Egoless Vince Gill reflects on the Eagles and pork chop on a stick

After spending nine years touring with the Eagles, Vince Gill is back to being Vince Gill.

Remember, he had a Country Music Hall of Fame career before Don Henley summoned him after the death of Eagles co-founder Glenn Frey.

So Gill is back to being “sadly normal” (his words) with his angelic voice, guitar chops to burn and nice-guy personality (all my words).

“I’m anxious to get out and play with my buddies and play some of these songs that I’ve spent the 40-plus years putting together,” said Gill, who returns to the Orpheum Theatre on May 22.

The 22-time Grammy winner will deliver deep tracks and country hits from his own catalog including “Liza Jane,” “Go Rest High on That Mountain” and “Don’t Let Our Love Start Slippin’ Away.” Plus, he promises some new unreleased songs. He’s written more than 125 songs since he issued his last album of original material, “Okie,” in 2019. Later this year, he will offer a project celebrating his 50 years in music.

“I don’t do an hour and a half show and only play the hits and go home. I like showing people what I’m up to,” he said. “Maybe do a half-dozen, seven or eight new songs. It’s fun when people get to respond to something they don’t know. That’s a great exercise.”

Gill is fond of Minnesota, especially the pork chops on a stick at the State Fair (his words) and the golfing (my words). A scratch golfer (whose father was a golf instructor), he’s played with Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus and both Presidents Bush as well as Gerald Ford, among other famous people, just not in Minnesota.

Don’t expect Gill to perform any Eagles songs at his Minneapolis concert.

“It’s not my place. I had nothing to do with the creation of that stuff. I’ve been singing them live for the past nine years but it doesn’t give me license to claim it. I only got to do that gig because of a tragedy, the passing of Glenn Frey. I try to keep that in the forefront of my mind.”

Known for his quick-witted hosting stint on the CMA Awards for more than a decade, Gill, 68, is about as humble as it gets in Nashville.

“It hurts my heart when someone says ‘I’m surprised you’re so nice.’ Really? One of the big problems in our world — people gain some notoriety and they think they’re special. I think my gift is special, to play and sing like I do. But that doesn’t entitle me to think I’m special.”

That kind of attitude enables Gill to feel equally at home as a frontman and as a sideman, which he’s done not only with the Eagles but also with Rodney Crowell, Rosanne Cash and Byron Berline.

“I have a band mentality. My favorite thing when people ask Don Henley ‘Why did you get a country guy to be in your rock band?’ He smiles and goes: ‘Because he knows how to be in a band.’

“If you don’t care who gets the spotlight, it’s easy. I’ve been a sideman, I’ve been a frontman, I’ve been a harmony singer, I’ve been a record producer. It all comes from the same place: Playing and singing great and just doing your job and not caring about who gets the credit. The beauty of music to me is the democratic spirit of it.

“Our country doesn’t really operate very democratic these days. But get a group of musicians in the studio and watch them make a song, that’s when the word democracy defines itself.”

That egoless approach allows Gill to seamlessly go from headlining at country’s historic Ryman Auditorium, Nashville’s 133-year-old 2,300-seat venue, to mostly standing in the background with the Eagles at the trendy Sphere, Las Vegas’ 2-year-old state-of-the-art arena.

“It’s not real comparable,” he said recently from Nashville before a round of golf. “It’s still just playing music. The Sphere is quite an experience. It’s hard to describe to people. The size and magnitude is overwhelming. It’s staggering to see the Opry is about the same as it was 100 years ago; it’s beautiful in its own innocent way. Both are equally compelling.”

Gill’s ongoing stint with the Eagles (they have more shows at the Sphere in the fall) has taught him to be a more diligent songwriter, to pay attention to all the little details.

For the Oklahoma-bred singer/guitarist, the best thing about being in the Eagles is their belief in him. “It gives me a validation of me,” he said. The worst part was having to wear a fedora during the Hotel California Tour. “I’m not a hat wearer. Every time I changed guitars, I knocked the hat off.”

Gill doesn’t consider himself an official band member of the Eagles even though he gets treated like all the longtimers and gets a private plane to fly him to and from their Las Vegas gigs.

“It’s not my makeup as a person to say ‘I’m a member.’ It has not gone to my head, if that makes any sense.”

The story was that co-founder Henley felt that Gill was the only musician he considered to fill Frey’s spot.

“It was an easy yes. My response was: ‘When do we leave?’ I’m a huge fan of the music and those songs. I was friends with everybody in the band.”

Gill had written songs with Joe Walsh, he played on Henley’s country solo project “Cass County,” and Timothy B. Schmit sang on Gill’s contribution to a 1993 Eagles tribute album by country singers.

Still, the Eagles had this perception that Gill was just a country guy.

“We were playing [Walsh’s] ‘Rocky Mountain Way’ at rehearsals, I’m ripping these power chords for Joe. Don shakes his head and goes, ‘I thought you were a bluegrasser.’ I said ‘I am.’ That’s in my DNA, too. I’m a chameleon. I never felt the need to prove it to anybody. Country music is not filled with guitar heroes like rock ‘n’ roll and blues are.

“I didn’t try to prove I was a decent guitar player on my records. People would walk away from my shows going ‘I didn’t know he could play guitar like that.’ That’s OK. You don’t have to shove something down people throats. Let them discover it. It’s more authentic that way.”

The Eagles’ current focus has been an on-and-off residency at the Sphere with its overwhelming visuals and audio system.

“When people ask what it’s like to play the Sphere, I jokingly say ‘It’s the most people I’ve been ignored by’ because they’re watching all the bells and whistles and the visuals, as they should. The content is staggering. It’s pretty intense. It’s fun. I don’t watch the content because I get a little wobbly.”

Since the Sphere is such a triumph, has Gill adapted anything from the overstimulating experience for his own shows?

“We’re going to do exactly what they do at the Sphere,” he said with a chuckle. “Yeah, we might have lights.”

When: 7:30 p.m. May 22

Where: Orpheum Theatre, 910 Hennepin Av. S., Mpls.

Tickets: $100 and up, ticketmaster.com