PM: Are you much of a Bluegrass guy now, like what's going on?

BBT: Yeah, I like it. I almost hate that it's getting popular.

PM: It's amazing that it's getting popular but not ruined. It's almost incorruptible. I'm watching to see who's gonna screw this up, and how. Who's gonna Rhinestone Cowboy this. Somebody's going to, but it's not going to be Alison Krauss.

BBT: No, it ain't gonna be her, she appreciates it too much.

PM: Gillian Welch ain't gonna mess it up.

BBT: She sings like she's from another time. She doesn't even seem like she's from this era at all.

PM: But that last record, they took a spooky leap there. Private Radio, for that matter, has a lot of that going on as well. The more spook that gets built into Triple A, the better, I think. Let's talk about your great song "Beauty at the Back Door." How did that happen?

BBT: We did that in one take. That's all there is on tape of that song. Marty just started playing guitar, and I started talking.

PM: D minor, the saddest key.

BBT: Right. We talked about that, actually. Marty said, "Why don't you talk about the house you grew up in..." and that's how it all started. And it seems to be about a lot of stuff, there's a few layers in there.

PM: The Carbor girl...

BBT: Oh yeah, that whole deal, about the father and all.

PM: Is your daddy living?

BBT: No, he's gone.

PM: You couldn't hardly cut that song if he was still around.

BBT: No, I don't think so. That wouldn't have been one of daddy's favorites. "Angelina" on the other hand, that's about how my wife and I met. [phone rings, his assistant Kristen Scott fields it, and while he's conversing with me, he takes care of another matter]

PM: That's a great song, a good single.

BBT: It's the most Pop cut on the record. Triple A plays that song quite a bit. Randy Scruggs cowrote that one. "Forever" is like "Beauty at the Back Door," Marty and I were just goofing around.

PM: Another first take song.

BBT: A song like that, the first take is gonna be the one. You don't tell a story like that, and then do it again. "Walk of Shame" I wrote for a friend of mine, Oriana, who mentioned the phrase to me one time. People drop the phrase jokingly [about walking home alone the next morning in your evening dress after a sexual encounter with someone you didn't really know], but it's really a sad event. In the sunshine, yeah, it's not too cool.

PM: The record has that fabulous Leonard Cohenish start, "Why is this window so dirty and gray..." which establishes the Country/Spoken Word crossroads immediately. Has that been part of your music for awhile, or is that new?

BBT: No, that's kind of new, really. Like I say, when you hear this next record of 60s covers, it sounds like a different guy singing entirely. The spoken word vibe must be pretty powerful, because there's not that much of it on the record, but that's what people frequently bring up. "Dark and Mad," the first song, some of it is spoken, some of "Forever" is spoken, and then "Beauty at the Back Door." But that's it, you know.

PM: Is that all? Seems like there's more...

BBT: Telling stories, poetry and all spoken word, is powerful to people. It stands out.

PM: And it's your trademark. On top of being a successful actor, you're a storyteller.

BBT: It all boils down to storytelling, doesn't it? Songwriting, script writing, acting, directing. It's all about telling a story. continue

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