Toad the Wet Sprocket’s members were just young pups when they were the subject of a frenzied bidding war between multiple record companies. When they eventually released their first album in the winter of 1988/89, Toad’ frontman Glen Phillips was still only 18 years old. Now 35, Phillips has spent more than half his life as a professional musician. Three days before his May 5 performance at the Stone Church in Newmarket, his fourth solo album, “Mr. Lemons,” will be released.

“I didn’t ever seek the career,” Phillips says of his life in music. It’s been seven years since the band he fronted for about a dozen years broke up. “I wanted to be a high school teacher, but (Toad) got signed and I went with it. It just kind of happened. Now it’s all I know how to do.”

Phillips and his Toad the Wet Sprocket cronies were probably expected to do more and be bigger than they were when signed by Columbia Records, but nonetheless the band was a success. Over the years, the quartet released eight full-length albums (including a live recording, a B-sides collection and greatest hits) of mostly up-tempo, insightful, melodic and poppy songs.

Since then, Phillips has quietly been enjoying a career as a solo artist. He has toured a lot more, has been compared to even more great songwriters (Elvis Costello, Bruce Cockburn), and he has continued to evolve and mature.

“Now I want to make a living,” he says, though he did not elaborate on what his goals were during the height of Toad. When asked if he allows himself to reflect upon his successful musical past, he offers, “Mostly I beat myself up for not doing more.”

Maybe the “more” he didn’t do then is what he is doing now, which includes enjoying the more intimate nature of touring as a solo artist.

“I think now I understand more,” he says, “that there is a community with an audience that should be respected—that I want to be fed spiritually by those listening in the same way I hope that I can feed them.”

His solo creations are a blend of upbeat and slower moody numbers with an occasional dose of Phillips’ sense of humor. Fans of Toad’s early material, particularly the album “Pale,” may find connection with Phillips’ somber side, which was so prevalent in the 1980s. Still, the newer material is different and stronger. It comes across in his live performances.

“You have to be very aware for a solo show to be good,” says the resident of Santa Barbara, Calif., where he lives with his wife and three daughters. “I think it’s easier to just bop your head through a rock show.” Whereas Toad might churn out a Neil Young or Replacements song, maybe even a little Willy Wonka, these days Phillips fans are more likely to hear covers of Harry Nilsson, Newman, Greg Brown and Huey Lewis. A tremendously original version of “I Want a New Drug” appears on “Mr. Lemons.” It’s slowed down, rootsier, even a little jazzy. “It seemed right for the lyric,” Phillips says.

The subject matter of Phillips’ songs, be they from 1988 or 2005, are mostly thought-provoking, observant pieces on human nature. He has written and sung of domestic abuse, rape, life, death and homelessness.

“They’re important subjects, worth writing about,” Phillips says. “I’m not so good with issue songs, which is a pity, because the state of the nation is pretty dire. We’re in an illegal war, torturing people, giving the rest of the world good reason to hate us. It’s time for us to stand up and reclaim some moral high ground, and many are starting to, on all sides of the political spectrum. But my political lyrics are terrible, so I don’t perform them. I write mostly about gratitude, which I guess is the same as it ever was. Being thankful leads to much else that’s worthwhile.” 

“I don’t want to sing brochures,” he continues. “I do want to make people think about being honest, compassionate and grateful. I think change comes from that more than anything. I’m registered Green. I think both the major parties are sellouts to multinational business interests. I can’t understand how we are in such a wealthy society and don’t have universal health care. It seems immoral to me. I could go on...”

Another project that interests Phillips is Mutual Admiration Society, a band featuring him and the bluegrass-based, Grammy Award-winning acoustic trio Nickel Creek. The group had toured together and enjoyed it so much that they released one eponymous album, which they toured with Led Zeppelin’s legendary multi-instrumentalist John Paul Jones. That album is rootsier than any prior Phillips recording, but most of the CD is penned by him, including one Toad tune and another that Phillips performed for his “Live at Largo” CD.

“More to come, not sure when,” Phillips says when asked if MAS still exists. “MAS is my favorite way to play. Ever.”

In whatever incarnation, Phillips has played or toured with many great musicians. Of course, in Newmarket, he’s sharing the bill with Willy Porter. “I met Willy when we were all touring with the Cranberries, about 10 years ago,” Phillips recalls. “He’s pretty amazing.”

For a portion of Phillips’ tour, the two songwriters are playing as a double-bill, alternating who goes first. Phillips thinks Porter will lead off at The Stone Church.

On Toad’s second album is a song “I Think About,” with the lyric “scared that when I die so will the things I think about.” When asked how much that sentiment was a part of him, Phillips replies, “I worry less about that now than I did then. I’m fine to die unremembered. I just want to feel like I haven’t wasted my time.” 

William A. Huffman, former editor of Jam Magazine, is the entertainment editor for The Conway Daily Sun.