Glen Phillips trying new musical venues

While sitting in his backyard last week, relaxing after a tour to Japan and the East Coast, Phillips talked about the changing music industry and his new place in it.

When Toad started out in the 1980s, the band was allowed to develop slowly.

“We had two indie albums out on Sony without (the company) changing them at all. They gave us tour support to go out and build the band up,” Phillips said. “Bands don’t get that chance anymore.”

Toad’s first hit came nine months after the release of its third album. Now, music labels put out an album, “wait a month or two and if it doesn’t look like it’s going to be a hit, they pull the plug entirely on (the band) and they drop them.

“It’s why there are so many awful bands in the majors right now. They’re not taking any chances,” said Phillips.

As a result, album sales industrywide are down about 40 percent, although some of this has to do with Internet theft and the distractions of other media, such as TiVo and computer games.

It’s no coincidence that three nonindustry companies are selling music well these days: Starbucks has a line of CDs, Apple is making a killing through iTunes, and then there’s Fox’s show, “American Idol.”

It’s also not surprising that adults gravitate toward — and spend lots of money on — good musicians who manage to break through the mainstream pulp, like Norah Jones, who is on the jazz label Blue Note.

What is surprising is that the grim music scene has resulted in opportunity for independent musicians. It’s “created a really wonderful expanse: this huge hole that indie artists are filling, because the majors are so intent on concentrating on multimillion dollar sales,” said Phillips.

It’s new ground for Phillips, who achieved success in his teens and has been playing music professionally for about 20 years. Despite this background, some in the industry don’t know how to work with him.

Until recently, he had a booking agency that treated him like a “baby band, instead of a successful small singer-songwriter,” he said.

“I was playing solo acoustic shows at beer bars at 11 at night on the weekday with the manager asking me if I could play later because he wanted me to play until closing time. . . . My audience, I see them out there, they’re exhausted. They have jobs; they have kids,” Phillips said.

Phillips’ modesty belies the fact that he plays at many high-quality venues, such as the Great American Music Hall, in San Francisco, where he will play on Tuesday.

In contrast to the problems he sees in “the majors,” however, the smaller independent music scene excites Phillips. For instance, consumers, reacting to stale music imposed from above, have begun to reach out to musicians in new, unscripted ways.

“Music lovers are so hungry to find something they care about that when they do now they are incredibly willing to go to great lengths to support it in a way they previously might not have,” Phillips said.

People of varying sophistication now host concerts for musicians in their homes. Phillips has tried it once, at Chuck Kossuth’s in Santa Maria (www.myspace.com/chuckkossuth), and he liked it.

“House concerts are extremely popular,” said Phillips.

For working adults, such performances have decided advantages over the hassles and expenses of attending rock concerts. They start earlier, don’t feel like cattle drives, there are no surcharges on the tickets, and it might involve a potluck dinner, which is a nice twist for rock and roll.

“They show up to sit in a quiet atmosphere where no one is talking and no one is drunk, where they can listen to music for an evening and have an authentic experience,” he said.

Fans abroad have even helped set up shows for Phillips, which is how his recent trip to Japan came about.

Phillips said their attitude was, “We can’t deal with management or a booking agent. . . . But we’ll fly you out, we’ll put you in a hotel, we’ll get you some shows.”

Phillips sees potential for a new business model in this music scene outside of the industry machinery, where musicians can provide “homespun art” to their fans.

“To me it’s the difference in going to the supermarket versus going to the farmer’s market,” he said.

Independent music is “not sold to you through a corporation that is marketing it to you. It’s sold to you through individuals who are passionate about it.”

Phillips’ fourth solo album, “Mr. Lemons,” is available at www.glenphillips.com and in music stores.