October 31, 2002: The news just keeps getting better. Toad's first show since December 31, 1997 will be a benefit for the Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center with special guests Nickel Creek. Other unnamed "special guests" are also slated to appear at the Santa Barbara show. Tickets for the show, scheduled for Wednesday December 4, go on sale next weekend (Saturday November 9th).

Glen has been collaborating with Nickel Creek, a fantastic bluegrass (or "newgrass") band from San Diego for over a year now, with a joint album, Mutual Admiration Society, due out next spring. Toad has been a supporter of the S.B. Rape Crisis Center for many years, and before the band's breakup, they usually played one benefit show for the center each year.

In addition to the Santa Barbara show, the band also announced new tourdates in Los Angeles (Dec. 11) and San Diego (Dec. 13). Full details available on the Tourdates page.

A 20-city tour in February is also still a possibility, according to the band, so "for those of you non-west coasters, be patient, the new year could bring good news for you."

Glen solo project updates...

Glen will spend November working on his next solo album. In addition, three October shows at Largo in Los Angeles were recorded and may be used in a forthcoming live album.

As always, stay tuned and keep an eye on Glen and Lapdog's official sites, respectively: www.glenphillips.com and www.lapdogmusic.com. The Toad-L and Victim lists at Yahoo! Groups are also great places to look for the latest news and discussion.

October 24, 2002: For those of you who haven't subscribed to Glen's mailing list, some news on Toad and Glen's solo work, from the man himself:

Hi, Everybody.

You may have heard rumors that Toad will be playing a few shows. They
are completely true. We will be opening for the Counting Crows on the
following dates at the following places:

Dec. 10 - Los Angeles - Universal Amphitheater
Dec. 16 - San Francisco - Warfield Theater
Dec. 17 - San Francisco - Warfield Theater
Dec. 20 - San Francisco - Warfield Theater
Dec. 21 - San Francisco - Warfield Theater
Dec. 22 - San Francisco - Warfield Theater

We are also trying to set up a Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center benefit for December, maybe February. There will also likely (no guarantees just yet) be a twenty city tour in February. We're taking it slow right now, trying to get started on better footing than when we stopped. Everyone is happy to be playing together again, but we're keeping our goals very short term for the time being. It's fun, and we've all surprised ourselves with how good we sound after five years of not playing together. I'll let you know more as there is more to know.

I'll be joining David Garza in Texas to record my next album in early
November (92% probability). The Mutual Admiration Society album should be released in March on Sugar Hill Records (90% probability). I am also
compiling songs from this month's Largo shows for a live record (85%
probability). Once again, I'll let you know more when I do.

Todd's band, Lapdog, has a new album called Mayfly, due out in November. You can find him at lapdogmusic.com.

Toad has also recently (thank you, Dion Watts) aquired the
toadthewetsprocket.com domain name, and we'll be putting up a website some time in the distant future. Right now it contains links to Todd's and my sites.

Take care,
-g

P.S. I you've been having trouble with the glenphillips.com website, there is hope on the way. We recently switched servers, so there should be greatly improved performance (no waiting for a front page that never loads, for instance).

To get this news delivered straight to your mailbox, sign up for Glen's mailing list at glenphillips.com.

October 24, 2002: More reunion shows have been announced--five in San Francisco--and a 20-city Toad tour may follow in February. Also a possibility: new Toad songs!

Toad's been making news with their reunion over the past couple weeks, showing up on CNN's news crawl, many music industry news sites, and in a front page article on their hometown paper, the Santa Barbara News-Press. According to the News-Press article, Glen will still pursue his solo career, and Lapdog will continue to record as well, but the foursome may write and record new songs together.

In addition to the shows with Counting Crows and possible February tour, Toad is also trying to set up a benefit show for the Santa Barbara Rape Crisis Center in the next few months.

In other news, Toad have set up a new web site at www.toadthewetsprocket.com.

October 10, 2002: Will Toad get back together? They will, for at least a few shows with Counting Crows, and writes Todd, "maybe much more."

