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They praised the then 25-year-old indie rocker鈥檚 鈥渂lunt and honest鈥� lyrics that talked about sex in sexually explicit language against a musical hybrid of indie rock and lo-fi. They were hypnotized by Phair鈥檚 trademark low, vibrato-less monotone vocals that seemed to give many of her songs, including the enduring lead-off single 鈥淣ever Said,鈥� an almost detached sense.

Phair was inspired by the 1972 album 鈥淓xile on Main St.鈥� by the Rolling Stones, who Phair considered to be the most 鈥済uy band鈥� around. 鈥淓xile in Guyville鈥� was her song-by-song response from a woman鈥檚 perspective.

Phair remastered and re-released 鈥淕uyville鈥� on its 25th anniversary in 2018, and to mark its 30th, she is hitting the road to perform the album cover-to-cover. 鈥淟iz Phair: Guyville Tour鈥� comes to the Rialto Theatre on Wednesday, Nov. 8. The tour opened on Nov. 3 in California and runs through early December.

We caught up with Phair, 56, in late September to talk about what it will be like singing those songs that she wrote a lifetime ago.

What prompted you to take 鈥淓xile in Guyville鈥� on the road?

鈥淲e were trying to figure what we wanted to do when I was ready to tour after I felt the pandemic had subsided in a way that I was comfortable with. And I watched this album be meaningful for so many years and still be brought back up by fans and make it into really humbling (lists) like Rolling Stone or whatever kind of honorary things it has acquired over the years. And it just felt to me like ... what鈥檚 the most important thing I could do with the 30th anniversary? Well, let鈥檚 tour 鈥楪uyville.鈥� I鈥檝e done it once before, but not this extensively and not this intentionally.鈥�

Your shows are usually just you and the band on a bare stage, but this time you will have more of a stage set up.

鈥淵es, very meat and potatoes. A very Midwestern approach, but it鈥檚 the indie rock thing of 鈥榳e don鈥檛 need a lot of cool stuff.鈥� But this feels special because this album is old and we all know it well. Like, how can we make is special now? And for me that was always about bringing out the story of the romance, which is how I did the song-by-song to (Rolling Stones) 鈥楨xile on Main St.'"

What鈥檚 it like for you stepping back into your 25-year-old self?

鈥淢y 25-year-old self, 24 even. Luckily, I鈥檓 writing a book about it at the same time so that helps. I kind of crawl back into a mentality that honestly isn鈥檛 that comfortable to wear. You know, the person that I was had a lot of faults, she was insecure a lot. There was the whole injury element that I don鈥檛 have in my life now. The darkness for sure, but at the same time making friends with the person that I was and imagining instant bonding when I go on stage at my age is really cool. It鈥檚 like the stuff you go to therapy for 鈥� integration.鈥�

When you were making 鈥淓xile in Guyville,鈥� did you ever imagine you would be touring it 30 years later?

鈥淣o! I would be so mad that my job involved performing because I was so (afraid). 鈥� But now it has become a place where I feel at home, which is crazy. I think what I would have been most proud of, if I could tell my younger self, was that my art resonated with other people. ... I wouldn鈥檛 have believed this is my life but at the same time I would have seen how it could have happened.鈥�

Why does 鈥淓xile in Guyville鈥� still resonate, including with today鈥檚 young people?

鈥淚 was honest about the struggle that women go through when they come out from under the protection of adults and into the world and playground of men and that the world has been largely a male-dominated place. I鈥檓 capturing those internal turbulences, that emotional cognitive dissonance in a way of being a young girl and then adulthood and working in the world. And then the other thing is just superficial and funny: I grew up where John Hughes made movies about. I was in high school at the same time that Hughes鈥檚 movies were very popular and I really think that Jennifer Grey鈥檚 character in 鈥楩erris Bueller鈥檚 Day Off,鈥� that was me. You know me; you knew me. I was the annoying sister in 鈥楬ome Alone鈥�... That was me, and when this girl came out with this album that was so raw and kind of punkish, I think you knew me as this girl next door or your sister or your friend.鈥�

Are you excited to go out and perform this album song-by-song?

鈥淚 am so excited to play the album because I feel like I will go on an emotional journey and time travel in a way. I鈥檓 sure there will be slippage in my mind between am I 25 or am I 56? 鈥� It鈥檒l be like a transcendence as opposed to just playing a cool set. There will be an element of psychological lift. The whole audience feeling the same way as they go back to when they first heard it. It鈥檚 a really cool concept that we鈥檙e all kind of engaging in this nostalgic time travel.鈥