The modern country scene is jammed with names that everybody knows, whether they're into country or not. It just happens that way. Alan Jackson is one of those. Shania Twain, Faith Hill, Brooks & Dunn, and of course Leann Rimes. Right now, most people outside of the country scene will not recognize the name of Phil Vassar, which is ironic when you consider that he's already had eight number one hit records. The thing is, seven were recorded by other artists. Ah, but the one that he recorded himself was a doozie, and if you sing a few bars for the people who don't recognize his name, I'll lay odds they'll recognize "Just Another Day In Paradise." Another Vassar single, "Carlene," got to the number three spot (no small feat), and they'd probably recognize that one, too. They're songs that have crossed over here and there and they are tunes that stick in your head, planted by a master craftsman. A fantastic showman. An overnight success.

Whooooa. Back up, Sparky.

First of all, let's get it straight that the term "overnight success" is overused, that there are very few of them, that they seldom last, and, most importantly for purposes of this discussion, that Phil Vassar is anything but an overnight success.

Phil grew up in Lynchberg, Virginia, an excellent athlete with the kind of work ethic that allows a person to become one. Blonde hair and good looks... you guess which position on the football team. Yep, Phil the quarterback. It just happens that way. Genetic mandate. We don't make the rules. He was also very serious about track. So serious, in fact, that his event was the one reserved for those thought to be potentially insane: the decathlon. And he excelled at it. The discipline and aforementioned work ethic he learned during this period would serve him well down the road.

There was something else in Phil's life, though, and it was something very important to him. His father was a singer who had achieved local and regional success, and dad's number one fan was probably Phil. The house was always full of all kinds of music, and it all had a profound effect on the young boy. Much to his father's dismay, he decided early on that he wanted to follow those footsteps and be a singer. Dad knew how hard it was. Phil would have to find out on his own. But college intervened, to dad's relief, and with the blessing of a free ride to run track, Phil's musical aspirations were shelved.

We've just jumped forward about a decade and a half. I should have warned you. Sorry. Phil's got another single about to launch, and a video to go with it. He's been here before, but the nerves tighten up just the same. Sitting here thinking back on it all, it seems a little surreal, but it all happened just this way. They say cream rises to the top, and there's no denying Phil Vassar is one of the finest writers in country music today. But this one, he didn't want to float to the surface. He swam hard during that period we just passed a moment ago. We'll get there.

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Cosmik: This is going to be an unusual interview, Phil. I've done a lot of research and I swear, if they made a movie about your life nobody'd believe it. It has to start at the beginning, so let's talk about your dad. What was he like and what was it like growing up as his son?

Vassar: Dad was a hard worker. That was one thing I think I really learned a lot about from him. Work ethic. He was one of those guys who was never afraid to roll up his sleeves and jump into the middle of stuff. But he was a great singer, and from the time I was little I knew what I wanted to be just because that's what he was. I got the music bug from the time I was just a boy, and I couldn't get rid of it no matter how much he and everybody else tried to convince me otherwise. He had restaurants and nightclubs, and he'd sing there and I'd work back in the kitchen when I was young, and kind of hang out, because I liked being around it, you know? But as I got older and went to college -- which he was really pumped about -- I really knew it was just delaying the inevitable, which was getting out there singing and moving to Nashville, because that's what I wanted to do. I don't think he really wanted me to do it just because he knew how hard it was going to be. And he was right. But I guess when somebody has a dream, you can't fault them for chasing after it.

Cosmik: How much of an influence was he, musically?

Vassar: A whole lot. The cool thing about my family is that I have two sisters, too, and we're all about the same age, and we're all total music freaks. And we all liked different kinds of music. He did, too. We always had so many different kinds of music around the house. You could have Earth, Wind & Fire, Journey, George Strait and Hank, Jr. all going at the same time in the house. It was a real mix, which was a lot of fun.

Cosmik: I read that one of your sisters was a headbanger.

Vassar: Oh, absolutely, she was way into Iron Maiden and things like that.

Cosmik: Did you get into that, too?

Vassar: You know what, it was fun to see the energy at those shows, but I guess I never really could understand the words very much because it was so loud. I was probably more into the Billy Joels and Elton Johns and James Taylors and Willie Nelsons, people like that... Jackson Browne... I had so many influences it's not even funny.

