Formerly the frontman of Grant Lee Buffalo, Phillips has earned his reputation as a standout musician with an arresting voice.

After Grant Lee Buffalo split up in 1999, Phillips got out of the mainstream recording industry. His debut solo album, Ladies’ Love Oracle, was released independently and his new album, Mobilize, is due out July 24 on Rounder Record’s Zoe imprint. Phillips plans to be on the road supporting the album for awhile.

Since going solo, Phillips has toured extensively with Robyn Hitchcock and Aimee Mann, and opened for Brian Wilson in Hollywood. In fact, Hollywood has been pretty good to this iconoclastic artist.

Phillips had a re-occurring role as the town troubadour on the “Gilmore Girls” WB TV series and will return to the show next season. He’s also involved in developing a character and music for the new “Witchblade” series on the TNT network.

Moving on to the big screen, Phillips is composing the musical score for “Zig Zag,” an independent film starring John Leguizamo, Wesley Snipes and Oliver Platt.