Blasters' co-leader solo adventures are musically exhilarating, vocally unique and full of exulting humor. Be it with jazz or brass bands (The Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Sun Ra's Arkestra, The Faultline Syncopators), accompanied by his Blasters, or by a tasty choice of guests (Billy Boy Arnold, James Intveld, Jerome Bowman, Mary Franklin, Top Jimmy, Fayard Nicholas, Eddie Baytos, Ike "Diz" Williams, Jerry Angel…), or alone on guitar, Phil Alvin's journey through the roots American music is absolutely rejoicing.
Phil musical career started in his native California in 1979 when he and younger brother Dave formed the cult roots rock revival band The Blasters. Although receiving largely positive reviews and developing a devoted fan base, mainstream commercial success didn't follow. When Dave left in 1985, Alvin returned to California State University to complete a master's degree in mathematics and artificial intelligence (he would have got a Ph.D. later) while working on his first solo project, “Un 'Sung Stories'”, which was released the following year (1986). Meanwhile he had reformed the Blasters without Dave and through various line-ups in time. A second solo album, “County Fair 2000”, appeared in 1994, featuring, among others, the “new” Blasters and members of his side project, The Faultline Syncopators.