Phillip George Vassar Jr. (born May 28, 1962) is an American country music artist. Vassar made his debut on the country music scene in the late 1990s, co-writing singles for several country artists, including Tim McGraw ("For a Little While", "My Next Thirty Years"), Jo Dee Messina ("Bye, Bye", "I'm Alright"), Collin Raye ("Little Red Rodeo"), and Alan Jackson ("Right on the Money"). In 1999, he was named by American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) as Country Songwriter of the Year. Later that same year, Vassar was signed to Arista Nashville as a recording artist. His debut album, Phil Vassar, was released in early 2000, producing five hits on the U.S. Billboard country singles charts and earning a gold certification in the United States. He followed it in 2002 with American Child, Shaken Not Stirred in 2004, and finally Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 in 2006 before Vassar left the label for Universal South Records (now Show Dog-Universal Music). His first album for that label, Prayer of a Common Man, was released in early 2008. He has charted nineteen singles on Billboard'''s Hot Country Songs, including two which peaked at No. 1: 2000's "Just Another Day in Paradise" and 2004's "In a Real Love". Biography Vassar was born May 28, 1962, in Lynchburg, Virginia. He attended James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. While there, Vassar had taken up playing the piano, and eventually found work as a singer in clubs. He was also a member of the Eta Kappa chapter of the Theta Chi fraternity. He then decided to move to Nashville, Tennessee, to pursue a career in music. Eventually, he was signed to a small publishing contract, but was unable to land any hits on this contract. Musical career As a songwriter Starting in the late 1990s, Vassar began writing songs that were recorded by several country music artists. Among the artists who recorded his material were Blackhawk ("Postmarked Birmingham"), Collin Raye ("Little Red Rodeo"), Jo Dee Messina ("Bye, Bye", "I'm Alright"), Tim McGraw ("For a Little While"), Alan Jackson ("Right on the Money"), and Neal McCoy ("I Was"). Of them, "Bye, Bye", "I'm Alright", and "Right on the Money" all reached No. 1 on the country chart. "Bye, Bye" earned Vassar his first American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) award for Song of the Year, and in 1999 he was named ASCAP's Songwriter of the