Recorded 2009 Length 43:46 Producer Phil Vassar | Genre Country Label Universal South | |
Released December 15, 2009 (2009-12-15) | ||
Traveling Circus is the fifth studio album by American country music singer Phil Vassar. It was released on December 15, 2009 as his second album for the Universal South Records label. The album contains the singles "Bobbi with an I" and "Everywhere I Go," both of which have charted on the U.S. country singles charts. Vassar produced the album on his own, and wrote or co-wrote every song on it as well.
Contents
Content
The album's first single was "Bobbi with an I," a song about a transvestite man, which peaked at #46 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts. Following it was the ballad "Everywhere I Go," which peaked at #36 in late 2009.
Vassar wrote or co-wrote every song on the album, collaborating with Nashville songwriters such as Jeffrey Steele, Craig Wiseman and Tim Nichols, as well as singer Kenny Chesney on the track "I Will Remember You." Vassar produced the album himself, and used his road band on it. His high school art teacher, Jason Erwin, painted the album cover, and a young director named Chris Cella directed the music video for "Everywhere I Go."
The album was originally slated for a February 2010 release, but in November 2009, it was announced that the release date would be moved to December 15, 2009. It is Vassar's second release on the Universal South Records label, following 2008's Prayer of a Common Man.
Album
Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic gave the album three stars out of five, citing the up-tempo songs as standouts: "Unfortunately, Vassar leans a little too heavily on placid power ballads to give this a truly carnivalesque kick, but when he does take the time to lay back he’s as good as he ever was."
Singles
Sam Gazdziak from Engine 145 gave "Everywhere I Go" a thumbs-down, saying that it "sounds so familiar and commonplace that it’s pretty much impossible to stand out in a crowded radio playlist," while Bobby Peacock of Roughstock considered it similar in sound to Vassar's first album and said that it had an "interesting" structure.