About

About Phil Vassar

Phil Vassar’s unbounded energy and limitless talent have proven him, again and again, as one of Nashville’s most prolific and versatile stars. His resume boasts six #1 hits for country artists including Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw, Jo Dee Messina, and Collin Raye, and three more as an artist in his own right. He’s been named the ASCAP Songwriter of the Year twice and has taken top honors from the Academy of Country Music, Billboard and MusicRow. Now releasing his sixth album, Traveling Circus, Vassar approaches his uniquely piano-based, rhythm and blues-infused, infectiously buoyant brand of country music from the back-to-basics school of thought.

Phil bypassed traditional Music City session players and hired his road band to play on Traveling Circus. While the band had played on some of Phil’s Greatest Hits: Vol. 1 album, and had become his go-to guys for demo work, never before had Phil used them for a full album of original material. What’s more, Phil found that his road band, who contribute so much to the frenetic creative energy of his legendary live shows, were much better equipped to capture his concert sound than hired session musicians would be.
With his road band, and friends, on board, Vassar had the opportunity to really get lost in the studio. Free of ticking time clocks, Phil was able to cut several songs, 11 of which ultimately made the album.

With Traveling Circus, and especially the closing track “Where Have All The Pianos Gone,” Phil enjoys the last laugh as Nashville’s preeminent piano man. Co-written and performed with James Slater, the tune laments the lack of Billy Joels, Stevie Wonders, Elton Johns and Ray Charleses in contemporary music, reminiscing how such music “Spoke to me with soul and a melody/The rhyme and the rhythm, I’d sing along with ‘em/On my back porch, I carried the torch.” Vassar continues to carry the torch throughout Traveling Circus, his passion for piano decidedly unrestrained. And at this stage in his life and career, Phil’s clearly enjoying himself.

A Craig Wiseman co-write, “A Year From Now,” epitomizes Phil’s present mindset. Having endured some tough life changes and eventually being able to move past things helped guide Phil’s writing. Looking beyond the turmoil of a break-up to “A year from now I’ll think about the best of times/And not the love we left behind every time you cross my mind,” the song offers a refreshingly positive spin on the loss of a relationship.

Co-written alongside Jeffrey Steele, “Everywhere I Go” echoes that theme. “Even at the end of a relationship,” Phil reflects, “you can always see the good that’s left behind. You’ll look at your kids, and see some of your ex in them, and that’s really a special thing.” Phil’s own daughters, Haley, 10, and Presley, 5, provided the inspiration for “She’s On Her Way,” one of the album’s most poignant tracks. “I remember sitting in the waiting room while Haley was being born,” Phil says, “and this older man came up to me and said, ‘Congratulations. Your daughter is the one woman you’re going to love unconditionally for the rest of your life.’ I could hardly keep from bawling the entire time I wrote this song, because he was absolutely right. No matter what happens, she’s my daughter.”

While not tugging at the heartstrings, Vassar just wants to have a good time. Setting the mood with the funky groove of, “Save Tonight For Me,” Phil makes it clear he’s ready to get down to the business of having some fun. Whether turning lemons into “Lemonade,” forgetting all his troubles in “Tequila Town” or dealing with life’s mysteries in “Life,” Phil’s having a party and everyone’s invited. He definitely has something to celebrate. Firmly in the driver’s seat of his own career, he has perfected his signature sound while venturing into new territory as a songwriter, an artist, and producer.

About "Traveling Circus"

1. Life (Phil Vassar)
Good, bad or ugly – life deals it’s hand. It doesn’t care who or what you are, it just happens, so enjoy it when it’s good. Handle it when it’s not.

2. Lemonade (Phil Vassar/Charlie Black/Tim Ryan)
I love the message—no matter whether you’re talking to a friend, your wife, your husband, your kids. I think about talking to my kids: you’re going to fail exams, someone’s going to break your heart, but it’s all going to be ok.

3. Everywhere I Go (Phil Vassar/Jeffrey Steele)
This is one of the more powerful songs on the album for me. Listening to it, it could be about any relationship, a break-up, or the loss of a friend or parent…anybody you’ll always think about and see in everything you do. Even in a divorce, or at the end of a relationship, you can always see the good that’s left behind.

4. John Wayne (Phil Vassar/Tom Douglas)
I love this theme and the way this record feels. I never get sick of hearing it. Writing it, we kept thinking about the old West and heroes we grew up with. As a very small kid my dad loved John Wayne. How different the world is now. Chivalry, how you treat a woman, treat a friend—that’s all gone. The golden rule doesn’t seem to apply anymore. Nothing seems to last. Everybody wants a quick fix now, from disposable razors to disposable relationships. Everyone wants their 15 minutes of fame. People used to really work at sticking together and making things last. That’s what John Wayne represents for me—he was really a man’s man.

5. Tequila Town (Phil Vassar/Kelly Loveless)
This song is just about forgetting your worries. I had the idea for a long time about going away somewhere called Tequila Town. It came up when everybody was doing shots at a show, and I made a note of it. Kelly Loveless loved the idea and we just went with it. It’s simple, it is what it is. It’s just fun.

6. Bobbi With An I (Phil Vassar/Craig Wiseman)
Craig Wiseman and I were laughing one day about that one dude in a small town who always likes to dress up. Bobbi is actually a guy I knew—this outrageous guy who showed up at a club one night dressed as a girl. It was just a funny way to pick up girls. And women were all over him!

7. She’s On Her Way (Phil Vassar/Tim Nichols/Jeff Outlaw)
When I had my first daughter Haley, sitting in the waiting room, this older guy came up and talked to me. A lot of this song came directly out of that conversation. He said, ‘Your daughter is the one woman you’re going to love unconditionally for the rest of your life.’ That just hit me between the eyes….no matter what happens, she’s my daughter. They sure grow up fast…

8. A Year From Now (Phil Vassar/Craig Wiseman)
Beyond all the heartache and pain of a relationship ending, you know someday you’re going to be okay. It was such a tough time when this song was written, but turned out to be pretty prophetic. I am doing well now.

9. Save Tonight For Me (Phil Vassar/Tim Ryan/Julie Wood)
It’s so easy to get caught up in everyday life and the world…This song is about needing to take the time to slow down and concentrate on one another in a relationship.

10. I Will Remember You (Phil Vassar/Kenny Chesney)
I wrote this song with Kenny Chesney years ago, when he was going through a break-up. Moving on from something like that, you always remember somebody…the good times, great moments, how much you really love somebody.

11. Where Have All The Pianos Gone (Phil Vassar/James Slater)
James Slater, who is also a piano player, and I played on the track together. I played Wurlitzer and he played piano. But it’s true—you used to hear piano on the radio all the time and you just don’t anymore. Like Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles. Now we’ve got Ben Folds, John Legend, but not a lot of players in country. When I got to town nobody wanted to hear about a piano. I literally had record label heads tell me I would have to put on a hat and start playing guitar, but I always stuck to my guns.