Duncan Sheik [ tickets ] has a newfound sense of confidence.

The singer/songwriter's career took a turn toward Broadway in 2006, when he composed the music for "Spring Awakening," a rock 'n' roll musical that won Tony Awards for Best Musical, Best Book and Best Score.

"I guess in the afterglow of the success of 'Spring Awakening,' I had this sense of confidence that maybe something that I'm writing could actually make it," said Sheik, 39, with a laugh during a phone interview with LiveDaily from Oregon.

Sheik's latest foray into music, "Whisper House," doubles as the soundtrack to an upcoming musical of the same name. It is the sixth album by Sheik, best known for his 1990s hit "Barely Breathing." For "Whisper House," Sheik is collaborating with writer Kyle Jarrow to create the musical. Jarrow wrote the story--about an 11-year-old boy, Christopher, whose father's been shot down over the Pacific Ocean in World War II and is sent to live with his grandmother in a haunted lighthouse--and Sheik is handling the music and lyrics.

"She takes care of this lighthouse aided by this Japanese man servant," Sheik said. "Essentially they get mixed up in this issue of Japanese people during WWII, being very suspect and sent to internment camps. It revolves around that issue."

To make matters worse for Christopher, he comes to believe the lighthouse is haunted by ghosts who sing songs to him, which are the songs on the "Whisper House" CD (a few of which are streaming at Sheik's website).

"There's kind of some spooky elements to it, but it's meant to be a little bit of fun," Sheik said. "It was actually a lot of fun writing it. I got to write from the perspective of the persona of the ghost, as opposed to Duncan Sheik."

Joining Sheik on the album is singer Holly Brook, who appeared on the song "Where'd You Go" by Fort Minor, the band helmed by Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park.

Sheik is on the road performing with a nine-piece band. The set consists of three segments" one for songs from his studio albums, another featuring selections from "Spring Awakening" and a third dedicated to "Whisper House."

"[Holly Brook] is singing and playing keyboards," said Sheik, who is producing Brook's sophomore effort, "and Lauren Pritchard, who's from the original Broadway cast of 'Spring Awakening,' she's on the road with us. Then I have the rock band, and we have a cellist and French horn and bass clarinet. It's this very colorful cast. It's nice to have all those instruments because we really get into the more detailed aspects of the arrangements, which is a luxury for me."