Phil Alvin served as the commanding lead singer and guitarist for the Blasters throughout the first half of the 1980s, guiding the band’s rediscovery of foundational American styles that spanned blues, rockabilly, and country well before the later surge of roots rock. Born in Los Angeles on March 6, 1953, he and his younger brother Dave grew up immersed in the recordings of Elvis Presley, T-Bone Walker, and Big Joe Turner; the siblings launched the Blasters in 1979, taking the name from Jimmy McCracklin’s Blues Blasters.
The group’s first album, American Music, arrived in 1980 and generated strong underground excitement for its raw, tradition-rooted approach, while the self-titled follow-up in 1981 reached the Top 40. Dave Alvin departed in 1985, prompting Phil to return to graduate studies and complete a master’s degree in mathematics and artificial intelligence; he later obtained a Ph.D. from UCLA. Phil reappeared in 1986 with the solo release Un "Sung" Stories, which included guest appearances by Sun Ra & His Arkestra and the Dirty Dozen Brass Band, and soon afterward reassembled the Blasters, who maintained an evolving roster through the next decade. His second solo project, County Fair 2000, surfaced in 1994 and incorporated musicians from his side group the Faultline Syncopators, a traditional jazz ensemble. After extensive touring with successive guitarists, the Blasters secured a contract with Private Music for fresh recordings, yet the planned 1997 album At Home remained unreleased for various reasons.
Dave and Phil reconvened the 1980 lineup of the Blasters in 2002 for several concerts that extended into months of performances driven by audience demand, yielding the live documents Trouble Bound and The Blasters Live: Going Home. Phil issued the next studio album under the Blasters name, 4-11-44, in 2004, with Keith Wyatt on guitar, John Bazz on bass, and Jerry Angel on drums. Although the Blasters remained Phil’s project, he and Dave briefly joined forces again to record the duet “What’s Up with Your Brother?” for Dave’s 2011 album Eleven Eleven. Bill Bateman took over drums from Jerry Angel for the subsequent Blasters release, Fun on a Saturday Night, in 2012; however, a European tour supporting the record was canceled after Phil, who had been treating a viral infection with antibiotics, was admitted to a hospital in Spain with acute breathing problems. Following an emergency tracheotomy, he recovered fully, and in 2013 Phil and Dave began recording their first joint album since Dave’s departure from the Blasters. The resulting tribute to one of their primary influences, Common Ground: Dave & Phil Alvin Play & Sing the Songs of Big Bill Broonzy, appeared in summer 2014. The brothers toured in support of that collection, and in 2015 they issued the electric-blues set Lost Time.
