Burning Bridges

By Bennett Owen

Credit: musicradar

What else can you say? The guy truly is on fire. At age 61 he’s releasing his first major label country music recording entitled…who’d a thunk it…“Jeff Bridges.”

Credit: ology.com

Anyone who thinks this is a vanity project hasn’t seen his Oscar wining performance as a down on his luck, alcoholic country singer (is there any other kind?) in Crazy Heart:

It’s a role he initially turned down only to be coaxed back in to it by his long time friend, the extraordinary T-Bone Burnett. He guided the music in Crazy Heart  and has produced the Bridges album. Those who’ve had a listen say it’s more Tom Waits than Waylon Jennings.

Credit: IMDB

Bridges tells the LA Times he wanted to be a musician when he was young but got into acting because, “it was the path of least resistance.” He was barely in his 20s when he earned his first Oscar nomination for The Last Picture Show. 40 years later he’s coming off a monster hit with the remake of True Grit. 

Of course a lot of actors have music careers on the side, including Kevin Costner, who is also travelling the country roads.

And Gwyneth Paltrow has been taking the stage recently, showing off her country chops on the heels of Country Strong:

Bridges will be going on the road in a limited series of concerts to support the release, including an appearance on Austin City Limits this fall.  His producer, T-Bone says he welcomes scepticism about the project. “It’s not a lark,” he adds.  Then again, neither is Jeff Bridges.

Credit: pbpulse