Your Country's Right Here: Phil Vassar Reminds Fans "Don't Miss Your Life"

posted in: CountryFeatures

Phil Vassar’s new video for his song Don’t Miss Your Life should come with the following warning: Side effects may include a lump in the throat and tears.

Although fans know the story of how Vassar was hard at work on an airplane while traveling between gigs when a conversation with another passenger inspired him to write the song, the just-released video gives the emotional song even more power. Doubt that? Vassar played the song for a friend in radio who insisted”his exact words were something to the effect of “I’m not leaving until you agree to let me play that song on the air” ”he release it as a single sooner rather than later.

I would never, ever have put out a ballad in the spring or summer, but this is a good song and really deserves to come out now,” said Vassar, who is working on a new album to release on his own label. So I had a friend of mine (videographer and director Steve Condon) come on the road with me and my band [to film parts of the video)”.

Although conventional record-biz wisdom mandates that listeners want to hear party songs as the summer heats up, it’s not a stretch to say that Vassar’s on-a-dime release of the song and filming of the video was likely a wise move. The song is climbing the charts, and it’s a fair bet that the video”in which real-life footage of Vassar on the road with his band in Annapolis, Md., Boston, and New Hampshire, meeting fans, performing, and moving through airports is woven through family footage”is bound to cause more than a few fans to see themselves in the scenes. After all, how many people are skipping summer vacations during this tough economic time in order to avoid missing work?

It was kind of on a whim, said Vassar of how he pulled the video together quickly. It really didn’t take that much preparation and it turned out great.

Of course, one could say Vassar”like other career-oriented folks”has prepared for the role of harried businessperson juggling a family for his entire career.

Think that’s hyperbole? Be sure to watch the end of the video when Vassar talks about his own life. And keep those tissues at hand.

Find out more about Vassar and his upcoming concert dates on his website.

Watch “Don’t Miss Your Life” by Phil Vassar: