Jeff Bridges won himself a pretty, golden statue of a bald man last year for his portrayal of Bad Blake in the 2009 musical drama Crazy Heart, directed by Scott Cooper. The success of the film and the Academy Award honor Bridges received was as much about the musical elements as the dramatic ones. Now the actor is going to carry his song-slinging skills out of Hollywood and into a major label, as he's signed a recording deal with EMI's Blue Note Records, USA Today reports.

For his debut release, Bridges will team with Crazy Heart musical collaborator T-Bone Burnett, who won a Best Original Song Oscar for his work on "The Weary Kind." It seems that the duo is targeting a late summer release for the album. The Playlist suggests that the music on the forthcoming album will probably mirror what audiences heard in Crazy Heart, based on Bridges' own playing as part of a recent Esquire profile.

The article describes the music that the actor played as "what Bad Blake might have made, if Bad Blake had been able to keep it together. They’re songs about loneliness and love and beauty and despair … songs that would sound terrific with the windows rolled down and the desert flashing by the fins. They’re songs that rise and fall with the wail of gorgeous pedal steel and brushed snare drums and lilting, lovely guitar. They’re really good songs."

A pretty ringing endorsement. Late summer's not too far off either. Are you game for a country album from The Dude?