The Time Jumpers bring classic country sound to SLO

Vince Gill is unquestionably the most famous member of The Time Jumpers.

Over the course of his nearly four-decade career, the country star has won 18 Country Music Association Awards, 20 Grammy Awards, a spot in the Country Music Hall of Fame and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. What’s more, he’s married to Christian music legend Amy Grant.

Yet, when it comes to his involvement in the Western swing supergroup The Time Jumpers, Gill is endearingly humble.

“I’m surrounded by nine cats who can play me under the table whenever they want to,” the guitarist said with a modesty befitting his Norman, Oklahoma, upbringing.

“That’s why I joined the band. I want to get better,” he added. “That’s the advice I got as a kid: ‘Don’t be the best. Play with the best.’ ”

Gill, 59, will join The Time Jumpers in concert Monday at the Performing Arts Center in San Luis Obispo. The band is touring in support of its latest album, “Kid Sister.”

Established in 1998 by a group of hardworking session musicians seeking to blow off steam, The Time Jumpers started playing country, swing, jazz and pop standards on a weekly basis at the Station Inn bluegrass club in Nashville, Tennessee. The all-star jam sessions proved so popular that the group eventually moved to a larger Nashville nightclub, 3rd & Lindsley.

Today, the band counts 10 seasoned performers among its members, including fiddler and bandleader Kenny Sears, steel guitarist Paul Franklin and acoustic rhythm guitarist Douglas “Ranger Doug” Green of Riders in the Sky.

Also in the lineup are upright bassist Brad Albin, electric guitarist Andy Reiss, accordion player Jeff Taylor, drummer Billy Thomas and fiddlers Larry Franklin and Joe Spivey.

Despite the level of talent in The Time Jumpers, Gill said the group is refreshingly informal and ego-free.

“We basically just pass the mic around,” said Gill, who sings and plays acoustic and electric guitar in the band. “There’s not a lot of show business to it.”

Even so, Gill’s star power is undeniable. He found success as the frontman of the country rock band Pure Prairie League before launching his solo career in 1983, and enjoyed the peak of his popularity in the 1990s — releasing a string of top-charting singles including “When I Call Your Name,” “I Still Believe in You” and “Tryin’ to Get Over You.”

Gill officially joined The Time Jumpers in 2010.

“I wanted to use whatever I’ve been able to accomplish in my career to let these guys have a voice, and not just be backup musicians all the time,” he explained.

Gill also couldn’t resist the chance to dive deeper into traditional country and Western swing music. “Everybody remembers the handful of hits, but when you go off into that deep catalog,” he said, it’s easy to find hidden gems.

So far The Time Jumpers have released three albums — including 2007’s “Jumpin’ Time” and 2012’s “The Time Jumpers” — and have been nominated for a total of four Grammys. The band can also be heard on albums by the likes of Miranda Lambert, Reba McEntire, Willie Nelson and LeAnn Rimes.

“It’s turned out to be a great gift not only for me,” Gill said, but for his bandmates as well.

“These nine guys … get to be the center of attention,” he said. “They are world-class musicians, every one of them.”

In recent years, however, The Time Jumpers have experienced tragedy as well as triumph.

“We lost our main engine,” Gill said, when singer Dawn Sears, the wife of Kenny Sears, died of cancer in December 2014. A 10-year veteran of The Time Jumpers, she toured with Gills as a backup vocalist for 22 years.

Sears was such an integral part of The Time Jumpers’ sound that the band, which had begun recording a third studio album with her in mid-2014, shelved it when her voice started to fade. After her death, Gill and his bandmates returned to the studio to finish the record.

“I think she would have demanded that,” Gill said with a chuckle. “She was a strong personality.”

The result, “Kid Sister,” was released Sept. 9 by Rounder Records. Gill started writing the tender title track, which sums up his feelings about his late friend, the morning he heard of her passing.

Sears appears on two tracks on “Kid Sister,” which Gill produced: “My San Antonio Rose,” a sprightly duet with Kenny Sears, and “I Miss You,” featuring Gill on lead vocals. Gill co-wrote the bittersweet song for his latest studio album — “Down to My Last Bad Habit,” released in February — but reworked it as a tribute to Dawn Sears.

Gill contributed a few other songs to “Kid Sister,” ranging from the wistful (“True Love Meant for Me”) to the playful (“Honky Tonkin’ ”). His silly, self-referential tune “We’re The Time Jumpers” was inspired by Bob Wills’ “Texas Playboy Theme.”

“It makes you snap your fingers and tap your foot and smile. It’s good-time music,” Gill said.

According to the country star, The Time Jumpers will continue to “pay homage to one of our buddies” by playing the music Sears enjoyed so much.

“There’s obviously no money in it,” he acknowledged with a laugh. “You’re just doing it for the love.”

This story was originally published September 30, 2016 at 2:18 PM with the headline "The Time Jumpers bring classic country sound to SLO."