Cosmik: And not so much from the area you work in now. Are there ever moments, as a writer, when you feel an influence creeping in somewhere it doesn't belong?

Vassar: That's the funny thing... The one thing you have to learn is that all these guys paved their own road and did their own road and did their own thing, and I think that's what I learned from them more than anything, is that you should never be afraid to write about anything, or to change directions in a song, or write like you want to write. I mean, when I first moved to Nashville, I was trying to write songs like the songs on the radio, and I just couldn't do it as good as those guys were doing it. I think the day I realized that I just had to pave my own road and go down a different way, and write songs like I liked them, and write about subject matter that I wanted to write about, that's when everything started clicking.

Cosmik: I don't claim to be an expert on this, so correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the vast majority of country songs written on guitar?

Vassar: Yeah, there definitely are a lot more songwriters that are guitar players. There aren't very many piano players around here.

Cosmik: Seems that most of them are studio musicians. So it seems to me that if you came in trying to write what all the radio hit crowd were writing, you might have been barking up the wrong tree. People who write from the piano, like you do, write from a very different place, don't they?

Vassar: Oh, absolutely. Because, I mean, I would be writing with somebody, but a lot of people don't like to write with piano players because they think all we write is ballads. I would play songs sometimes, and say "man, this is a jam," and they'd say "it's a ballad, right?" I'd say "No! It's not a ballad, this is what it would be like, it would really be rockin'..." But it's really hard for people to understand, sometimes, what you're trying to get at on a piano, because piano is not as percussive as a guitar is, even though you can bang on it more. I do play really hard on piano, and Billy Joel does, too, and Elton John. A lot of these guys are very percussive players. But it's hard, sometimes, to translate what you're trying to do when you're just showing them with the piano.

Cosmik: Do you still listen to all kinds of music? Or do you try to keep your head in the game, so to speak?

Vassar: Well, I do. I try to listen to everything. I was just listening to an Eagles record, and Poco. And I love Matchbox 20. I just love to hear different perspectives on music. I just think it's fun. And then you kind of do your own thing. I mean, I'm in my world, and that's great, but I sure think it's good for you to diversify and listen to other genres.

Cosmik: So it's good you grew up in that house with so many sounds.

Vassar: Oh, absolutely. It definitely helped me.

Cosmik: You're lucky. So many people grow up in a house with only one sound playing.

Vassar: You don't really broaden yourself very much that way, I'd think.

Cosmik: Speaking of broadening yourself, you went off to get an education, and it was a free ride because you also happened to be a star quarterback, correct?

Vassar: Yeah, I played quarterback, but I went to college at James Madison University in Virginia on a track scholarship. It was a great time, you know, because I love sports and I was really into running. I was a decathalete. I really enjoyed it, and I went for free, which helps a lot because we weren't the richest family by any means. That was really fun. And I had a great coach who was totally into music, so we hit it off completely, and we're still great friends.

Cosmik: So your father had no idea of what you were planning to do at this point.

Vassar: Well, I think he did, deep down, but he was like "well, he's going to college. That's a good step. (Laughs)

Cosmik: He figured there was hope.

Vassar: He thought there was hope for me yet, and then I eventually had to lay the bomb on him.

Cosmik: Well, being a two-sport athlete took up so much of your time, I'm sure, that it wasn't exactly like you had time for many midnight jam sessions.

Vassar: I really didn't, at that time, and I knew that I wouldn't really be able to focus on it very much until I got out. So I basically got out of school and moved to Nashville.

Cosmik: When you say "got out," do you mean you graduated, or left?

Vassar: I left my senior year.

Cosmik: Okay, so here's where the movie gets cookin'. You're on your way to Nashville. First of all, clear this up for me. Is it true that at this point you still didn't know how to play piano?

Vassar: Well, I didn't. We had a piano at my house to doodle on, but I didn't really get serious about piano until I moved to Nashville.

Cosmik: So you didn't know what you were doing until then.

Vassar: Absolutely not. I moved to Nashville and was singin' around and actually had people accompany me. Then one day I just thought "man, I really want to learn to play piano." When I heard The Way It Is, the Bruce Hornsby record, I was like "man, this is awesome."

Cosmik: That really spoke to you.

Vassar: In such a way that I went out and bought a piano and said "I'm gonna learn how to play".

Cosmik: What year was this?

