Phil Vassar Biography
and Discography

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Energy (en' er jee) n. pl. -gies Capacity or tendency for working or acting, vigor; strength, vitality of expression.

Compound incredible writing ability with dynamic vocals and keyboards, throw in an innate flair for entertaining and step back. Don't shake it, don't stir it and don't plug it in because it generates its own power. Bottle it and call it Phil Vassar.

Arista/Nashville's newest star packs megawatts of talent into his self-titled, debut album. Phil Vassar has already experienced phenomenal success with his high-voltage songwriting penning chart-toppers for Alan Jackson ("Right On The Money"), Collin Raye ("Little Red Rodeo"), Tim McGraw ("For A Little While"), and BlackHawk ("Postmarked Birmingham"). He also took Jo Dee Messina to the top with "I'm Alright" and "Bye Bye," which won him an ASCAP Song of the Year award and the collective success garnered him the honor of ASCAP's Songwriter of the Year in 1999.

Obviously a prolific songwriter, Vassar now adds his own album to his credits as he co-wrote ALL 11 of the songs on the disc. "I love songwriting, it's what I do, which thankfully leaves me with more songs than I could ever record. The hardest part of making the album was deciding which songs to cut for the first record," he says.

Entertaining is obviously in his blood. Phil was born and raised in Lynchburg, Virginia - a picturesque college town that hugs the Blue Ridge Mountains. His mother stayed at home caring for him and his two younger sisters, which is probably where Phil inherited his boundless energy. "That's a full-time job. She's the greatest mother in the world and has supported me 100 percent in everything I've ever done." His father was a singer who enjoyed local and regional success, performing in a restaurant he owned and at outside venues. "My father was a huge influence," he says. "He was a great singer - he sounded like B.J. Thomas. Our house was full of all kinds of music…Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdinck, Neil Diamond, James Taylor…one of my sisters was a metal head and the other was into hard-core country. I liked it all."

Although intrigued by music as a child, as he grew older his interest leaned more towards playing ball than playing scales. "I was a pretty athletic little kid," says the former quarterback. "Sports helped me learn the discipline and focus I would need later in life." In high school, he also began running track, which is what took him to James Madison University in Harrisonburg on an athletic scholarship. In college he was a decathalete - "I could do a lot of things really good, but no one thing really great," he remembers with a laugh.

To appease his father, who was trying to steer him towards a more conventional career, he majored in business. But ironically, it was in college when he started on a path that mirrored his father's. Indulging his love for music, he took courses in music theory, history and business. "That's when I started meeting musical people. There weren't many music majors in the athletic department. College was a good time, but eventually I was ready to get started with my music - I was ready to get on with my life."

Vassar arrived in Nashville in 1987. He found a furnished apartment outside of town, got a job bartending to pay the rent and during the day began knocking on the doors of Music Row.

Digging deep for that discipline and focus he developed playing sports, he learned to play the piano, sang in clubs and focused more on songwriting. "I had a little Wurlitzer and talked different restaurants and clubs into letting me play…just me and my little keyboard. Eventually I got a drum machine. Those clubs were my classrooms. It was just me up there so I had to learn not just to sing, but to entertain people. I started building a following and making a little money."

He saved his money and in 1995 bought the restaurant and club where he had been performing. His father, who had passed away a couple of years before and had always advised his son NEVER to open a restaurant, would have likely pulled the plug on this venture.

Another ironic twist came when a patron of the club asked Vassar to send him a tape of a couple of his songs. Phil sent him a tape that included "Once In A While," which he had written with another bartender. That song became his first cut when the patron's father - Engelbert Humperdinck, recorded it. "My father always sang Engelbert's songs. He would have loved that."

Suddenly, things began to surge for Vassar. He wrote a song with Skip Ewing ("Mary Go Round") and began writing with other well-known Nashville songwriters that would frequent his club to perform. That attracted industry members, including publishing executive Greg Hill. Hill eventually signed Vassar to a publishing deal with EMI."

