Once more, the life of a Hollywood star emulates art, as veteran actor and six-time Oscar nominee Jeff Bridges reveals the release date for his country album.
Adding to his already impressive repertoire, Jeff Bridges is set to launch his self-titled album on September 5th, following in Gwyneth Paltrow’s footsteps. He collaborated with Grammy winner T Bone Burnett on this project.
Bridges, who took on the role of a washed-up country music icon facing challenges in Crazy Heart, had already secured the Oscar for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for that film, prompting major record labels to vie for his signature.
Parlophone Records emerged victorious in this competition, and now Bridges is poised to unveil his second studio album, thanks to his close friend T Bone Burnett.
This shift from actor to musician mirrors Gwyneth Paltrow’s journey, as she too starred in a country music-themed film and later performed with artists like Cee-Lo Green and Jay-Z.
Bridges and Burnett have maintained a friendship spanning over three decades, but this marks the first occasion they have collaborated on an album, which Bridges describes as the pinnacle of their personal, professional, and now musical bond.
Burnett, a seasoned musician, won a Grammy for the song The Weary Kind, performed by two-time Oscar winner Bridges in Crazy Heart.
The track gained significant attention after a duet featuring Colin Farrell and Jeff Bridges on stage surfaced on the internet a year prior to the film’s release.
This self-titled album marks Bridges’ second foray into the music world, his first being Be Here Soon, which debuted in February 2000.
The album showcases songs penned by world-renowned songwriters such as the late Stephen Bruton, John Goodwin, Greg Brown, and Bo Ramsay.
Having produced the album, T Bone collaborated with Bridges to co-write several original tracks, including ‘Falling Short,’ ‘Tumbling Vine,’ ‘I Will Wait’ (written together with Burnett and John Goodwin), and ‘Slow Boat’ (crafted with Burnett and Thomas Cobb).
To bring these songs to life, Burnett enlisted a talented ensemble of his core musicians, comprising keyboardist Keefus Ciancia, guitarist Mark Ribot, bassist Dennis Crouch, pedal-steel guitarist Russ Pahl, and drummer Jay Bellerose, along with guest vocalists Rosanne Cash, Ryan Bingham, Sam Phillips, and Benji Hughes.
Meeting in 1980 during the filming of Heaven’s Gate, Bridges and Burnett, also famous for his collaborations with Allison Krauss, Robert Plant, Elton John, and Leon Russell, have nurtured their relationship over the years. Burnett even selected the songs for the 1998 film The Big Lebowski, in which Bridges starred.
JEFF BRIDGES’S ALBUM TRACKLISTING
1. What A Little Bit Of Love Can Do
2. Will Wait
3. Falling Short
4. Maybe I Missed The Point
5. Tumbling Vine
6. Nothing Yet
7. Blue Car
8. Slow Boat
9. Either Way
10. Everything But Love
11. The Quest
by Wallace McTavish