Phil Alvin and his little brother Dave formed The Blasters in the late seventies along with fellow Downey residents John Bazz and Bill Bateman. As teenagers, they would drive into LA and go to blues clubs to see their heroes play. Phil took harmonica lessons from Sonny Terry. Saxophonist Lee Allen would later join The Blasters. The Alvin brothers’ father Cass was an organizer for the Steelworkers Union. The Blasters were in Streets of Fire. They were fixtures in LA’s cowpunk scene. They helped Dwight Yoakam get his start. They helped Los Lobos get a record deal. They toured a lot. One month they opened for The GoGo’s, the Cramps, and Queen. The band put out four studio records from 1980 through 1985 and broke up. Phil went to grad school as CSULB and got a masters in mathematics and artificial intelligence. He later got his PhD from UCLA. The band got back together in 1986, without Dave. The brothers didn’t collaborate again until 2014. While on tour in 2012, Phil had a near death experience due to an infected tooth. He had to have an emergency tracheotomy and was flatlined twice. He’s fine. After leaving The Blasters to sing his own songs, Dave Alvin joined X, replacing Billy Zoom. Billy Zoom replaced Dave in The Blasters. Dave was also in the X side project The Knitters. He was also in the Flesh Eaters with members of X and The Blasters. Dave played guitar on a couple of tracks from The Gun Club’s The Las Vegas Story. He’s put out a few books of poetry. He was in Justified.