Jeff Bridges (photo: Robert Hanashiro/USA TODAY)
Jeff Bridges, who won an Academy Award for his starring role in country music cautionary tale Crazy Heart, will make his major label debut as a recording artist later this year.
Bridges has signed with EMI's Blue Note Records, and that label will release his T Bone Burnett-produced album late this summer. Nashville bass man Dennis Crouch will play on the album, which will include songs from Bridges as well as compositions from writers including Greg Brown, Bo Ramsey and the late Stephen Bruton.
Country Music Hall of Famer Kris Kristofferson introduced Bridges and Burnett during the filming of the 1980 motion picture Heaven's Gate, and Burnett selected music for the soundtrack to The Big Lebowski, a movie in which Bridges starred. Burnett also produced and co-wrote several songs for the Crazy Heart soundtrack (including the Oscar-winning "The Weary Kind").
Details regarding album title and release date will be announced in the coming months.