Vassar: Probably '87 or '88.

Cosmik: Ya know, people spend forever trying just to get competent.

Vassar: Oh, well, the thing that really helped me was that I really threw myself in. I dove in and practiced all the time. I booked gigs just on my strength as a singer, and I couldn't play very well, but I started learning songs and I played every night in clubs and I started getting better the more I played. I played every night in clubs and, uh, I'd repeat songs... but people drink alot, so they didn't notice. (Laughs)

Cosmik: [Drunk voice] "Heeeey that shongsh sure popular!"

Vassar: [Drunk voice] "I don' care! More drinksh!" But that was my schooling. Just diving into the clubs. I realized I wasn't the best piano player in the world, so I was really going to have to learn to entertain and do a lot more talking with the crowd. Looking back, it was great experience.

Cosmik: When you first headed out there to Nashville, did you even have a game plan?

Vassar: No... I didn't. My only game plan was just to GET to Nashville. That's the hardest part sometimes. It's like anything, you know? It's like working out; the hardest part is getting to the gym. Once you get to the gym, you're going to do something, generally. I think, a lot of times, the hardest part is just making yourself pull up your roots and plant them somewhere else. That's what I did, and really, it's the greatest thing I've ever done.

Cosmik: A leap of faith?

Vassar: Oh, totally. It really, really is. You have so many dreams, but where you're at, the right people can't hear you. The great songwriters are in Nashville and New York and L.A.. That's where they are, so you've got to one of those places.

Cosmik: A lot of people take that leap of faith and they just keep falling because they don't have it, or they don't have the luck, or for whatever reason. Generally it's because they leap too soon and don't have anything to sell. When you went there, were you writing songs that you believed in?

Vassar: I started writing songs about the time I moved to town. I had a few songs before that I thought might be pretty good, and then I came to town and (laughs) I was just flabbergasted as how far behind and how bad I was compared to everybody else, or a lot of these guys. That's the whole deal, though. You can be a big fish in a small pond forever if you want to, but you come to Nashville or you go to New York or L.A., and you'll find the best in the world are there, and you've got to step it up a whole bunch of notches or you better move back.

Cosmik: So many people would just give up at that point. You grew up as an athlete, and carried on to a pretty high level with that, and that's not an easy thing to be. but it instills different values and characteristics, especially tenacity.

Vassar: Oh, yeah, I think it definitely helped. It helped me, from a personal standpoint, because in sports you lose. You lose a lot. You learn how to lose, and you learn that the harder you work, the better your results are going to be. You have to work and work and work at this. I just knew right then, it was a smack in the face that told me I'd have to work hard and it might take a lot longer than I thought. And it did. But it's a good thing. I wasn't ready then. I know for a fact that if something good had happened for me then, my career would be over by now.

Cosmik: And you also learned that, if you'll pardon the expression, you can stink up the field one Saturday and be the hero the next.

Vassar: Oh yeah, absolutely. That is totally the truth. You can. Sports and this business do parallel one another a lot.

Cosmik: So practice, practice, practice?

Vassar: I'll tell you what, it's an invaluable experience you get playing clubs, getting years under your belt. I sort feel sorry for people who don't really have to go through that sometimes.

Cosmik: A lot of people show up with nothing, and they're just meat.

Vassar: Yeah, it sure can be brutal. Especially Nashville. You just have to get here and settle in, because it's not going to happen overnight most of the time. Sometimes it does, and then you don't see careers last a long time. You settle in for the long haul and start working hard, and you develop relationships. Life's about that, and so is the music industry. There are so many great people, and once you start meeting them, one'll introduce you to someone else, and they'll introduce you to someone else, and doors will close, and then something else happens and another one opens. All that's true.

Cosmik: About those doors... You were knocking on them for a long time, up and down Music Row, and nobody was answering. Is that about right?

Vassar: Oh, absolutely. I can't even begin to explain how many times I've been turned down by publishers and record labels and everyone else. Not by any fault of their own, a lot of it was me; I don't think I was ready. Even though there were a lot of songs that I wrote during that time, six or seven years ago, that eventually because big number one songs that nobody would take a second listen to at that time, I just think maybe it was just a little different. It's that whole timing thing.

Cosmik: Did you re-work the songs later to make them hits?

Vassar: No, they're the same songs, exactly, as they were then.

