Phil Vassar News

(7/24/02, 1 p.m. ET) -- Singer-songwriter Phil Vassar has been tapped to write a jingle for the Tennessee Titans' NFL football team's 2002 season. Vassar says he allowed the sport to set the tone of the song.

"It's a really aggressive-sounding song. I mean, I don't know what anybody's gonna say. I don't know what they expected me to write, but we sat down, the guys--the bass player, the drummer, and my guitar player--and it's like a groove," he says. "It's like the Red Hot Chili Peppers or something. I don't have any idea, but it was fun. It's more probably like a Kid Rock song. It's just rockin', and I think it's what football's about. It's like crunch time, you know, and I knew it wasn't gonna be a ballad."

The song ties the team in with the local ABC television affiliate sponsor. Vassar will also appear in commercial spots for Titans coverage on the network.

The Titans jingle isn't the first song Vassar has been asked to write. The singer recently wrote "Words Are Your Wheels" for the Wal-Mart Foundation's literacy campaign, and recorded it with friends Kenny Chesney, Brooks & Dunn, and Sara Evans. Vassar currently appears in the nationally televised PSA campaign, which encourages people to learn to read.

Writing such specific songs isn't always easy, according to Vassar, but he found a way to rise to the challenge. "It's like anything. You just sorta have to put yourself in the situation or kind of get into that mindset, and then you write a song about it. It's good to get asked to write songs," he says. "The Wal-Mart thing was cool. I mean, what do you write about? 'Can you write a song about literacy?' You know, and then you're thinking how are you going to write a song about literacy? But once I put myself in a place and thought about myself learning to read when I was a kid and bein' a kid, then it was like, easy. Of course, it's two different kinds of songs, but it was fun to do."

Vassar's current single, "American Child," continues to climb the country charts. The song is the title track from his upcoming album, due out August 6.

-- Margy Holland, Nashville

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