Phil Vassar Returns to Headline at Fair
By Diane Booth Conway,
Merced County Fair Publicity Director

   Coming back to the Merced County Fair, country singer/songwriter Phil Vassar's career is soaring with his latest hit song riding high on the country charts.
   Vassar will perform at the 2007 Merced County Fair Thursday, July 19 in the Toyota Outdoor Theatre. He was recently named one of the Nashville Songwriter Association International's 2006 Songwriter/Artist of the Year. He tied for the honor with Toby Keith.
   Vassar has written dozens of chart-topping songs for some of Nashville's biggest country headliners and his career as a hit-making country artist continues to grow. His newest hit, "The Woman in my Life," is at No. 23 on the Billboard Top Country Singles charts this week after 24 weeks on the charts.
   He first played the Merced County Fair in 2005 and fairgoers loved the piano-pounding singer/songwriter's act. The fair previously announced that country star Collin Raye, will headline at the fair, Saturday, July 21. The fair runs July 17-22.
   All entertainment acts performing at the fairgrounds Toyota Outdoor Theatre will give one concert at 9 p.m. As always, all fair headline acts are free with the price of admission. The 2007 Fair theme is "Gateway to Great Cheese," a salute to cheese, one of the county's top agricultural products.
   Vassar's latest album is "Greatest Hits, Volume 1" and the single from the record, "Last Day of My Life," became the fastest rising single of his career. The 15-track collection includes many of his biggest singles -- they're all Top 10 songs and nearly half of them made the trip all the way to No. 1, including "In a Real Love," "Six Pack Summer," "Just Another Day in Paradise," and "Carlene."
   The latest album also contains five hits previously recorded by other artists but written by Vassar including, "Bye, Bye," "My Next Thirty Years," and "I'm Alright." Rather than compile a traditional collection of his hits, Vassar recorded fresh versions of hit songs he wrote for acts like Tim McGraw and Jo Dee Messina well before his own career catapulted him to stardom.
   His current single, "The Woman in My Life," was inspired by the women in his life. As the only male in his family, he has his mother, two sisters who have daughters, his wife and his own two daughters. "My mother is the inspiration in my life," he said. "She was at all my ball games, supported me in every way and really was the one constant in my life. That's how this song idea got started."
   Born in 1964 in Lynchburg, Va., Vassar grew up in a picturesque college town that hugs the Blue Ridge Mountains. His late father was a singer who enjoyed regional success, but tried to steer his son to a more stable occupation. Vassar won a track scholarship to James Madison University in his home state and majored in business. But it wasn't long before he began to seriously consider a career in music, taking classes in music theory, history and business.
   Inspired by Billy Joel, Elton John, Bruce Hornsby and Jerry Lee Lewis, Vassar moved to Nashville in 1987 and learned to play piano, bartending at night to pay the rent and knocking on Music Row doors during the day. Soon he was writing songs and singing his original material in clubs.
   Vassar hoped to make a name for himself as a singer but songwriting was the key that opened doors for him and earned him recognition in the industry. After landing a publishing contract he penned hits including Collin Raye's, "Little Red Rodeo," Alan Jackson's, "Right On The Money," Tim McGraw's, "For A Little While," and "My Next Thirty Years," Jo Dee Messina's "Bye Bye" and "I'm Alright," and Blackhawk's, "Postmarked Birmingham."
   His self-titled debut album was released in 2000, and the lead single, "Carlene," shot into the country Top Five; it's follow-up, "Just Another Day in Paradise," went all the way to No. 1. Three weeks later, Tim McGraw's recording of Vassar's composition, "My Next Thirty Years," claimed the top spot on the charts.
   Vassar's, "Six Pack Summer," also reached the Top Ten, and another single from the star-studded album, "That's When I Love You," became Vassar's third Top Five hit in early 2002. "Phil Vassar" was certified gold for sales of half a million copies, and its follow-up, "American Child," was released later in 2002. "American Child" climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard country charts and launched two singles, the title track and, "This is God," into the Top 10 country releases.
   Vassar has established himself as a multi-talented artist equally strong in writing, playing, singing and entertaining. "Phil Vassar is an awesome pianist, performer and songwriter. He is not a man to cross keyboards with. Hear that, Billy Joel, Elton John and whoever," said Jimmy Webb, the Grammy Award-winning composer of such classic songs as "By the Time I Get to Phoenix," and "Up, Up and Away."
   Vassar and his wife, Julie Wood-Vassar, were nominated for an Emmy Award last year as songwriters in the "Outstanding Original Song" category for their song, "Live for Today," used by NBC's Today Show. Vassar and his wife are the parents of two little girls and live in Nashville.
   The New York Times calls Vassar "one of country music's most appealing voices." In his live performances, he takes advantage of his grand piano by using it as a platform jumping to and fro, on and off its lid.
   For more information, call the fair office at 722-1507 or e-mail to Info@MercedCountyFair.com or fax at 722-3773. Visit the Merced County Fair’s award-winning website, www.MercedCountyFair.com

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