Vince Gill is positively giddy. He can’t wipe the smile off his face. At 43, he’s savoring life at its best. In the past year he put touring on hold to recharge, he released the most inspired album of his career and he married the love of his life, Amy Grant. Now, Vince is anticipating the crowning moment of all – the blissful arrival of a new baby. The bundle of joy will arrive in March.

“This is so exciting,” he reveals with eyes glistening. “We were married last March, and what better way to celebrate our one-year anniversary. We don’t know the sex of the baby – and we’re not sure if we want to.”

But one thing is for sure: Vince’s new fatherhood should be exciting. He even speculates about parenthood the second time around, 18 years after the birth of daughter Jenny from his previous marriage – to Sweethearts Of The Rodeo member Janis Gill – which ended in 1997.

“It’ll be fun to see what my parenting style will be,” he says, chuckling. “I realize society has become more permissive, but I don’t think that’s a good direction. I like having rules and boundaries. They serve a child well in the long run.”

Vince is actively involved with helping raise Amy’s three children – Matt, Millie and Sarah – from her prior marriage to entertainer Gary Chapman.

“I coached their softball teams and helped with some school functions,” he explains. “I’m trying to be a plus in their lives right now. They have a great father, and this is not an attempt to replace him or be a substitute for him. What’s important is to let them embrace me in their own time and their own way.”

Vince also spent part of his hiatus bonding with Jenny. “It was Jen’s senior year in high school, and I didn’t want to miss any more time with her,” he admits in a soft voice. “It was hard to go through my child’s life and realize how much I missed. I went to every school function last year, and we just had a lot of quality time together. Jenny was definitely a priority.”

Another priority was Vince’s well-being. For the past decade, he played the role of road warrior, touring non-stop to support his albums and spearheading charity events such as his golf tournament, The Vinny. This year, he decided it was time to put the road on hold, although he will resume touring in 2001.

“I wound up working almost every weekend, and it got to the point where all I did was working to work,” notes Vince. “I never got an opportunity to take a breath.”

He believes his fans wanted a breather as well. “I think entertainers can overstay their welcome,” he reveals, “not in terms of popularity, but in continually asking people to shell out 30 bucks every year or nine months.

“It becomes ‘I’m back and I’ve got a couple new singles, but nothing else has really changed. It’s the same old me.’ So I kind of sensed they needed to recharge their energy as much as I needed to recharge mine.”

No recharging was necessary to record his new album, Let’s Make Sure We Kiss Goodbye – it was powered by love. Most of the songs, including the current Top 20 single “Feels Like Love,” were wrapped in the afterglow of his romance with Amy.

But while Vince’s music reflected his newfound happiness, many critics labeled the album sappy. One even wrote that Vince was a better artist when his life was miserable.

“That was all quite humorous to me,” he says good-naturedly. “I mean, to make the statement that a guy is too happy – gee, what an awful thing. People do like that blue side of music, and I do too. But I wasn’t feeling that way when I made the record.”

The critics’ reaction made Vince feel he couldn’t win. He pointed to his previous album The Key, a more traditional country effort that frequently ventured toward that “blue side.” “I got some of the best reviews of my life for The Key, but it got a great big ‘no thank you’ from radio,” he says. “So am I supposed to keep that up, in the face of, evidently, no one wanting to hear it? It’s really ironic. A true double-edged sword.”

“But I’m really not affected by the criticism,” he adds. “I think I knew I was going to get ripped.

“When I recorded some of the really sad stuff [on previous albums] like ‘Pocket Full Of Gold’ or ‘When I Call Your Name,’ nobody ever said, ‘Gosh, what’s wrong with Vince?’ Now that they think they know everything about my life, they start putting two and two together and analyzing what I do.”

But even armchair analysts can tell that Vince couldn’t be happier taking life easy. “I haven’t been writing much at all. I’ve been pretty leisurely,” he admits with a laid-back laugh. “Amy is making a new record, but I’m not sure if I’ll do anything on that. I don’t picture us becoming the new Donny and Marie.” He pauses, then adds with another chuckle, “But you never know.”

Although Vince has performed only one concert so far during 2000, he kept a special weekend open on his calendar for the recent Grand Ole Opry’s 75th anniversary celebration. Since joining the Opry in 1991, he’s remained a staunch supporter of the venerable radio show.

“I honestly do revere it,” he declares. “I’ve had a great run of hit albums and records, but that pales in comparison to what’s been accomplished in 75 years of the Opry. It’s up to our generation of artists to keep that going.”

He confesses the Opry family kept him going at a time when he felt discouraged. “About four years ago, when everything in my life was breaking down, the Opry was a great place to heal,” Vince confides, referring to the period when his life was turned upside down with the demise of his marriage to Janis and the death of his father.

“I found such a sweet camaraderie at the Opry,” he continues. “I’d shoot the breeze with Johnny Russell or listen to Jeanne Pruett go off on something, and pretty soon I was forgetting my troubles.”

With those tough times behind him, Vince says his focus is now squarely on the future. “Ideally, you gain wisdom as you get older,” he says. “I’ve discovered I don’t have to be continually grabbing for the brass ring and pushing myself over the edge.”

That realization doesn’t mean that Vince’s break from touring will become permanent, though. “It may be hard to go back, but I am looking forward to getting out there again,” declares Vince. “I’m pretty confident I’ll never tour like I once did, though. I’m trying to strike a good balance.”

He pauses for a moment and reflects.

“People tell me I seem happier than I have in years – and they’re right. There is a peace and a calm inside of me now.

“But I’m not ready for the gold watch just yet.”

And just around the year’s corner, he knows, his schedule will certainly start to pick up.

“Come next March,” says this father-to-be with a smile, “things will start getting busy again.”