Country music star Phil Vassar returns to his Virginia roots this month, bringing his “25 Years of Paradise” tour to Alexandria’s Birchmere Music Hall on Oct. 26. The Lynchburg native celebrates the 25th anniversary of his breakout No. 1 hit “Just Another Day in Paradise” with an intimate acoustic performance that promises nightly setlist changes and covers of musical legends like Billy Joel and Elton John.
For Vassar, who attended James Madison University before moving to Nashville in the 1980s, performing at the Birchmere holds special meaning. “I used to go there when I was starting out as a musician, and I went to James Madison,” Vassar said in an interview with ALXnow on Wednesday. “It’s just such a historic venue, and I just love coming to rock.”
The intimate listening room atmosphere of the Birchmere suits the piano-pounding performer’s current tour style. “It’s a great listening room,” Vassar explained. “It’s not like a festival for 50,000 people where you’re doing somersaults and jumping up on top of the piano and all that. But I love playing these kinds of shows.”
The venue’s proximity to his hometown also means familiar faces in the crowd. “The Birchmere is close to home, so it’s close to Lynchburg, where I’m from,” he said. “A lot of people usually come to that show I went to college with at James Madison or high school with. I used to tour that area so much when I was a young man, so it’s kind of fun to get to play in front of those folks.”
The 2025 tour takes on profound significance following a life-altering heart attack in 2023 that nearly claimed Vassar’s life. The health scare led to a stroke and five months of rehabilitation in Atlanta, fundamentally shifting his perspective on performing and life itself.
“I’m the guy that worked out every day, ate right, ate spinach and chicken, and never drank and did drugs, and I’m the one that dies,” Vassar reflected, describing the genetic heart disease that struck despite his healthy lifestyle. “I don’t take it so seriously anymore. I just have fun and play my hits whenever it’s time to play them.”
Rather than slowing him down, the experience has reinvigorated his gratitude for music. “I’m very grateful to be able to do what I do and still do what I love,” he said. “I’m never nervous. I’m always excited to get there and just start playing.”
While Vassar has accumulated 10 No. 1 hits and 27 Top 40 tracks over his career, “Just Another Day in Paradise” remains his signature song — and for good reason. “It was such a big number one song,” Vassar explained. “Everybody kind of knows me for that song, even though I’ve had other number one songs. When you’re naming the tour, ’25 Years of Paradise’ sounded like a good name.”
The song was born from a decidedly un-paradise-like moment. “I wrote the song because my washing machine flooded my kitchen,” Vassar recalled with a laugh. “I’m going, what in the hell’s going on? It captures a moment in time where I’ll never forget that day.”
What surprises Vassar most is how his 1990s and 2000s hits continue resonating with new generations. “It’s funny now because a lot of the songs that I wrote that were hits in the ’90s and 2000s, they’re still relevant today,” he said. “You see these 18-year-old kids singing ‘Little Red Rodeo’ or ‘Paradise.'”
When asked if songs take on new meaning over time for both artist and audience, Vassar was thoughtful. “I think they do because they grew right along with me, right?” he said. “I mean, I’ve been having hits for 30 years. I didn’t have kids before a lot of these songs, you know.”
Vassar’s songwriting success extends well beyond his own performances. His catalog includes hits for major country artists: Alan Jackson’s “Right on the Money,” Tim McGraw’s “My Next Thirty Years” and “For a Little While,” and Jo Dee Messina’s “Bye Bye” and “Alright.”
That success came despite early resistance from industry professionals who told him piano players wouldn’t make it in Nashville. “Everybody was trying to tell you what you couldn’t do instead of what you can do,” Vassar said. “I just hated all the negativity.”
Vassar’s commitment to helping emerging artists continues through his relationship with Old Dominion, the Nashville-based band that has become one of country music’s biggest acts. “I’ve known the Old Dominion guys for a long, long time,” Vassar said. “I sort of was responsible for bringing them to Nashville, you know, doing some stuff with me in Virginia. Of course, I was in the middle of all my heyday at that point, but I would bring those guys out, and now they’ve surpassed us all.”
The pride in his voice is unmistakable, and the relationship continues: Vassar will join Old Dominion’s Canadian tour dates in spring 2025.
Despite celebrating a quarter-century milestone, Vassar isn’t resting on his laurels. “We’ve just been in the studio, recorded about seven or eight new songs,” he revealed. “I’m getting my studio back up and running — my barn down here in Nashville — and I’m excited to get back in and start cutting some new things.”
He’s also considering new music videos, noting how technology has made production more accessible. “Back in the day, we’d spend $100,000 or $200,000 on a video — it was crazy expensive,” he said. “But now I think you can really put together things a lot cheaper. I could see us definitely doing some more of these things because I think visually, it’s so fun to see.”
The Northeast leg of his tour holds particular significance, as the region was among the first to embrace his music in the 1990s. “Boston was like one of my first cities to play my records,” Vassar recalled. “They played ‘Carlene’ and it was a huge hit and ‘Paradise’ and all that stuff, and everybody else kind of caught up with them.”
Vassar’s Virginia performance is part of what he calls his “last run of the season,” featuring seven shows in seven days across the Northeast.
The “25 Years of Paradise” shows feature a singer-songwriter format that Vassar particularly enjoys, drawing inspiration from solo performances by Jimmy Buffett, Vince Gill, Billy Joel and Elton John. The setlists vary each night based on audience requests and the performer’s mood.
“People call out songs, and I play. It’s really great,” Vassar said about the interactive nature of his performances.
For a Virginia native who has performed everywhere from the White House to venues across Europe and Australia, returning to play for hometown crowds at the Birchmere represents something special — a chance to celebrate not just 25 years of one song, but a lifetime steeped in music.
Phil Vassar’s “25 Years of Paradise” tour with opening act Crawford & Power performs at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 26, at the Birchmere Music Hall, 3701 Mount Vernon Ave. Tickets are $59.50. Information: birchmere.com or 703-549-7500.
