Ben Kweller [ tickets ] is a tad embarrassed. Three weeks ago, he injured his foot when an amplifier case fell out of his tour bus and onto his flip-flop-wearing foot.

"I'm just limping everyday," Kweller said during an interview with LiveDaily. "I wouldn't really mind [the stabilizing boot], but playing in front of 1,000 kids on stage with one, it's kind of, like, embarrassing but funny at the same time."

He reported, however, that he's doing much better.

"It's amazing the difference between breaking something and not breaking it," he said. "I didn't break it. When they got the X-rays back, they said it wasn't broken. It was basically the worst bruise I've ever had--ever. It still really hurts when I walk, but it's really getting a lot better."

Kweller is touring in support of his country-influenced album "Changing Horses," and will wrap up the jaunt Saturday (6/27). He does, however, have one-off shows scheduled during the summer. See the itinerary below for more information.

Kweller spoke to LiveDaily about the inspiration for his latest album, the decision to include on "Changing Horses" the song "Homeward Bound," written by Willy Mason's parents, and what's ahead.

LiveDaily: Why did you decide to name the album "Changing Horses"?

Ben Kweller: I found the title a few years ago for, actually, my second album, "On My Way." I was in my sketchbook just writing down different album titles, and 'Changing Horses' was one that I read in a Mark Twain book, some book about destiny and fate. He was talking about how you better not change horses mid-stream or you may fall in and drown. I was like, "'Changing Horses' is a cool title." But I didn't end up using it for "On My Way." I made another album, my self-titled "Ben Kweller" album. But through those years, I would write these country songs and kind of save them on the side. I started making a list of these songs for an album that one day I knew I wanted to make. I thought, "Changing Horses' would be a good title for this album." I started calling this future country record that I would one day record "Changing Horses." I have like four sketchbooks over the years that have some kind of song list that says "Changing Horses" at the top of it. The album that I ended up making is totally different than any of those lists. They're kind of a work in progress. So that's it. It's definitely a change for me because it's an album where I just stick on one sound for the whole album. It's probably my most consistent album that I've made because it's one musical idiom, I guess, where all my other albums tend to be sporadic. It's got this down-home feel to it, Southern Americana country music. It feels good.

What inspired the album?

Well, just lots of things. All my music is really inspired by life and experience and things that I see or do or go through. All my songs are taken from that. What determines the way the song sounds, whether it's a pop song or a piano ballad, or a country song or a punk rock song, it's really something that just happens on its own. Like, when I'm sitting with the instrument, it's whatever mood you're in. Like, when you're in a mood to have banana pudding for dessert or, like, apple pie. You don't really know what inspires you to feel the way you do when you want apple pie versus banana pudding. It's kind of the same with like writing a song. It's just something that happens. So, I think, obviously, going back to me as a kid, country music being everywhere in Greenville, Texas, in the little town I grew up in, on the radio and in friend's trucks and stuff like that. That obviously had a great impact on me, so stylistically I guess I was destined to write songs that had that sound at some point. But lyrically, it's hard. I don't think there's a real lyrical theme to the album because the songs were written over such a long period of time. But they all definitely deal with real people and situations, kind of like characters that live in more of the shadows of society.

It must have been fun to make.

Oh yeah. It was a real blast to make. It was the easiest album I've ever made. We did it in 11 days. We recorded it in Austin. It was my first solo album to record outside of New York City. That was really fun. Just to be back in Texas where I grew up really made it fun. It was very free and easy ,and the musicians who played on it are incredible. It was really easy, which is how music should be.

Yeah, it shouldn't be a chore or a job.

Totally, exactly.

What was it like to produce the album yourself?

It was really fun. I love producing. It's something that I think I'm really good at, as far as arranging and song structure. The first producer I ever worked with was really such a mentor to me, from songwriting to production to performing. His name is Roger Greenawalt. He's in New York City. He kind of discovered me when I was 14 or 15 years old. He really taught me so many things. The art of producing records and recording is really important to me. I had the honor to work with so many of the great producers of my generation and [I've] taken a lot from them. I also feel like that, someone like me, we're so hands on from everything we do from the artwork to the sound to the lyrics to the music. That's a big reason why I'm a solo artist. My music is a complete representation of who I am. All the elements of my career have to represent me in some truthful way. I feel like I've been a co-producer in everything I've done, whether I've had credit or not. I know that somebody like Jeff Tweedy or Conor Oberst would say the same thing. It was really fun to take the reins and not have another cook in the kitchen for this album. Most of the producers I know I don't think they would have known how to make a record like this because they come from the indie-rock scene and wouldn't really understand a pedal steel solo as much. But at the same time I didn't want to get a Nashville country producer because that would have been too slick. I really just had to do my own brand of Texas music. I think it came out really well. I'm really proud of it.

How did you chose to include "Homeward Bound" on the album?

Oh man, that song is so good. When I was living in New York, I met this guy Willy Mason who is an incredible solo artist, singer/songwriter. We used to do a bunch of shows in New York together. He invited his mom up on stage one night and they sang that song. Afterward, I went up to them and said, "What was that song about who's going to carry it down, about the homeless junkie kid?" [She said] "Oh yeah. That's the song that me and Willy's dad wrote back in the '60s. We used to be a songwriting team for Famous Music Publishing and we wrote that song. No one ever wanted to record it. Our son Willy plays it a lot." I was convinced it was some hymn or something that I never heard before. It had never been recorded or covered. I already had "Changing Horses" as a concept. I already had three songs written for the album. This was back in 2004. I knew right then, I went home and I was going to cover that song and record it one day, and it's going to go on that "Changing Horses" album. That was one of the early candidates for the album. Around the same time, I was considering doing a lot of covers for this album. But I just continued to write and write songs that really fit the mood.

Have you started writing a new album?

Yeah, I'm almost done with the writing process. I want to write three more songs just to really have a perfect batch. I have like 15 together that I think are really strong. But I know if I push myself to write three more that are really good, or even if they're not really good, I least I know I went all the way out. I'll have almost 20 songs to pull from. There's even a few that could have really fit on "Changing Horses" that'll go on my next album. I'm also dusting off the electric guitars again. So that's going to be really fun. I think all my fans are really going to like this next album because it's going to be an album for everybody. "Changing Horses" kind of excluded a bunch of my fans, but also brought in a bunch of new fans. I think this next one will keep everybody happy. It's going to be cool.