Lynchburg native Phil Vassar may be a newly inducted member of the Virginia Music Hall of Fame, but he never forgets his roots.
By Joan Tupponce
No stage, regardless of its size, can contain Phil Vassar’s energy and enthusiasm. Whether the Lynchburg native and prolific singer/songwriter is playing for a state fair crowd or at a European venue, his sincerity and appreciation for his fans is evident. In a way, the stage is Vassar’s church, a sacred place where he’s free to let his talent shine.
Grammy-nominated songwriter Rory Bourke first saw Vassar on stage at a club in Nashville. “I was knocked out,” he says of Vassar’s performance. “He was a dynamo.” Bourke, a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame who has written songs for musical legends such as Elvis Presley and Dolly Parton, says Vassar is also “absolute dynamite as a songwriter. It’s like thunder coming out of his fingers onto the piano keyboard. It’s magic. He’s so fast and talented.”
During his career, Vassar has had 10 No. 1 singles and 26 Top 40 hits, including hits he’s written for artists such as Alan Jackson (“Right on the Money”), Tim McGraw (“For a Little While”), and Jo Dee Messina (“Bye Bye,” “I’m Alright”). This year he’s celebrating the 20th anniversary of his first No. 1 single, “Carlene.” Since then he has released six albums, was named an Academy of Country Music’s Top New Male Vocalist, and has received two American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers Songwriter of the Year trophies. Last October, he was inducted into the Virginia Music Hall of Fame. “I’m very proud of that,” Vassar says of his induction. “I’m proud of my state and my home.”
Vassar grew up on the Campbell County side of Lynchburg, attending Brookville High School before heading to James Madison University. He can’t remember a time when he wasn’t singing. “I would sing in church, junior high, and high school. At JMU I was in the Madisonians Show Choir. I always knew what I wanted to do. I didn’t have a plan B,” he says.
His friends from those days are still very much in his life. Tim Dudley went to high school with Vassar, and the two have remained close. “Phil was one of the top athletes in high school. He played quarterback and defense in football and was on the track team,” Dudley says. “He set all kinds of track records.”
Vassar has always been extremely outgoing, he adds. “He hasn’t changed any. He’s a very kind soul.”
The lure of Nashville was too much for Vassar to deny, so he headed to Music City before finishing JMU. “I really liked what was going on in Nashville,” he says. “Songwriters were always my heroes, so I said, I am going to check Nashville out. I went and stayed.”
It was 13 years before Vassar had his first No. 1 song, but that song opened doors around town. Before long, artists such as Alan Jackson and Tim McGraw were recording his songs. “I had been writing for myself, and then I started writing for others,” he says. “Kenny Chesney and I would write a lot together. We were all budding artists at the time.”
Writing for others “definitely brought me into the forefront,” Vassar says. “Overnight I had six No. 1 songs in a year. I went from having nothing happen to having that happen.”
Vassar isn’t defined by his success. He’s led by the faith, love, and kindness he felt growing up in Lynchburg where his mom, Dianne, and sister, Traci, still live. His other sister, Terri, lives in Florida.
For the past 10 years Vassar has been presenting a hometown concert and hosting the Phil Vassar Golf Classic at London Downs Golf Club in Forest, both for the benefit of Lynchburg’s Miller Home for Girls, a resident group home since 1875. “When I was a kid at church I sang in youth choir, and I remember singing for the girls at Miller Home,” he says. “I remember going over there. It was moving. I would tear up. These girls don’t have anything or anybody. It was really touching.”
Over the last decade, the concert and golf tournament have raised close to $1 million for the home. “We are truly blessed by Phil Vassar,” says Miller Home executive director Stacy Garrett. “Between both events, we bring in about $90,000 each year.”
Vassar considers working with the home a blessing. “I look forward to doing it every year. I feel like I have a bunch of daughters,” says Vassar, who is actually the father of two daughters: Haley, 21, and Presley, 15.
Vassar also does a charity event at JMU every year and plays gigs around the state. At the moment, Vassar is gearing up for a new venture where he will be writing again. “That’s exciting for me,” he says. “I am really pumped about getting back into the game, writing songs, and cutting a new record that will come out next year.”
He is still in awe of being a member of the Virginia Music Hall of Fame, he says. “Who would have thought it? Not me.”