Costner, 53, and his band, Modern West, released their debut CD, "Untold Truths," this week.
The disc features 12 songs, half of them written or co-written by Costner, who's the lead singer and plays guitar. The sound is roots-rock with elements of country. The group is signed to Nashville-based Universal Records South.
"I grew up with Motown because I was born in Compton (Calif.), but every time I do a song it sounds like something in Oklahoma," he said.
Costner is no newcomer to music. He was trained on piano and sang in the church choir as a kid. He's been writing and performing with a group for about 20 years.
At his wife's urging, he started pursuing it more seriously a few years ago.
"She had this steady prodding. She prodded me every three or four months. She said,
'You're really happy when you play music. You should do this.'"
"I never intended to make a record," he said. "I just wanted to play live again, but I wanted to do original material. People heard the songs and approached us about it."
The band gave a few performances in Nashville, including one on the venerable Grand Ole Opry, to coincide with this week's Country Music Association Awards.
They'll continue touring this year and into 2009.
But don't look for Costner to change jobs. He'll keep making movies and says he wants to do more directing, which he describes as enormously time-consuming.
