Jeff Bridges is an actor first, musician second.
Usually these types of people try to separate those careers and not blur any lines, but Bridges named his band (The Abiders) in reference to his iconic film The Big Lebowski, and they cover songs from the movie's soundtrack ("Lookin' Out My Back Door" the most notable).
The 64-year-old actor explained his reasoning to Radio.com.
"We were sitting around trying to think of the name for the band," he said. "Titles are supposed to draw attention, I guess, to the guys who are playing. Like you say, a lot of people know me from Lebowski, I happen to love that movie, I loved the experience of doing that film. The guys in the band kind of wanted to call it that, so I just said 'What the heck, let's do it!' I don't mind when people are wearing Lebowski shirts to the shows and stuff. We had a great time playing the Lebowski Fest in L.A. We had a wonderful time doing that."
T-Bone Burnett produced Bridges' eponymous 2011 album.
"It meant everything, not only is he one of the top producers around, but he's also a dear friend," Bridges said. "As you get older, 'work' kind of replaces 'play.' If you want to hang out with someone, you've got to think of a project that you want to do with that person. It's kind of like the same thing with my daughter, Jess, we've got the music as a thing that keeps us hangin' out."
Asked about his relationship with The Eagles (a band his character, The Dude, disses in Lebowski), Bridges was a tad regretful.
"I wouldn't say a good friend of Don's, but we know each other," he said of Henley, the lead singer. "Glenn Frey, I run into him at parties, he'll always bust my chops and make me squirm a little bit. That was my character that hated the Eagles, not me!"
Bridges also addressed his jam sessions with Taylor Swift, who co-starred in this summer's The Giver.
"We actually did play together when we were on the set," Bridges said. "We did quite a bit, it was wonderful, she's a very talented lady. But there's no plans for us to do anything further."
Did she struggle to adapt to acting?
"Not really: she's an entertainer," he said. "It's a very human thing that we all try to categorize things. It probably helps us to navigate life. But we're often mistaken when we think that 'this person just does this thing, and not that thing.' For someone so young, she's very accomplished in so many fields."
A collection of live songs from Bridges and The Abiders, simply titled Live, was made available in late September. Here's a sample:
