Phil Vassar's 2008 CD, photo by Jim Wright, courtesy of Universal Records South.

This really came out of paying $86 for a tank of gas. Then you fill up a tour bus a couple
of times at a grand a pop and...I'll tell you what, that's not fun either. I wrote three songs with Tom on this album. I've known him for years, our kids go to the same school. We finally hooked up and wrote five or six songs together. On this one, we got together and talked about what concerns us – Virginia Tech, all this stuff happening. It's like, are you kidding me? Especially coming up on an election. We're a year-and-a-half out and I'm so sick of all the candidates I could puke. We're inundated with all this crap about stuff that doesn't matter, and they pay no attention to so many of the important things. I don't care if you're a Republican or a Democrat, just do something you said you were going to do. There's always the chic issue or the Hollywood charity of the moment that gets all this attention, and there are people all around us who can't afford basic necessities and nobody really does anything.

"Around Here Somewhere"
(Phil Vassar/Charlie Black/Tommy Rocco)

There are certain songs I've written where the timing just has never been right. We wrote this a long time ago and I've wanted to cut it forever. It really felt like it fit the project. I
played it for Mark Wright and he flipped out. This is something everyone has xperienced after being in a relationship for any length of time. You can get to the point of just going through the motions. And it's like, hey wait. Weren't you the girl that used to drag me into the backseat of my car? What happened? At this time in my life, this song was something that really described things I had gone through recently.

"My Chevrolet"
(Phil Vassar/Tim Ryan/Billy Alcorn)

We were talking about cars, parking with girls, riding with friends. Jenny was my girlfriend. There was a place called Timber Lake we used to drive out to and park. Drive-in movie theaters. Those were great days. When we go home I'll drive some roads and smell fresh cut hay and it'll bring back memories. I was back not long ago and something hit me and for some reason I started thinking about the first time I ever dipped tobacco. It's funny how those memories come back.

"Love Is a Beautiful Thing"
(Craig Wiseman/ Jeffrey Steele)

I fell in love with this song the very first time I ever heard it. It reminds me of growing up
back home in Virginia. It really paints a portrait of Americana. Every time I hear that second verse about giving away your daughter at her wedding it makes me tear up. In a way, the song reminds me of every family reunion or get together we had in my family.

"Prayer of a Common Man"
(Phil Vassar/Tom Douglas)

Tom and I can get into some really deep discussions. Like, people having to choose
between a tank of gas and milk. That's what I remember about growing up. That's how it was at my house. In my hometown there was a paper mill and GE. Everybody worked at one of them. Nobody got rich on my side of town.

I think about some of those moments that can define you, and I've got a lot of them. It's
Thanksgiving and I'm eating a Wendy's hamburger. The power's not on. Whatever. You laugh when you think about it, but it also gives you the creeps. "Common Man" comes from that. The braces conversation came out of talking to my guitar player Jeff. Both our daughters got braces at the same time and it's expensive. Wow. We wrote it at the last minute and it really came out well.

"I Would"
(Phil Vassar)

I was in Las Vegas for a show around Christmas and met a guy while I was killing some
time. I met this old man who was talking about his life and kept saying "If I could do this over again?.I would. If I could do that?I would." It made me think about all that has happened in my life recently and I went back to my hotel room and wrote this song in about 30 minutes. It’s a song about hopelessness and regret and wishing you could fix something you can’t. It just sort of flowed out. When I got home we went in and recorded it on a whim and I just felt like it was something that had to be added to this record. It says a lot of what I have been feeling.