Liz Phair Reflects On 'Exile In Guyville' 30th Anniversary

Rocker Liz Phair's seminal debut album "Exile In Guyville" was released 30 years ago this week.

Phair, now 56, became known as one of alternative music's biggest success stories and inspiration for many female musicians in indie music today.

The "Why Can't I?" songstress' debut was a bold explosion into the male-dominated indie rock scene in the early nineties, which fit the themes Phair discusses in "Exile In Guyville."

At the time of the album's release, Phair revealed that one of the record's main inspirations was women's difficulty breaking into male-dominated spaces in society. She explained in an interview with MTV, "It's hard to be female and be yourself. You often adopt whatever formulas exist or adapt yourself to fit some expectations, and I really want to remain myself."

Thirty years later, Phair reflects on the person she was in her early twenties and seems impressed with this version of herself.

Phair wouldn't disappear from the music industry after releasing "Exile In Guyville." She would go on to release albums that would reflect the different stages in her life; her third album, "Whitechocolatespaceegg," is noted for being influenced by Phair getting married and having a child.

Having those life experiences in her arsenal, the "Polyester Bride" singer recently looked back at her younger self and how she felt about her artistry back then. Phair will be celebrating a final part of her artistry; she is touring behind "Exile In Guyville" in honor of the album's 30th anniversary!

Phair recently spoke to The Nation about embracing her uniqueness in an era of an expectation-laden history.

She reflected, "I feel a bit inadequate to her when I look back in a certain respect because I identify with the artist in her. When I think of privilege, I don't think of material things. I think of being privileged to know I was always an artist, as a woman," Phair explained. "It sounds like no big thing, but growing up in America, the age I am- you were going against several things that didn't want you to be that person. There were better uses for me, and I was trained up to my eyeballs to be a model citizen," she continued. "But I was an artist, and I knew it. There was no shaking it. There was no other path for me. That's why I didn't feel like a part of a scene when I made that album and got up on stage," she went on. "I felt alone. I didn't feel like I was with the cool people; I was hanging out with them. Once you put an album out, and it's your songs about heartbreak and loneliness, and joy and sex, you're there to be mocked. You're there to be adored. You put yourself out there, and suddenly it's someone else's choice of how they will treat you," she said.

The legacy of Phair's early artistry would be explored in recent years via the official "Girly-Sound Tapes" release, the three pre-'Guyville' tapes Phair recorded in her bedroom after college, and now, through "Miss Lucy," a track which was initially intended to be on "Exile In Guyville."

Phair shared a behind-the-scenes studio photo from those sessions on Instagram on Thursday morning. She wrote, "'Miss Lucy' was recorded with Brad Wood during sessions for 'Exile In Guyville' but left off the album in favor of including "Flower." An early demo version was made available previously as part of the 'Girly-Sound Tapes.'

Phair's upcoming tour celebrating "Exile On Guyville" will begin on November 7th in El Cajon, California, and conclude on December 3rd in Dallas, Texas.