Cosmik: Then how could you say you weren't ready if it's the same song, same arrangement?

Vassar: Well, I think a lot of it was that music's so cyclical, and these songs were a little bit different, and I didn't have the arsenal of songs that I have now. I kinda started gettin' it, and I started bearing down and writing every day, and before I knew it I was getting a bunch of songs recorded and I had a bunch of songs to record myself.

Cosmik: Did you meet any players in the business early on that helped you out and gave you some guidance?

Vassar: Yeah, absolutely. I met Linda Hargrove, who's a great songwriter. She was a big help to me. I learned a lot from her. And a guy named Richard Brannon, too, was another one who wasn't afraid to write with a new guy. That's a hard thing to do. It's hard to find co-writers when you're first starting out, because most people don't want to do that. It's hard enough to find time to write with the writers who know what they're doing, much less find time to break someone in. It really is kind of hard. But they were two big helps to me. They took me as far as they could go, and then I went on to the next deal and did something else. They were definitely a lot of help.

Cosmik: Was this as early as when you were bartending?

Vassar: Yeah, I was bartending, writing, and playing at night. It was fun.

Cosmik: Were you playing in the same bar you were bartending in?

Vassar: For a little while, yeah, I actually did that. I had a little Yamaha CP-70, a little electric grand piano that I would play. I'd bartend some nights and play certain nights, but after a while I just played and didn't bartend anymore. That started my run, that lasted several years, of playing five or six nights a week and trying to write songs during the day. And I developed a pretty good little following. And then eventually a buddy and I got a got a great deal on a building right down the street from a club I played at all the time. We said hey, let's get it and open our own club. So we did.

Cosmik: This is a pretty personal question, but how does someone who came to town with nothing and has just been gigging around afford a club, and it was a restaurant, too, I believe.

Vassar: Well, you know, I did really well. I started playing clubs and I made good money. I really, really did. And I saved my money. I've always been pretty frugal, so I did pretty well, and then I started having hits as a songwriter and you do pretty well.

Cosmik: Oh, okay, see I didn't understand that you'd already had any songs cut yet. Okay. So now you've got a restaurant, and now here's where it's really getting to be like a movie...

Vassar: (Laughs)

Cosmik: Your father had passed on a little bit before this.

Vassar: Right, exactly.

Cosmik: As I understand it, one of the things he said to you with utmost importance was "don't ever, ever, ever own a restaurant."

Vassar: That's EXACTLY what he said, just like you said it.

Cosmik: (Laughs) So then as much as I know you miss your father, it's probably for the best that he didn't see that happen.

Vassar: Yeah, I know. I really do wish he'd been able to see all of this happen now, but he'd probably have had more ulcers just worrying about the restaurant.

Cosmik: What was the name of the restaurant?

Vassar: It was called Nathan's Italian Restaurant, and Nathan was my partner, and we had a nightclub underneath it call A Hard Day's Nightclub.

Cosmik: Fantastic! [DJ applauds.]

Vassar: Yeah, I was trying to think of a name for my club, and I just happened to be listening to one of my Beatles records, and I said "that's it, right there!"

Cosmik: You'd have me as a customer. What a great name.

Vassar: It was fun, and a great experience. I never realized it would be as hard as it was, but it was such a rewarding thing when you build something from the beginning, and we really did well.

Cosmik: How long was it from the time you opened until it was busy?

Vassar: First night! Opening night was huge. I performed opening night and the air conditioner blew up, so it was about 300 degrees in the middle of August, and everything that could go wrong went wrong, but everybody had a great time. And it was packed. All the people who would go see me at the other clubs came to see me at our club.

Cosmik: By this time you're seeing big names in the audience, I'm assuming.

Vassar: Well sure. A lot of writers. Some of my friends are songwriters and recording artists, so you never knew who was going to show up, which was always kind of fun.

Cosmik: I think I must have missed a scene somehow. I thought it was when you opened the club and the restaurant that you really got to know the big name artists and writers. When did that actually happen?

Vassar: Well, when I opened up my club, about the same time I was writing songs and did my EMI deal, I'd met all these writers like Skip Ewing and Charlie Black, Rory Burke, Robert Byrne, just a bunch of big folks like that, and during Tuesday and Wednesday nights, we'd have little songwriter nights, which were a lot of fun. Then on weekends, a bunch of my friends in the industry, who worked at record labels, radio stations, and a lot of local folks from the golf courses and, you know, just a bunch of friends, would hang out. It was like a big Cheers, with entertainment.

