Houston Press: Do you generally have a guitar nearby wherever you are? Kevin Costner: I take one with me, yeah. I've got this little mini-Martin that I'll take, whether it's in the car or on the plane, or something like that. But that's just me trying to keep up with these guys (laughs). They can play circles around me. I have to play by myself because we're physically apart. Two are in Nashville and three are in Tucson, so we exchange music back and forth. I have to play my guitar almost like a drum because I'm never with them.
Do you find yourself carrying around bits of songs in your head as you're working? Yeah. Sometimes it's lyrics. And it's different. Sometimes it's the car that will inspire something. I'd get more lyrical things and melodies in my head when I was making Hatfield and McCoys, because it was more poetry if I was writing down the feelings of violence that would occur between these two families.
Out of an average year now, how much time do you figure you spend on music with the band? Between actually recording and playing, I'd bet it's 45 days. Probably 30 of those [are] playing out. I could do a lot more because I love it, and the band wants to, but I just can't do any more than that.
You mentioned the Swing Vote role earlier. I was reading over your other credits, and unless I'm mistaken the only time you've kind of played a musician was the Elvis impersonator in 3000 Miles to Graceland. Was it fun to do Elvis for a minute? You know, I didn't do any of that during that movie; I wasn't required to do that kind of thing. I came home for my daughter's surprise party in that Elvis outfit and did a song for her and all of her 14-year-old friends, which was pretty humiliating.
There was an inquiry at one point about Crazy Heart, but it wasn't a formal offer I don't think. The band was forming at that time and I didn't want to have it [be], "Oh, I just did a movie and now I decide that I want to play music." I've really been conscious about how I wanted to do this. The music's going to take me wherever it takes me without a plan.
In the past have there been other musician roles that you've considered? Yeah. I think Al Pacino's just doing a movie [Danny Collins], but he was already attached to play that. I would consider something like that, but I'm not dying to do that in a movie. I'm really content doing things the way I do 'em.
Walk me through a typical set that you're doing. We do change our set almost every night. We've recorded about 40-50 songs, and of those 40 or 50 about 25 of 'em can be in a set any evening. The songs that we write, they just have to fight their way onto the set list. I mean, it's brutal. And I guess if you wanted to say anything about the band, I break all the ties. I decide what we'll do and what we won't do.
I try to tailor it for if it's a sit-down crowd or a stand-up crowd, or people are drinking, and we'll do it that way. The band's pretty nimble. On a given night, the set can change by four or five songs, which is pretty considerable, really.
What would you think Crash Davis' favorite band is? (laughs) Interesting. He feels like a classics guy, you know what I mean? I think he could like, believe it or not, listen to Sinatra and people like that. Because he's got to be around young guys on the bus, and they've got their music and he's got his. Anybody who loves music can travel through decades; they just do. And they can identify classic music. I think he would be a classic guy.
Kevin Costner & Modern West perform Tuesday, April 14 at Stafford Centre, 10505 Cash Rd., Stafford. Doors open at
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