Country artist Phil Vassar, a writer of many hit songs, including Tim McGraw's hit, "My Next Thirty Years," will appear at the Midland Theater in Newark, March 25, at 8 p.m. He talked to the Mount Vernon News about his career, music and life during the recent pandemic.
Q. Is your trip to Ohio part of a national tour?
A. We just did the whole Northeast, a bunch of shows up there. In the spring and summer, it's all crazy for us, with festivals and fairs, all that good fun, outdoor stuff as it finally looks like the world is getting a little bit back to normal."
Q. Were you able to tour much in 2020 and 2021?
A. In 2020, it devastated our industry. We went from “rocking the free world” to sitting in our homes. I wrote a bunch. The good thing was I really got to spend a lot of time with my daughters, one who is about to graduate from high school, the other who is about to graduate from college. Creatively, it was a good time to work on some stuff in the studio.
We went back out on tour in July of last year and we have been absolutely slammed since then.
Q. Do you notice a difference in the audiences, say from Atlanta to Ohio?
A. I love our fans. We get to play all over the world. I've been to Europe a bunch of times. There are different audiences everywhere.
Q. What do you think people like the most about country music?
A. It's real story-driven. The lyrics are really important.
Q. Was it hard breaking into the industry, as hard as people make it out to be?
A. God yes. I think you have to be completely delusional if you ever think you are going to make it. I think I was just too dumb to know. I moved to Nashville and started knocking on doors literally and literally had doors slammed in my face. I started playing bars. I was a piano player which is really different for Nashville. There was Ronnie Milsap and before him, Charlie Rich and Jerry Lee Lewis and that was it. Everybody told me, 'You need to play guitar and wear a hat. That's what we do here.' That's probably why it took a little bit longer for me.
Then I started writing, having all these hit songs for Alan Jackson, Tim McGraw. All these people started cutting my songs and I had all these No. 1 songs. Then I came out and started having my own No. 1 songs. I was so lucky to have hits as an artist and a writer. It's a lot of fun. I love doing what I do.
Q. What should the audience expect at your concert?
A. High energy. A lot of hits. I've been so lucky to write a lot of hits. A lot of people will ask me why I do all those Alan Jackson and McGraw songs. I say, “Because I wrote those songs.”
