It was not just another day in Albert Lea.

Phil Vassar saw to that.

Vassar, the Academy of Country Music Awards Top New Male Vocalist for 2002, showed why he’s one of the business’s hottest acts during two shows at the Freeborn County Fair Wednesday night.

From his No. 1 hit &uot;Just Another Day in Paradise&uot; and his other top 10 numbers to covers of songs by Billy Joel, Elton John and others, Vassar served notice he’s not just another country singer. He also apparently has a bit of a rock and roll heart.

Wearing blue jeans, a simple short-sleeved shirt, black soft-sole shoes and customary cowboy hat, Vassar and his five-piece band kicked off the second show in high gear and barely came up for breath.

Vassar walked &045; no, make that strutted &045; around the stage with a Cheshire grin, soaking up the spotlight from start to finish while almost constantly mingling with and acknowledging the audience.

During the opening number, &uot;That’s When I Love You,&uot; Vassar was all over the stage, greeting the crowd and shaking hands with fans in the front rows. It was the only song in which he did not play the piano, though he did leap on top of it a time or two.

Vassar sat at the piano for &uot;Joe and Rosalita,&uot; but he didn’t stay there long, and he had the fans out of their seats for &uot;Carlene&uot; which along with &uot;That’s When I Love You&uot; was one of four top-10 singles off his self-titled 2000 Arista Nashville debut.

Next was a song Vassar said he wrote &uot;a few years ago on my birthday&uot; that became a hit for Tim McGraw: &uot;My Next 30 Years.&uot;

Vassar and his band slowed it down for the only time in the second show with &uot;Rose Bouquet,&uot; another top-10 hit.

After the title cut and another number from Vassar’s soon-to-be-released second album, &uot;American Child,&uot; he took the audience where it probably did not expect to go, saying, &uot;We like to do a little classic country.&uot; It was classic rock, though, AC/DC’s &uot;You Shook Me All Night Long.&uot;

Next was another song Vassar wrote but someone else made famous – this one by Collin Raye – &uot;Little Red Rodeo.&uot;

The band took a break as Vassar took to the piano, harmonica in hand, for a solo of Billy Joel’s &uot;Piano Man,&uot; which he called, &uot;A song you have to learn if you’re a piano player.&uot;

Vassar followed with an excellent rendition of a song by another famous piano man, Elton John’s &uot;Rocket Man.&uot;

&uot;I’m Alright,&uot; which Vassar wrote and Jo Dee Messina turned into a hit, was next.

Then came the number many people came to hear, &uot;Six Pack Summer,&uot; which Vassar said is &uot;What America’s all about.&uot;

Without stopping, the band continued with a classic made famous by Jackson Browne in the 1970s, &uot;Stay,&uot; before concluding &uot;Six Pack.&uot;

Then it was back to rock and roll with Queen’s &uot;We Will Rock You,&uot; and on to Vassar’s No. 1 hit, &uot;Just Another Day,&uot; on which Vassar was particularly animated, spinning circles on his belly on top of his piano.

The intensity picked up with the Huey Lewis and the News pop classic, &uot;Working For a Living.&uot;

It left the fans on their feet cheering, coaxing Vassar and his band back for an encore. By this time it was no surprise to hear yet another ’70s classic, Wild Cherry’s &uot;Play That Funky Music.&uot;