Nashville, TN--November 20, 2006—How can the joys of Christmas possibly measure up to the "gifts" Vince Gill has already received on his These Days Tour?

Among the sweetest of these presents were an impromptu duet with the immortal Patti Page and a belated signed guitar from the late Buck Owens. There's also been a veritable bouquet of critical hurrahs.

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At his sellout concert at the California Center for the Arts in Escondido, Gill invited San Diego-resident Patti Page to join him in a rendition of her 1950 #1 hit, “The Tennessee Waltz.” When Gill brought Page on stage he quipped, "You know, it just dawned on me that it was Miss Patti's music that my mom taught me to dance to.” Page launched into an amazing version of her iconic hit as Gill, overcome by emotions, struggled to provide harmonies. He then took the hand of his famous duet partner and proceeded to waltz to the delight of the crowd. "This is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life," Gill marveled as Page left the stage.

Also in the audience that night--as well as at his L. A. show--was Gill's wife, the Christian/Pop superstar, Amy Grant. She joined him to sing “Tell Me One More Time About Jesus,” a song they co-wrote for These Days, as well as Gill’s classic love song “Whenever You Come Around.”

Gill next headed north to Bakersfield, CA, the hometown of the late and legendary Buck Owens. Prior to his sold-out performance at the Fox Theater, Gill visited Owen’s radio station, KUZZ, where he found a surprise awaiting him. Way back in 1991, during Gill's performance at the Kern County Fair, Owens had presented him with one of Owens' signature red, white and blue acoustic guitars. That guitar currently hangs in Gill’s office.

After Owens' death earlier this year, his family and friends were going through his personal items and came across another red, white and blue guitar, one of the rare 1964 Gibson models that Buck gave to a very, very few people. This one carried a gold plaque that read, "To Vince Gill I finally got it right! A fan, Buck Owens March 5, 1992.” Friends said they believe that Owens, after having watched Gill play, regretted giving him a lesser model and was planning to make up for the gaffe by presenting him a finer version.

No one knows why Owens never delivered the better guitar, but KUZZ program director Evan Bridwell made it right by presenting it to the stunned Gill. Afterward Gill commented to a KERO-TV reporter, "I honestly will treasure it. I still have the notes that I would get from Buck from time to time when I’d make a new record he’d like. He would say ‘I love this new record, and I’m singing it in my shows down here at the Crystal Palace.’ I feel like he genuinely liked some of the stuff I did, and that meant the world to me.”

Gill continues to reap praise for his These Days Tour. Buzzine.com recently described him as "country’s Eric Clapton and Bruce Springsteen combined." The appraisal continued, "His guitar work, like Slowhand, is the stuff of charged amazement and (like the Boss) Gill’s concerts are expansive, seeking to touch an audience on various emotional levels while also being sheer entertainment."

Los Angeles Times critic Randy Lewis observed, “Vince Gill made it tough to figure out Sunday [Nov.12] at the Wiltern LG which recent career move is more mind-boggling: his release of a four-CD set containing 43 new songs or his decision to include more than half of them in one three-hour, boundary-leaping concert… the common thread demonstrated Sunday was Gill's soul-deep passion for making music. Nothing mind-boggling about that. “

The Hollywood Reporter concurred: “Gill has long demonstrated an admirable versatility. These days, he’s simply providing more of it.”

Gill is finishing up his 2006 tour with dates in Salt Lake City (Nov. 20), Denver (Nov. 21) and Las Vegas (Dec. 7-9).

From left: Evan Bridwell, Program Director for KUZZ in Bakersfield, Vince Gill and Jim Shaw of the Buckaroos.