Shooter Jennings [ tickets ]' parents, the late country greats Waylon Jennings [ tickets ] and Jessi Colter [ tickets ], have always been a big presence in his life. He spent his formative years living on a tour bus, assuming that was the way every family lived.

This winter, however, he was able to play a larger-than-life version of his father in the Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line," starring Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Johnny and June Cash, respectively.

"It was strange," said Jennings, born Waylon Albright Jennings. "I've never done a movie or anything. They told me to just kind of be myself in the movie; just to be myself and don't imitate anything. That's what I kind of did."

Jennings was impressed with the final product, which is nominated for three Golden Globe awards; winners will be named Monday (1/16) during a ceremony that will air on NBC.

"Joaquin had such a presence on his own," Jennings said. "You forget you're watching an actor. I thought it was better done than 'Ray.' 'Ray' spans so much time in a small amount of time. With 'Ray,' you didn't get a chance to capture the feeling of the person. Everything moved so fast. In 'Walk the Line,' you latch on to Johnny and you love him for his faults."

Jennings' first love, however, is not acting. It's music. Last year, he released "Put the 'O' Back in Country," which spawned the hit "4th of July." Prior to a recent show in Glendale, AZ, Jennings talked to liveDaily about his next album, which is due out this spring..

liveDaily: I understand you and your band, the .357's, have a new album coming out soon. What can you reveal about it?

Shooter Jennings: It comes out April 4. It's called "Electric Rodeo." I'm really proud of the record. I'm really excited. It's the best thing I've ever been a part of.

What makes "Electric Rodeo" so satisfying?

It's a major step up. The first time [with "Put the 'O' Back in Country"], we were just kind of finding ourselves and finding out who we were. The 357's, they're the backbones of my music. We read each other's minds. Everybody got to put their heart and soul really into this record. It started out with an idea completely intact. And we worked our way through it.

So would you call "Electric Rodeo" a concept album?

Not so much a concept. There's a little bit of a concept woven into it. Really, the first half of the record is a little bit darker. It's not evil or something. I feel like the first half tells a little bit about what, personally, I've been going through--what it is like for us to be on the road, for example. The second half of the record takes a turn, which is what I like. The first part is personal, and the second half is very energetic and wild.

You're really turning around a new album rather quickly.

It's funny. Our first record was finished in January 2004 and released in March 2005. The record was in the can for a year and didn't come out. We started to record the second record before the first record came out. We were working on it for eight months. We finished it in October.

Was it a downer that your album was held up for so long?

I feel so lucky that our scheduling got all screwed up like that. We were refreshed. We were ready to rock when we did this record. We wanted to drop the first one and come out with another one immediately. It's a lot stronger in the message.

Tell me about your songwriting process. Do you write in the studio or when the feeling strikes you?

It depends on what I'm going through. I can't write and try to make hit songs. Sometimes, I sit there all day and try to write songs. Other times, I'll go through something and just write a song and it works. The .357's Ted [Russell Kamp], Leroy [Powell], they both have records coming out this year too. They sing great. Leroy wrote "Lonesome Blues" on the first record and "Busted in Baylor County." Ted wrote "Steady at the Wheel" on the first record. Part of all of what goes into making a record is the band. Some people have different back-up bands for the road and that makes no sense to me. They're the people who make the music. You don't pay them to copy the music. These guys are my posse, my best friends, my brothers. We take all the hits together.

When did you get your band together?

I got them together a year ago. Then [producer] Dave Cobb got involved. We did "Put the 'O' Back in Country'--like the second record--as it was mastered, even before we played it for the label. They don't touch our s---. [Universal South senior partner] Tony Brown is being cool with us. ... This year, we made a lot of changes to the system of how we're doing things. We want to reach a global level--not just through country music. We want the kind of audience that The Black Eyed Peas has.

Are you saying you would like to cross over into pop music?

No, I want to try to make a presence for country music like there is for rap. I feel that could happen. Country is where we thrive. It's just trying to expand it and country music a little bit. This record's really different. There's no Americana vibe to it. When it's rock, it's rock. When it's country, it's country. When it's old school country, it's old school country.