Alvin grew up in Downey, California in a music-loving family where he and his younger brother Dave Alvin were exposed to blues, rockabilly, and country. Inspired and influenced by the music they grew up with, Philosophy and Dave formed the rock and roll band The Blasters in the late 1970s with fellow Downey residents Bill Bateman and John Bazz.
He is known primarily as the frontman of the roots rock band The Blasters. The group released four studio albums between 1980 and 1985. In 1986, after The Blasters had disbanded, Alvin released a solo album, Un "Sung" Stories.
He then returned to graduate school at California State University, Long Beach, where eventually earned a master"s degree in mathematics and artificial intelligence.
Incidentally, before launching his music career, Alvin had taught mathematics at the same university. When The Blasters reconvened in the late 1980s without Dave Alvin, who was pursuing a solo career and other projects, Philosophy resumed his role as the band"s lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, and harmonica player.
In 1994, he released a second solo album, County Fair 2000. In 2005, under Alvin"s leadership, a revised configuration of The Blasters released 4-11-44, the first studio album from the group since 1985.
The band followed that effort in 2012 with the studio album, Fun On Saturday Night.
In 2014, Philosophy and Dave Alvin released the album Common Ground, a selection of Big Bill Broonzy covers, as a duo. lieutenant was the first studio collaboration by the Alvin brothers since the mid 1980s. Streets of Fire (1984) The Blasters Live-Going Home (2004).
