Songfacts®:

• This is the title track of the 12th studio album by Vince Gill. It was released on October 25, 2011 via MCA Nashville. Gill told The Boot that it was his manager, Larry Fitzgerald, who came up with the title, "because he listened to the record and said, You're playing so much more guitar. Something's different about you and the way that you're playing. I think you ought to call it 'Guitar Slinger.'"
• This song was originally not going to be on the record, but a slot was found for the tune after Gill had decided to name the album after it.
• Gill explained how the song describes his relationship with his wife, Christian singer Amy Grant, "in a sense." He said: "I like songs with tempo to have a bit of wit to them. There are certain songs that are well-suited for lots of guitar playing. With those kinds of songs, I just want a great feel so I can play a lot. It's the same thing with the feel of this song. But it's funny because it's all about this guy who is a nightlife kind of wild child. It's about me and Amy, in a sense. It says, 'Well, I was living the life of a guitar slinger/Womens and wine and whiskey for dinner/Oh, I knew I was in trouble the first time I seen her/ I went and married that contemporary Christian singer.' To me, it's very, very funny. She heard it and just shook her head and said, 'You'll say anything.'"
• The floods that swept through Nashville in May 2010 affected Gill, along with many other Nashville musicians. He explained: "In the process of recording, the flood came and wiped out a big part of my collection of guitars and amps that I've been buying. I had 30-40 guitars and 30 amps that were lost in the flood. In the last verse, it has a reference to the flood: 'Well, there's a few licks left in this guitar slinger/ Even though half of my stuff's in the Cumberland River/ Well, now all I really need is just one six stringer/ Yeah, I might have slowed down a little but buddy, I can still bring her.' It's got a great sense of humor. It's fun and it feels great. I always want the lyrics to make you chuckle." (Source of above two quotes: Roughstock.)