Like a wise investor, John Doe [ tickets ] is diversified. Music is his main business--he's a founding member of Los Angeles punk icons X [ tickets ], he sometimes moonlights in blues-folk act the Knitters, and his fourth solo album is now in stores.

He's also an actor, a side career that began with his role in 1989's "Border Radio." That led to parts in "Great Balls of Fire," "Roadside Prophets" and "Boogie Nights," among many others. He also has several television roles under his belt, the best-known of which is as Jeff Parker in the cult-favorite "Roswell."

Doe's latest album, "Dim Stars, Bright Sky," is probably his most straightforward solo effort to date. It's mostly acoustic, and generally recorded live in the studio by producers Dave Way and Joe Henry.

Several well-known guests--including Juliana Hatfield, Aimee Mann, Jane Weidlin, Jakob Dylan and Rhett Miller--contributed guest vocals to the album.

"Joe Henry started that--it's his fault," Doe said. "I've known Aimee Mann and Jakob Dylan for several years, and we were talking about them while we were recording what were just supposed to be demos. And Joe said, 'You know, John, we should get Aimee on this song. It would be cool!' And I said, 'I'm not gonna call her. It's a demo!' And he goes, 'No, no, I'll call her--it'll be cool!'"

Singer/guitarist Doe is currently on the road with what he calls his "folk trio," which features David Carpenter on upright bass and Nick Luca on keyboards.

Are you a fan of life on the road?

Yeah. If you don't go crazy every night it's pretty simple--all you have to do is get from one place to another, attend to details and put in a good show. I read a lot. I look out the window. It's an opportunity for a parent to dream like a child, and to just let your mind wander.

Is it different touring today than it was in the heyday of X?

I guess so. I always take live performance very seriously--not in a pretentious or overly artistic "define 'art'" sense--but I give everything I've got. I love singing. It transports you. I think the biggest difference is that it's not as difficult touring [nowadays]. Even though I may be playing as many shows, the schedule's not as hectic.

What were you trying to accomplish when you set out to make the new album?

There were a couple of songs that didn't really work with the John Doe Thing, the rock trio, and rather than discarding a song, I'd think, "Maybe it's not a bad song; maybe it's not the song's fault." That was the beginning of it, and then I felt like I had completed what I had to say in a rock band for now. Plus, it seemed that everyone expected me to make an acoustic record. You don't want to necessarily mellow with age, but you want to play music that people your age can get into.

To me, one of the standout tracks on the album is "Forever For You," which includes the chorus "We're not united / but we stand for each other." How did that song evolve?

I was--and am--really fed up with this patriotism. I guess I'm not a very good patriot--especially when it involves foolish decisions. I didn't feel "united" [when I wrote the song], and I felt that there was a lot of dangerous talk--which obviously [there] is. And then I'd met a couple of people over a short period of time where there was this sort of immediate obsession with them, and I didn't really act on that obsession. It seems similar to the way that countries in the world obsess on each other. One of the things I was proud of in that song is that, in the literary sense, the two people in the song never get up from the table. They stay in one location throughout the whole song.

X has been getting to together for short tours and one-off dates lately. Is that going to continue?

Oh, yeah. I know we're going to do some California stuff in May, and then we may do some East Coast dates in June.

What brought guitarist Billy Zoom--who was estranged from the group for many years--back into the fold?

The reason he left was because he burned out, he got disgusted. And it's difficult not to get those feelings when you've worked real hard, and maybe you don't get as much reward as you think you should. It happens to a lot of people. I think the X reissues that Elektra did in 1998 was the beginning, when we started to have some contact again.

It's great to connect with those old songs again.

It's a win-win situation: we have fun, and if the audience digs it, all the better. And we get paid for it, too?

What's on the horizon for you?

I'm going to Europe for the first time as a solo artist to do some touring. I'm going to be making a new record pretty soon, so I'm working on that. I'm staying with the acoustic format.