Grant-Lee Phillips (born Bryan G. Phillips; September 1, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. He led the group Grant Lee Buffalo in the 1990s, afterwards launching a solo career. He features as the town troubadour in Gilmore Girls. Background Born in Stockton, California, Phillips began playing the guitar in his early teens. At age 19, he moved to Los Angeles where he worked tarring roofs to fund evening classes at UCLA and forming bands. He eventually dropped out of college and linked up with an old friend from Stockton named Jeffrey Clark. In the late 1980s, Phillips lived on campus at CalArts with future wife Denise Siegel, whom he met at a party through a fellow student and first Shiva Burlesque bassist, James Brenner. Phillips informally took art classes, went to public lectures and film screenings, and immersed himself in the school's World Music program until 1990. Shiva Burlesque released two LPs, Shiva Burlesque (Nate Starkman & Son; 1987) and Mercury Blues (Fundamental; 1990). Brenner was replaced by Paul Kimble, thus completing what would be the basis of Grant-Lee Buffalo. But Shiva Burlesque made no commercial impact, and Phillips and Clark disbanded in 1990. Phillips began playing solo around Los Angeles under the stage name Grant Lee Buffalo. Grant Lee Buffalo Following those handful of solo shows at clubs around Hollywood, Phillips recruited ex-Shiva members Joey Peters (drums) and Paul Kimble (bass) for rehearsals as Grant Lee Buffalo in mid-1991. Phillips was now writing lyrics as well as music, and the trio quickly built up a local following, selling out clubs on the strength of Phillips's intense performance. His political storytelling was delivered in a recently discovered voice: both a soaring falsetto and a drawl that matched his aggressive acoustic guitar stomp and pouting physicality. One song, "Fuzzy", was released on Bob Mould's Singles Only label in 1992 to critical praise and led to Grant Lee Buffalo being signed to Slash Records. The debut LP, also called Fuzzy, was released a year later, upon which Michael Stipe of R.E.M. declared it "the best album of the year hands down". In 1995 Grant-Lee Phillips was named the critics’ choice for Best Male Vocalist of 1995. A further three Grant Lee Buffalo albums followed: Mighty Joe Moon (1994), Copperopolis (1996), and Jubilee (1998). A live performance of Mighty Joe Moons title track is available online from the South by Southwest festival.