Cosmik: How far along after college are you at this point?

Vassar: Ooooh... about eight or nine years.

Cosmik: So this is all like a dream come true by now.

Vassar: Oh yeah! It was rockin' along. And then I started having number one songs. I'd go into the club and my song had just gone number one, and we'd play that night and celebrate. It was a lot of fun.

Cosmik: What was the first number one?

Vassar: Colin Raye, I guess, because "Little Red Rodeo" [Raye] and "Bye Bye" [Jo Dee Messina] came out about the same time, and they both were both big hits literally in the same couple months.

Cosmik: The mere fact that they were recorded must have been pretty amazing to you in the first place, but to see them hit number one in the country, what was that like?

Vassar: Oh, it's, uh.. (laughs) ... I dunno, I was numb. But I think having the restaurant totally grounded me. I still had to go in and bus tables and cook sometimes, and do whatever, and I still had to play every weekend. I was having hits, and I recorded my whole first album while I was playing weekends at my club.

Cosmik: Are you talking about this album, or was there another one before this that I missed somehow?

Vassar: No, this is the one.

Cosmik: So you were making this album with number one songs, world class country music, while you were still bussing tables at your restaurant.

Vassar: Oh, I was still going into my restaurant and playing weekends during the recording of the whole record. It was a busy time. When we'd first open, I'd go cook breakfast from 6:00 to 10:00 in the morning, then take my apron off and run off to my writing appointments, and then come back after. (Laughs) It was a busy time, but I think I learned a lot about myself during that time.

Cosmik: I dunno, Phil, that doesn't sound like a schedule I'd recommend for staying sane.

Vassar: I think, for me, I operate better when I'm totally slammed busy. It's like German cars, ya know? They say they're more efficient when you drive them over a hundred miles per hour.

Cosmik: You're better under pressure?

Vassar: Probably. I really think so. There were times when I had to write lyrics for songs while we were cutting them in the studio. A lot of times, things like that happened, but it always ended up working out somehow.

Cosmik: Yeah, it's that sports thing again. Quarterback working with the defense in his face.

Vassar: There's definitely something to that. The discipline to work under pressure and come up with it at the the last moment.

Cosmik: When you were writing back with the others back at the club, was that an after hours thing?

Vassar: Well, we would hang out, you know, but usually by the time the club closed I was so daggone tired I had to go home. Because I had to get up really early the next day. I usually find that I write better when I get up in the morning, have some coffee and hang out with whoever I'm writing with. We'll talk and run our mouths a little while, then go eat lunch, and right about that time is when I feel I'm at my best, you know? I'm poppin' it. But there were a lot of late nights, I'll tell you that. I eventually hired a cook to take my place, thank goodness.

Cosmik: I was gonna say, because there had to be a point where you looked at the checkbook and realized you could. (Laughs)

Vassar: Yeah, somebody's going to have to cook, because I can't do it anymore.

Cosmik: Was there a sense from the guys you were working with, or did you even need a sense from them, that you were going to be a star?

Vassar: Well no. I mean, heck, I just looked at it as this is my job, I love what I do, and I've paid a lot of dues and I'm doing pretty well. And you know, I don't ever look at myself as a star by any means. I just look at myself as someone who loves what I do and I'm lucky enough to get to do it.

Cosmik: Is "star" kind of an annoying term?

Vassar: Well, I'm not... you know, I'm not real big on that word.

Cosmik: I guess in some ways it can be a negative word.

Vassar: Yeah, it definitely can. But I'll tell ya what, DJ, it's been awesome. It really has been. Everything. I've had a couple of hits. And I think the people here know that it didn't come real easy for me, that I've had to work real hard at it, and I think you earn your respect. There's something to be said for that.

Cosmik: As opposed to some of the flashes who've had it handed to them, sure.

Vassar: Oh, Lordie, I know. It still happens, but I just love to see people work really hard and do well. I think Nashville has a lot of folks that look out for each other. It doesn't matter if you're on a different label or with a different publisher, or whatever. You're just a good guy or good girl, and people watch out for you. I've helped people get songs cut before, and people have helped me. If we're all going to be here for a long time, then we're going to watch out for one another. It's really kind of fun.

