Clay Walker will join actors Alec Baldwin and Melina Kanakaredes and fellow musical artist Ben Folds for Arts Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday (April 17).

The participants will discuss before the press and a number of members of Congress the importance of funding the arts and arts education.

Clay figures he'll be in great company. "It will be like, 'Hey, Alec Baldwin is here, so that guy must be cool. He's a cowboy, but he's got to be cool if he's with Alec'," the country star jokes with The Boot. Not that Clay is nervous about speaking in front of Congress for the first time: "I'm sure I'm going to do well because most of those guys are not very smart anyway," says the notoriously sarcastic singer (who is, of course, joking).

The singer is already looking beyond this spring into the fall when he'll begin recording a new album, his first since 2009's She Won't Be Lonely Long. Clay says his contract with Curb Records will be up by October, so he will be looking for new collaborators. "I want to partner with a major label, but I want to do a co-venture and it should be that way," Clay says. "I'll bring money to the project and hopefully be able to have some say in the songs that are released and when they get released."

Shell Oil Company recently honored Clay with its Legacy Award at the Shell Houston Open in March. The honor was in recognition of Clay's humanitarian efforts, including his work to educate and eradicate multiple sclerosis, which he was diagnosed with in 1996, and the Military Warriors Support Foundation.

Watch Clay Walker's 'She Won't Be Lonely Long' Video

if(typeof AOLVP_cfg==='undefined')AOLVP_cfg=[];AOLVP_cfg.push({id:'AOLVP_us_90384483001','codever':0.1,'autoload':false,'autoplay':false,'playerid':'61371447001','videoid':'90384483001','publisherid':1612833736,'playertype':'pageload','width':476,'height':357,'videotitle':'Test','bgcolor':''});

More From TheBoot