Born in Santa Barbara, Glen Phillips was the lead singer and main songwriter for Toad the Wet Sprocket. The band started in 1986, when Phillips was only 14. Their first LP, Bread and Circus, was recorded in 1988 and got them signed to Columbia Records. Their third album, Fear, got heavy radio play with the singles "All I Want" and "Walk on the Ocean." After three years away from the recording studio, Toad came back with Dulcinea, which again found one of its singles, "Fall Down," in heavy radio rotation. After six albums and a substantial amount of touring, the group disbanded in 1998.

Phillips began touring as a solo act after Toad the Wet Sprocket broke up, and worked with producer Ethan Johns to create his first solo album, Albulum. Glen Phillips says it took a "ridiculously long time" to create; it was finally released in April of 2001 on Brick Red Records. Phillips has also collaborated on several songs with luegrass band Nickel Creek and toured with them for the last half of 2001. He released Live at Largo in In 2003, followed by Winter Pays for Summer in 2005, a collection of new material that featured guest appearences from ex-Jellyfish front man Andy Sturmer, Ben Folds, Kristin Mooney, Jon Brion, and Semisonic/Trip Shakespeare scribe Dan Wilson. ~ Laurel Greenidge, All Music Guide