Jeff Bridges’ Self-Titled Album Cover Art Revealed — Exclusive
"Music, for me, is like a weed that just keeps bringing up no matter how thick the concrete is. It just makes its way toward the light. I've been doing music since I was a young teen, and man I'm really digging the way the weed has popped through this concrete." -- Jeff Bridges
That "weed" sprouted particularly tall when Jeff Bridges won an Academy Award for his portrayal of fallen country star Bad Blake in the 2009 movie 'Crazy Heart.' In addition to adding such a tremendous accolade to his already-legendary acting resume, the film also planted the seed for more musical collaborations with its soundtrack producer, T Bone Burnett. The fellow Oscar winners have been friends for more than 30 years.
"'Crazy Heart' was an amazing experience," says Bridges. "When that movie was over, I found that I had quite a few songs that didn't get to make that film, and those are some of the songs that are here on this album."
That was the starting point for the actor/musician's self-titled album, due August 16 on Blue Note Records. Then, Bridges and his natural choice of producers, Burnett, recruited more old buddies to help complete the project. The late Stephen Bruton, who co-produced the 'Crazy Heart' soundtrack with Burnett, has songwriting credits on two of Bridges' album tracks, with one of them featuring guest vocals by another Oscar winner for his song in the film, Ryan Bingham. John Goodwin, whom Bridges has known since the fourth grade, penned three tracks for the project. And the album's namesake wrote or co-wrote four songs himself. Additional guest vocalists include Rosanne Cash, Sam Phillips and Benji Hughes, making for a who's-who list of credits inside the 'Jeff Bridges' CD cover.
"There are some songs we maybe only recorded once," says Bridges. "Everybody in the same room playing together ... everybody gets inspired by everybody and it becomes another entity [that] no one could have expected. Then, of course, it's all handed over to T Bone and he performs his magic."
Jeff Bridges premieres the cover art (above) for his self-titled CD exclusively on The Boot. Read the song list, along with each track's songwriters, below.
'Jeff Bridges' Track List:
'What A Little Bit Of Love Can Do' (Stephen Bruton, Gary Nicholson)
'I Will Wait' (Jeff Bridges, T Bone Burnett, John Goodwin)
'Falling Short' (Jeff Bridges)
'Maybe I Missed The Point' (John Goodwin)
'Tumbling Vine' (Jeff Bridges)
'Nothing Yet' (Stephen Bruton)
'Blue Car' (Greg Brown)
'Slow Boat' (Jeff Bridges, T Bone Burnett, Thomas Cobb)
'Either Way' (Robert Franklin Ramsey)
'Everything But Love' (John Goodwin)
'The Quest' (John Goodwin)