Born in Santa Barbara, CA,
Glen Phillips served as the frontman and main songwriter for
Toad the Wet Sprocket before launching his solo career in 2001.
Toad the Wet Sprocket took shape in 1986, when
Phillips was only 14 years old, and the band's debut effort,
Bread and Circus, earned them a contract with Columbia Records. However, it was the group's third album -- the jangling, orchestral
Fear -- that truly broke the group, garnering heavy radio play with the singles "All I Want" and "Walk on the Ocean." After three years away from the recording studio,
Toad returned to the mainstream with
Dulcinea, which again found one of its singles, "Fall Down," in heavy radio rotation. After six albums and a substantial string of hits, the group disbanded in 1998.
Phillips began touring as a solo act after
Toad the Wet Sprocket's demise and worked with producer
Ethan Johns to create his first solo album, 2001's
Abulum. He also collaborated on several songs with the bluegrass band
Nickel Creek and toured with them for the latter half of 2001. Live at Largo appeared in 2003, followed by
Winter Pays for Summer in 2005, a collection of new material that featured guest appearances from ex-
Jellyfish frontman
Andy Sturmer,
Ben Folds,
Kristin Mooney,
Jon Brion, and
Semisonic/
Trip Shakespeare scribe
Dan Wilson.
Phillips released
Mr. Lemons in 2006. That same year, he also toured North American with a reunited
Toad the Wet Sprocket, although he only continued releasing new material under his own name. The EP
Secrets of the New Explorers arrived in 2008, along with news that
Phillips would be joining members of
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers,
Nickel Creek, Elvis Costello & the Imposters, and other musicians to form a new band, the Scrolls. ~ Laurel Greenidge