CMT Blog: Phil Vassar

This is none of my business, but I’m glad Tim McGraw is taking a bit of his own advice and starting to take better care of himself. In his big cover story for People magazine’s most recent country issue, he said he quit drinking. So even though he’s well past 30, he’s taking the lyrics of “My Next Thirty Years” pretty seriously now. At least, that’s how I’m reading into this. As if all country stars stop and think about what they’re singing as much as I do.

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Most country artists have a pretty good sense of humor. But rarely do they have it in them to make people laugh out loud. Phil Vassar does, though, as you can see from his video bestowing his random grilling tips upon America. And he’s not talking about marinades, rubs and cooking times. His advice ranges from dealing with vegans and “accidentally” disposing of the gross food people bring. It’s seriously funny.

When the nation celebrates its birthday on Friday, Nashville will be one of many cities across America shooting off fireworks, with Phil Vassar and the Lost Trailers taking part in a celebration expected to draw 100,000 people to Riverfront Park.

Another anniversary is coming up on Sunday that has its own impact on Music City and its creative community. Bob Mulloy was born 75 years ago in Nashville. The name won’t mean much to a lot of readers, but he’s had a huge impact on who works on Music Row and who records there. Bob created a Music Business program at then-tiny Belmont College in 1972. The school is located near the end of 16th Avenue, literally 1.1 miles from the first recording studio on the Row, where Marty Robbins cut “El Paso” and Johnny Cash did “Ring Of Fire.”

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The things Phil Vassar does with his grand piano are not the things you learn in lessons as a kid. I doubt piano teachers are encouraging kids to stand up while playing, to play their own harmonicas for accompaniment, or to jump up on top of the piano at the end of a song. Somehow, though, those are exactly the kinds of things that make a Vassar concert so damn cool.

And maybe because he didn’t learn to play with traditional after-school lessons, he taught himself a hipper way of playing. (He taught himself how to play The Commodores‘ “Easy” when he found his aunt’s old piano being stored in his basement during high school.) Read more…

I used to think cover songs were the ultimate way to pay homage to another artist. Like if Trace Adkins did, say, a Prince song, we’d all know that Purple Rain had been a major influence on him. But I’ve changed my tune. I now know that when an artist really wants to show some love, they put a shout-out right in the song. Like when Ashton Shepherd mentions Keith Whitley, or Dierks Bentley throws (Cross Canadian) Ragweed’s name into a tune. Some are kind of vague, like Luke Bryan’s nod to Lynyrd Skynrd in his “First Love Song.” Or Brooks & Dunn’s request to Hank it up in “Play Something Country.”

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Today is officially the first day of summer. For me, anyway. Because my kids get out of school for good at 2:45 this afternoon. While the rest of the world waits for June 21, my summer will begin the minute they come into the house and drop their backpacks at my feet.

So in my effort to maintain my fun-mom cred, I tried to create a “Summer” playlist on my iPod this morning. And I truly love so many of those country songs, like Alan Jackson’s “Summertime Blues” and Phil Vassar’s “Six-Pack Summer.” Then there’s Kenny Chesney, who seems to have cornered the market on the beach vibe. Read more…

Robert Plant gushes over Alison Krauss, both as a tourmate and as his vocal mentor.
Teen pregnancy? Taylor Swift’s against it. And she said so at the Event to Prevent gala in New York City.

Country music was coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. on Monday as Phil Vassar performed on the White House’s south lawn to honor recipients of the Presidential Volunteer Service Award.

Actress Minnie Driver is getting ready to give birth: to a new baby and a new collection of country songs on her album, Seastories.

Eva Longoria is no Jewel. Cast your vote for who wore the white lace number best.

When it came to her record label, Jessica Simpson had to put her foot down with her to make a country album, she tells Glamour magazine. Meanwhile, in order to jinx the Dems, President Bush is thinking about sending Simpson to the Democratic National Convention.

Take a four-minute tour of Phil Vassar’s Nashville home, his refrigerator, his tippy-top attic and his Jacuzzi tub in his master bathroom.

Don’t hate her because she’s beautiful. But go ahead and be a little jealous of how gorgeous Taylor Swift is even without makeup. And if there happens to be a little guyliner on a young man, she’s cool with that.

Former folk heroine Jewel (Kilcher) is willing to pay her dues on the Brad Paisley tour in order to be taken seriously as a country artist.

It’s not every day you get to see a famed Nashville songwriter actually perform again. But folks in Dallas will have the chance tomorrow night (5/2) when Steve Wariner takes the stage again.

If it ain’t country, it ain’t right. That’s what Kellie Pickler thought of the high school chorus, so they switched her to a home ec class instead.

Phil Vassar’s high-energy performances often involve a piano and a lot of running and jumping. But years ago, the singer-songwriter did his running and jumping in the athletic arena. He was Virginia state champ in high jump and hurdles in high school, and he went to college at Virginia’s James Madison University on a track scholarship.

Vassar has made some modifications in his training schedule since his college days. “I don’t run as much as I used to,” he says. “My knees can’t take it anymore. Jumping off the piano night after night on stage has pretty much done in any life I had left in my knees. Treadmills are better for my knees than running on the street is. And I haven’t tried a hurdle in years — if I did, you would probably hear about me in the hospital somewhere!

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Joe Beam is the man — or spiritual advisor, anyway — behind the relationship of Sara Evans and Jay Barker. He sounds like a one-man match.com.

If you start right now, you’ll have exactly 91 chances to win a Yamaha piano from Phil Vassar.

Maybe she just wasn’t drinking enough water while she was busy making her country album. But not to worry, Jessica Simpson was just released from the hospital, now that her kidney infection is under control.

Now you can look exactly like Sheryl Crow, right down to the vintage jeans and the faux suede vests, with her newly launched clothing line.

Watch for Mark McGraw, who is Tim McGraw’s half-brother,  in The Sensei, a new movie about a kid who learns karate to defend himself against bullies. Wait? Didn’t we see that one already?

Go to page 21 of this Peep show from the Washington Post to see cute little marshmallow bunnies around a campfire, roasting themselves.