Today, Todd, Glen, Dean, and Randy got together in a LA studio for their first rehearsal since 1998. One show with Counting Crows has already been announced, with more (hopefully) to follow.

As for that one show, Toad will be opening for Counting Crows December 10 at House of Blues Los Angeles. Tickets are on sale now at ticketmaster.com.

Stay tuned, and keep an eye on Glen and Lapdog's official sites, respectively: www.glenphillips.com and www.lapdogmusic.com. The Toad-L and Victim lists at Yahoo! Groups are also great places to look for the latest news and discussion.

Todd's post, from www.lapdogmusic.com:

You guys shouldn't get too excited about this one LA
show you know about. It now looks like there will be
several more California shows with the Crows. Plus, Toad
rehearsed today and we are talking about doing more in the
future- maybe much more. We'll see what happens. Stay
tuned-Todd

October 10, 2002: The Toad show(s) is big enough news, but Glen's keeping busy. Among recent developments:

• Glen will have a song, "Have A Little Fun With Me," on For the Kids, a compilation of children's songs due out November 5. The CD will benefit VH1's Save the Music foundation, a charity that works to preserve music programs in schools. For the Kids is chock full of stars, including: Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, Tom Waits, Cake, Guster, Five For Fighting, Dan Wilson (lead singer of Semisonic), Darius Rucker, Remy Zero, Bleu, and Billy Bragg w/ Wilco. Stop by MusicForTheKids.com for a preview of Glen's track and others.
• A new MP3 is available for download at GlenPhillips.com: "A Lot To Be Thankful For."
• Glen recently completed a short tour of the East coast and Midwest. A handful more solo shows are on the calendar in October.
• New Glen interviews are available at Plugged-in-Music and Left of the Dial.

June 11, 2002: Glen has relaunched his web site. Check it out at www.glenphillips.com. Come for the spiffy new design, stay for the new MP3 ("Don't Need Anything") and other assorted goodies. :-)

In other news... "Sake of the World," a track from the forthcoming Mutual Admiration Society disc, will be included on the next Aware Records compilation, Aware 9. Stop by the AwareStore to pre-order and check out a sample.

May 29, 2002: The word from Steve at Aware records (who's been doing a great job of keeping Glen fans up-to-date via the Glen list and Professional Victim group at Yahoo!) is that the Mutual Admiration Society CD is now due for an August 13 release and that date will most likely be pushed back to early September. The Mutual Admiration Society CD is a collaboration between Glen and bluegrass wunderkids Nickel Creek.

In other news, Steve says work progresses on Glen's next studio album and that a live disc is still in the works. "We have a raw, but good live recording of a show we like that maintains the bootleg 'live' feel of a glen show, but we are searching through the rest of the tapes to make sure we aren't missing anything," he wrote. "No date set yet."

May 14, 2002: Glen has announced a few June tourdates in Colorado, and a May residency at Largo in Los Angeles. Check out a show if you can, as you may be treated to some of his work-in-progress tracks on the followup to Abulum.

Glen is only playing a handful of dates, with the focus on recording his next album. Until that hits stores, keep an eye out for a live CD from Glen. A note from Glen's friends at Aware Records promises a live CD "in the next few months. Maybe sooner."

More details when we have them....

March 1, 2002: Lots of news to report... First up, Glen has posted new MP3s to his official site (glenphillips.com). The two new tracks are live recordings of "Far Away" and "Brother" from a July 21, 2001 show at Eddie's Attic in Atlanta.

In other news... a collaborative album between Glen and bluegrass band Nickel Creek (working title "Mutual Admiration Society") is slated for a July release. A solo live album is also in the works.

Last but not least, Glen just finished a run of sold-out shows on the East Coast. Only a handful of March shows in the Midwest are scheduled at present, as Glen continues writing songs for his next album. See the tour page for dates.

January 27, 2002: Glen has announced a handful of February shows. See the tour page for more info.

