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Common Man, to relate his vision of the American working class family man to the world at large. If sales and popularity are a measure, and by all contemporary music standards they are, he’s accomplished his mission.

With song titles that say it all, like Six-Pack Summer, My Chevrolet, Just Another Day in Paradise, Love is a Beautiful Thing, This is God, and the recent hit, Last Day of My Life, Vassar found the handle to pump the water from the well of the modern country music market and people drink it up. No word on who Phil’s friends are (could it be a play on Phil (Lesh) and Friends?), but by leaving the door open, all kinds of potential players could emerge. Then again it might just be his band name, but reports are hazy on just what encompasses a friend of Phil Vassar when it concerns a stage performance.

Trent Tomlinson
Trent Tomlinson comes off as the most rockoriented of all the country performers at Y’allapalooza at the PCCC. His debut record, Country is my Rock, tells his story well. He began playing in rock bands during high school years spent near St. Louis, then turned the very gradual corner to country music with a rock edge. He moved to Nashville and quickly made his mark penning songs for rocking country band Emerson Drive, then spent years playing Nashville-style publishing deal roulette. After heartbreaking encounters with near signings to major record deals, Tomlinson landed with Lyric Street, a company that seemed to understand his vision of country music, which according to him entails, “open a beer, sit in a lawn chair, let’s have a party” kind of country. He also adds in references to heaven, Mama, Daddy, drinkin’, and not drinkin,’ to round out the complete country demographics.

Jonathan Singleton
After two years of the Nashville life of publishing and production deals, songwriting and song plugging, Jonathan Singleton hit the jackpot with Watching Airplanes, a major single for superstar Gary Allan in 2007.

Singleton, a Jackson, Tenn., native, spent his high school and early college years playing in his own bands, recording, touring and otherwise preparing for his Nashville move. The success of Watching Airplanes vaulted him into a record deal with Universal South and an album produced by Dann Huff, a big-time Nashville player responsible for top-selling recordings by superstars Reba McEntire, Kenny Rogers, Keith Urban, Bon Jovi, Faith Hill and LeAnn Rimes, just to name a few. While waiting for the debut record to be made ready for release, Singleton and his band hit the road, opening for big stars and playing little places plus doing events like Y’allapalooza at the PCCC. With a nod to his songwriting prowess, the budding young star appeared on the original PBS series Legends and Lyrics in December of 2008 with Patty Griffin, Kris Kristofferson and Randy Owen, three luminaries of the country songwriting and performing world. Things are looking good for the country-rocking singer-songwriter in 2009.

Jason Aldean
A prototype of a contemporary male country music artist, Jason Aldean wears and endorses Wrangler Jeans, Justin Boots and Resistol Hats, makes videos with models dressed like hillbilly girls and calls his music “aggressive country.” The system works, as Aldean continues his run up the chart with his latest set of market-written songs like Johnny Cash and I Use What I Got. He first broke onto the scene in 2006 with Hicktown and by 2009 he’s a force in the business, headlining shows and watching the new record race up the charts.

The Macon, Ga., native earned his share of career knocks playing the Southeastern U.S. club scene, before landing a record deal and the Hicktown hit. After that he’s never looked back and continues the ongoing work of touring and recording, promoting and playing, sensing the really big payoff just ahead.

Known for his Southern rock style, Aldean turned up the grittiness in his latest CD, Relentless, and really cut loose with a sound more related to his guitar-oriented live show.

Joe Nichols
The most traditional-styled country artist on the Y’allapalooza bill, Joe Nichols is likely best