Grammy for Best Country Instrumental Performance for his collaboration with the late banjo musician Earl Scruggs on his 1950 song “Foggy Mountain Breakdown.” During the 2010s, Martin released five more collaborative albums with Brickell and Steep Canyon Rangers, including Rare Bird Alert in 2011, featuring Paul McCartney and The Chicks. He also wrote the music for the 2016 musical Bright Star with longtime collaborator Edie Brickell, and Meteor Shower from 2017, starring Amy Schumer and Keegan-Michael Key.
“As the years have gone on, I’ve been more of a writer and have paid a lot of attention to storytelling, and am always looking for experience in it,” said Martin in 2017. “I do feel comfortable telling stories in a three-minute song.”
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Reuniting With Alison Brown
Martin called on Gill again when he was working on a new collaboration, “Wall Guitar (Since You Said Goodbye)” with fellow banjoist, composer, and producer Alison Brown. Both previously collaborated on “Foggy Morning Breaking” from Brown’s 2023 album On Banjo and their 2024 release “Bluegrass Radio.”
“Alison and I have a highly creative and enjoyable musical thang going on,” said Martin, “and to have Vince Gill as well as some of the finest musicians in Nashville join us is the ultimate icing on the bluegrass cake.
On the single, Martin and Brown are also joined by Nashville musicians bassist Garry West, and Jordan Perlson on percussion, fiddler Stuart Duncan, Rob Burger on accordion and piano, and vocalist Andrea Zonn.
“Wall Guitar”
Written by Martin, “Wall Guitar (Since You Said Goodbye)” revolves around an unrequited love.
Hand me down that wall guitar
Pull your chairs around
Got a few new songs to play
Before the night shuts down
If you feel it play along
Minor chords apply
I sing the sad songs real good now
Since she said goodbye
Hang with me til closing time
Let me tell you why
Hollow sun and hopeless moon
Since she said goodbye
Twirling dresses
Sly caresses
On the dance floor passing by
They don’t know that we are over
Since you said goodbye
“The Good Side of Having Heartbreak”
On a recent episode of the Kelly Clarkson Show, Martin—who also appears on Clarkson’s 2023 album Chemistry on “I Hate Love”—explained the meaning behind “Wall Guitar.”
“I should explain because it may not be obvious what a wall guitar is,” said Martin. “If you go into a bar sometimes there’ll be an old rusty guitar on the wall with rotten strings and one string missing, but sometimes people take it down and play it. And in someone’s house, sometimes they’ll have a wall guitar. So this is a song about someone going into a bar with a broken heart and … [say] ‘Give me that wall guitar’ and they start playing.”
He added, “It’s the good side of having heartbreak. You can write about it and understand it.”
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Initially, Martin sent Brown his banjo riff before deciding that the instrumental needed lyrics. “Steve has such a great instinct for crafting strong melodies and it’s almost effortless to pick up on his melodic thread and carry the idea forward,” said Brown. “What was amazing to me, though, was to see the lyrics come together. I was really struck by the emotional intimacy Steve conjured.”
Gill, who has known Brown since she was 19, added, “What a joy to watch her become the musician she is. And Steve Martin has made me laugh for 50 years. On top of that, he’s an amazing banjo player. What a great experience it was to record this song with them.”
Photo: Courtesy of Compass Records
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