December 2, 2001: Glen has been added to the lineup for a New Year's Eve concert in Chicago. He will open for Better Than Ezra and Train at a 101.9 "The Mix" New Year's Eve show at the House of Blues. Tickets are a bit steep ($150), but you can knock $8 in Ticketmaster robbery off by buying them in person at the House of Blues box office.

November 8, 2001: Word from Team Glen is that Mr. Phillips will soon take a break from touring "to start writing new songs, spend time with the family and get ready for a busy 2002." He has, however, added two new December shows, both benefits in California. See the Tour page for more information and remaining tourdates.

In other news, Glen recently pitched in on a recent Ben Folds "Tonight Show" appearance. Ben was Jay Leno's guest October 17, and Glen was there on backing vocals and acoustic guitar for "Still Fighting It."

See the tour page and glenphillips.com for the latest tourdates and information.

October 7, 2001: Glen performed "Darkest Hour" on CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Kilbourn on September 18th. Glen is now on tour with Nickel Creek. See the tour page and glenphillips.com for the latest tourdates and information.

We are still lobbying radio stations to play Darkest Hour, so please e-mail or call your favorite radio station and request "Darkest Hour."

September 8, 2001: Check out Synthesis.net's contest for a chance to win a t-shirt designed by Glen, as well as posters and lithographs.

In other news... more tourdates have been announced. In addition ot a tour with Nickel Creek kicking off in October, Glen has now added some solo West Coast dates. On the joint tour with Nickel Creek, Glen will play first, then NC, then they will finish with some songs together. See the tour page for dates and locations.

In other news... Glen recently posted a new note on his website, glenphillips.com. He's currently taking a break from touring and his wife is expecting their third child.

August 20, 2001: "Darkest Hour" has been remixed. Again. No, really. I'm not kidding! A fan favorite, "Darkest Hour" was one of the first demos fans heard of Glen's solo work. Later, it showed up on Glen's web site again, this time with Nickel Creek accompanying him. Then it appeared on his first album, Abulum, in another incarnation. Now, "Darkest Hour" has been gussied up for radio. You can hear the latest version of this wonderful song by downloading it from RollingStone.com. The song will be available there through the end of August; after that, cruise by glenphillips.com.

If you like what you hear—and I'm sure you will—please call your local radio station to request it! Hell, even if you don't like it, pick up the phone, would you?

In other news... more tourdates with Nickel Creek have been announced. The tour kicks off in October, with Glen and NC co-headlining. See the tour page for dates and locations.

July 20, 2001: Several October dates with Nickel Creek have been announced, and more are promised. Glen has been touring with the Wallflowers and Counting Crows this summer, and has a late July/August tour with Peter Searcy planned. See the new tour page for details.

Last, the much-anticipated DVD Audio version of Abulum is finally available. It has been listed at several online retailers for months, but DVDs didn't start showing up until mid-June. For more details on what the DVD Audio version of Abulum features, see below.

5-13-01: Glen has added some East Coast tourdates to his schedule, including New York City, Philly, and Pittsburgh. See the new tour page for dates.

In other news, at a Nickel Creek concert last week in Chicago, the band briefly talked about their forthcoming CD collabortion with Glen. Apparently, many of the songs were written by Glen, but there may also be some covers, including Harry Nilsson's "Think About Your Troubles." (Which, I might add, Nickel Creek did an amazing cover of. Go see them!)

In the meantime, you can enjoyyet another free full-length song at Glen's web site, this one titled "Easier."

The new song, "Professional Victim," was posted June 14. Songs are usually up for a few weeks, so check the web site (glenphillips.com) quick.

Also, Glen has formed a backupband he calls "Two Headed Boy." I don't have the band lineup yet, but Glennoted on his web site that he has not one, but--count 'em--two keyboard players. They'll be heading out with him on his upcoming tour.

Last, but not least, Glen says he's continuing work on the new album with producer Ethan Johns. Johns has engineered and/or produced several albums and played a host of instruments on others. For a list of his credits, check here.