On May 10, country legend Vince Gill announced his forthcoming album Okie, which will be released on Aug. 23. The album title finds Gill, an Oklahoma native, reclaiming the once derogatory term used to insult migrants from the Sooner State.
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The 12-song album is a reflective one for the 62-year-old Country Music Hall of Fame member.
"I thought this was going to be a songwriter record, not a concept album," Gill said in a statement. "It wound up being more information than I'd envisioned. A friend sent me an email saying, 'You could have only written this record after living a 60-year-plus life.' He said, 'There's no struggle in these songs, just truth and your experience.'"
The album's debut release "A Letter To My Mama," one of 12 songs written or co-written by Gill, is a heartfelt message of love to Gill's mother just in time for Mother's Day.
"I'm sorry I was selfish, just chalk it up to youth," Gill sings. "I got too old to need you, that's just running from the truth."
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Okie is the follow-up to Gill's 2016 album Down to My Last Bad Habit.
The Grammy-winning singer will join The Eagles later this month for their 2019 European tour.
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