Cosmik: I have to admit, that's not the way I pictured it at all. Sounds wonderful. Okay, so let's skip the term "star." Have you been surprised at any point at the chart success and the money?

Vassar: Well, I'll tell ya, I... Yeah! [laughs.] I have! I've looked up and gone "man, this is weird! I don't know if you ever can expect it, but it's just like anything; you've got to work hard enough to put yourself in a position to succeed. I kept saying "man, all I want to do is get in the race, and then once I get in, I feel like I can hang with everybody." So it's just getting that first break. Little breaks lead to bigger breaks. It's weird how it happens, but it's pretty cool.

Cosmik: What was the break that put you on Arista? I know you were writing in your club with a lot of their heavyweights, like Alan Jackson. Did somebody say "if you don't sign him, you're an idiot"?

Vassar: [Laughs] Yeah, actually, I became great friends with a lot of the staff at Arista, and it was where I really wanted to be. I was a big Alan fan, and Brooks and Dunn, and Leroy Parnell, and Radney Foster is such a great singer/songwriter, so I figured that's where I should be, I should be on Arista, because they seemed to be a singer/songwriters label. So I kept going to meeting after meeting, year after year, I'd go to them and say look, what are we doing here? Are we going to do a record or what? And they'd say well, it's not quite time yet. So I just bugged the hell out of them until they gave me a record deal, basically.

Cosmik: I'm surprised they waited so long. I'm surprised that they weren't afraid of losing you to someone else.

Vassar: There really did come a time right at the end there where everybody sort of jumped on the game, you know? I told them I had the chance to do it here and there and they said okay, let's do it. It worked out. I'll tell ya, it's like anything, once everybody jumps on the wagon.

Cosmik: That particular roster is pretty spectacular. You mentioned Radney, Brooks and Dunn, Leroy Parnell, last year they came out with Brad Paisley and that was just a killer record.

Vassar: Brad's one of my good friends. He's great. You're right, this is a great roster. I'm totally proud to be on this label.

Cosmik: You know, we cover all kinds of music, so country's just one thing for me, but Alan Jackson's just this amazing talent. Cuts through everything, across genres. Working with him couldn't be bad, huh?

Vassar: Man, Alan's great, you know. I had a big hit with him ["Right on the Money"]. I mean, you've gotta get up awful early in the morning to get on an Alan Jackson record, because he's a great songwriter, and when I got that Alan Jackson cut I was very proud. You know you did something to get on his records, because he's such a great writer.

Cosmik: Just to have him want to work with you...

Vassar: Absolutely! I'm still totally proud of that, because he can sure write them well himself. He's a great, great artist.

Cosmik: At what point did you sell the restaurant.

Vassar: It's actually been a year and a half... two years ago, now. It got to the point when my record came out that there was just no way.

Cosmik: So you just sold out to your partner.

Vassar: Exactly, so he still has his restaurant.

Cosmik: At this point, you've been at this over a decade. Paying dues, which is the long struggle that always gets called overnight success by the press later on. But at this point, when the record comes out, does it feel like everything starts zipping?

Vassar: [Laughs] Yeah. I think it really did. You know, I look back on that decade, and I had such a great time and made so many great friends, people I'm still friends with, in the music business and outside the music business. But in the last couple years so much has happened that it's all a blur. It's been fun. It's been really good. You can never get sick of seeing people sing your songs back at you when you're up on stage playing them.

Cosmik: Could you have imagined this? Your songs are out on karaoke disks. People are singing "Carlene" and "Just Another Day In Paradise" in karaoke bars, Phil.

Vassar: Oh, I know! It's pretty wild. That's when you know you've made it. When I found two of my songs on karaoke, I was like "ooooh, this is so cool!"

Cosmik: What an amazing thing, right? New indicators of success. Okay, so the album's out, you've hit number one by yourself and you're touring. Is it what you always thought it would be?

Vassar: It's better than I even thought it would be. I knew it would be hard, and it is, but it's a totally enjoyable experience. People are really great out there. The radio guys, everybody's been really nice. It's just neat that it's happened.