It all exploded at once. I had been writing for years and I suddenly started getting all these cuts. I had built relationships with artists and writers and publishers and producers, and that began paying off in a big way. It was really great to have artists like BlackHawk and Collin and Jo Dee and Tim and Alan cutting my songs and watching them go to #1. But what I really wanted to do was make my own album."

He got that opportunity in 1998 when he signed his recording contract and was teamed with producer Byron Gallimore, who had recorded several of Vassar's songs already on projects with McGraw and Messina. In 1999, he sold his club and restaurant to focus his energy on his recording career.

So how does all of this energy translate to music? His live performance sizzles and the only thing that prevents him from becoming a blur on the stage is the necessity to remain at his piano. There have been few country keyboard superstars - Jerry Lee Lewis, Mickey Gilley, Charlie Rich, Ronnie Milsap - but Vassar is poised to become one of them. In his songwriting, Phil manages to channel energy into driving uptempo numbers as well as passionate ballads. The songs on Phil Vassar cross musical circuits from the smooth and cool "Lucky As Me" - "… the happiest lyrics I've ever written," to the compelling "Rose Bouquet" - "…probably the hardest song I've ever written" - both composed with Robert Byrne.

Phil counts Billy Joel as a major influence and, like Joel, Vassar has always had an affinity for story songs - "Joe and Rosalita" (with Charlie Black) about a couple he knew in high school; "Carlene" (with Black and Rory Bourke) about a chance reunion with an old flame; and "Just Another Day In Paradise" (with Craig Wiseman) about the comforting routine of daily life. "Six Pack Summer" (with Black and Tommy Rocco) seems to hail back to the carefree, goodtime days of hanging out at the beach, while "Didn't You Know She's Gone" (with Don Sampson) is distinguished by whimsical lyrics and an unexpected Beatles-esque bridge.

"I do write alone sometimes, but the songs on this album were written with my friends. We might hang out and have lunch and sit all day and not write a word or we may write a hit single. But the song is a by-product of that time together."

Eleven electric songs collectively make Phil Vassar and THAT is what Vassar thinks will spark his success. "What makes an album really great is ALL the songs. And I think we've got some really great ones on this project. I've been working towards this my whole life. This is all I've ever wanted to do."

Fact File:

Given Name: Phil Vassar
Birthplace: Lynchburg, VA
Birthdate: May 28th
Hobbies: Sports, Golf, Running
Musical Influences/Favorites: Steve Wariner, Billy Joel, James Taylor, Elton John
Current Single: “That’s When I Love You”
Single Add Date: October 22, 2001
Album Title: Phil Vassar
Album Release Date: February 22, 2000
Publishing Company: EMI
Affiliation: ASCAP

Songwriting Hits:
“Postmarked Birmingham” – BlackHawk
“Little Red Rodeo” – Collin Raye
“For A Little While” – Tim McGraw
“Bye Bye” – Jo Dee Messina
“I’m Alright” – Jo Dee Messina
“Right On The Money” – Alan Jackson
“My Next Thirty Years”- Tim McGraw

2002 ACM Awards Nomination
“New Male Vocalist”
2001 CMA Awards Nomination
“Horizon Award”
ACM Awards Nomination
“Top New Male”
TNN & CMT Country Weekly Music
Awards Nomination
“Discovery Award”

Industry Awards
R&R—Best New Artist, 2001
Gavin—Breakthrough Artist of the Year, 2001
ASCAP – Song Of The Year, 1999 (“Bye Bye”)
ASCAP – Songwriter Of The Year, 1999
Billboard – Songwriter Of The Year, 1998
American Songwriter Magazine – Songwriter Of The Year, 1998
NSAI – Songwriter Of The Year, 1998
Music Row Magazine – Breakthrough Writer Of The Year, 1999

Key Media:
Billboard, R&R, USA Today, Country Weekly, Playgirl, Country Music, CMT's Country Music Today, Gavin, American Songwriter, Amazon.com, CNN.com, CDNow, Country.com and Countrycool.com

Discography