Cosmik: I was reading a message board on a country site and a woman posted a message about seeing you open a show for someone -- I can't remember who -- and she said after your set she was walking from the front of the stage to the back where her seats actually were, and she suddenly realized she was walking right behind you. It was funny. She said she couldn't talk, she was just in a daze walking behind you for five minutes. The word "star" is trying to leap out again, man...

Vassar: That's so funny. Every once in a while I'll go out in the crowd, especially if I'm opening for somebody I haven't seen play, and I want to check out their show. It's usually dark and nobody can see who you are. It's so cool that people love your music and love what you're doing. That's awesome.

Cosmik: You know what a lot of the messages were about? In fact, I'd say a majority? You stealing this show and that show. People who didn't know much about you and were there to see whoever you were opening for, but headed right for the V section of Tower Records after the show.

Vassar: Oh, that's funny! That's pretty cool, and nice to know.

Cosmik: And a good thing you've been to number one now, because nobody's going to want you opening with a rep for stealing shows. What was it like going to number one? Where were you?

Vassar: Aw, man, it was the most amazing night. I opened for Kenny Rogers that night, and earlier I got a call from the label and they said "hey, Phil, you're not gonna believe this! 'Paradise' is number one!" and I just went crazy! It was totally amazing. I couldn't even believe it. I was in Dallas, doing the show with Kenny Rogers on that Monday night, and somebody comes up and says "hey, Kenny wants to see you real quick," so I said okay and went to find Kenny. Kenny and his wife had gotten me a cake and they had a party for me before I went on stage. I mean, that was totally cool. I kept thinking "Kenny Rogers, man, just got me a CAKE!" [Laughs]

Cosmik: Sounds like a dream. What is it like when the song comes down from the top?

Vassar: You know it's got to, eventually, so you go on to the next song. As an artist, I just want to keep putting songs out, and hopefully they'll keep doing well, two, three or four years from now you'll have some hits and hopefully you'll have a good career going

Cosmik: Now you've got about two days left before "Rose Bouquet" goes out as a single and a video. So you're sitting on the launching pad again. What's that like? Are there butterflies anymore?

Vassar: Absolutely, I do have them. You're always apprehensive when you have a new song coming out and you're wondering how it's going to do. You're hoping your song goes top ten, top five, and the charts are so hard right now that it's a victory to have a hit.

Cosmik: So many extraordinarily talented people never even approach it once.

Vassar: Oh, I know. I've had a great time. It's a fun ride.

Cosmik: Do you find yourself looking at the number one slot as a place you have to reach at this point?

Vassar: Well of course you always want your song to go number one, but understanding the charts the way I do, I know it's a miracle if you get a number one. It really is. Everything has to fall into place.

Cosmik: I just wanted to mention, before I forget, that my favorite song on the album isn't a single. I just love "Joe and Rosalita." Is that a true story?

Vassar: Oh yeah, it's based on a couple friends of mine that I set up on a date when they were sixteen years old.

Cosmik: You set them up on their first date? The Legends Of Love?

Vassar: Yeah, I set them up and they totally fell in love with each other. They had twins in high school. They're still together today, they have four kids, and they're still very much in love with each other. I just did a show in Richmond, Virginia, and they were there, so I introduced them to the audience and they were just tickled to death.

Cosmik: You're amazing, Phil. Your life's been like a movie and you've even made stars out of the kids you grew up with. That's so different from most stories. From your dad's restaurant to your restaurant, to all the number one hits to where you are now. How do you want to be remembered when this is all ancient history?

Vassar: Well, I'll tell ya, I just hope people remember the songs. I'd like people to say "you know what, he was a pretty good songwriter. Good singer. Good entertainer." But what lives forever is a song. I'm sitting here now in a room at my publishing company, and my buddy, Bruce Birch is here with me. He works here at EMI. He's sort of in charge of the whole catalog. I mean there's a Mac Davis record here, Billy Swann, there's Jimmy Webb here... some of the songs that have been recorded that are just great songs that are maybe... [Phil turns away from the phone and says "how old are some of these songs, Bruce?"] well, from Duke Ellington to Buck Owens in this room right here, and he gets these songs recorded by people now, in 2001. I think that's the thing about great songs: they live forever.

Cosmik: And you're thinking about the Phil Vassar song someone may record in 2149.

Vassar: I don't know if I've written that song yet, but you always want to write that song that can be recorded time after time, and year after year.

(C) 2001 - DJ Johnson