He feels like a new kid again

J. D. Souther - who co-wrote some of the Eagles' big hits, including ''New Kid in Town'' - has released an album, ''If The World Was You,'' his first in 24 years. (Erick Anderson)

It's possible that when the Eagles ascend the stage at the Country Music Association Awards on Wednesday night to sing their comeback hit "How Long," the song's author, J.D. Souther, will be performing it at the same time for a slightly smaller crowd at Johnny D's.

Like the Eagles, Souther has taken a little time off from recording new material. Twenty-four years to be exact.

In 1984, he released his fourth album, "Home By Dawn." His lone chart hit came five years earlier with the aching "You're Only Lonely."

But the Detroit-born, Texas-bred Souther was well versed in hit songs by that point in his career, having been an important architect of the California country-rock and singer-songwriter movements of the '70s. He played on, wrote for, or contributed his sweet-cream-and-rock-salt harmony vocals to albums by Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, and Bonnie Raitt among others. Most famously, Souther co-wrote Eagles hits like "The Best of My Love," "Heartache Tonight," and "Victim of Love." ("How Long" actually comes from Souther's 1972 debut album.)

So to quote "New Kid in Town," another Eagles hit he co-wrote: Where's he been lately?

"I read all these things that say that I walked away in 1985 after a lot of successful years. I didn't really walk away. I just decided to do something else in the middle of my life," says Souther, on the phone from his home in Nashville. "I'd started rescuing dogs. I'd built a fantastic house up in the Hollywood Hills, and I just decided not to beat myself to death over the business part of music for a while."

With his songwriting success, Souther could well afford to explore new avenues. Living in LA, he tried his hand at acting, appearing in several films, including "Postcards From the Edge," and as a recurring character on the TV drama "thirtysomething."

He continued to write songs and offer up harmony vocals, contributing to solo albums by several Eagles (he co-wrote Don Henley's magnificent break-up ballad "The Heart of the Matter"). Souther also listened as new generations covered his songs, including the Dixie Chicks, Brooks and Dunn, and even neo-soul chanteuse India.Arie.

"I fell out of the machine until they forgot I was there, and it just really allowed me to move," says Souther, 63, of his time out of the spotlight. "I went to jazz clubs and honked on my saxophone - I was worse than Bill Clinton."

A trip to Cuba in 1998 reawakened his songwriting jones. After moving to Nashville in 2002, he began composing and playing in earnest, inspired by the music in which he'd immersed himself.

The result is "If The World Was You," a stunning, spacious collection that impressively manages to connect roots rock, country, Afro-Cuban, Tejano, and jazz in ways that make an inspired kind of pop sense. Crucially, it was recorded live in the studio, with few post-production overdubs or computer sleights-of-hand.

"There was no filling in the holes with putty," says Souther. "These rocks fit together because we stacked them a lot of different ways before we realized how they stood up."

Souther's once-angelic tenor has taken on an agreeably weather-beaten edge. And the disc's moods - from the slinky noir of "A Chorus of Your Own" to the unhinged roadhouse-style "Secret Handshake of Fate" - spill messily, and humanly, from song to song.

"It's probably not what most people would expect from a J.D. Souther record," says Raul Malo, former lead singer of country rock band the Mavericks and a Souther buddy who resurrected "You're Only Lonely" as the title track for a 2006 album of covers.

"I think if he had rewritten 10 versions of 'New Kid in Town,' that would be boring and serve no purpose to anybody," says Malo. "I like that he's exploring new ways to put a song together and try different things for him."

Although Souther never found widespread commercial success as a solo artist, Malo believes serious music fans are aware of his contribution. "I think he's accepted that," Malo says. "He's pretty comfortable in his own skin, and he knows who he is and what he's done."

Indeed, Souther, who says he feels like he's 20 again, seems perfectly content. He buzzes about great shows he's seen, is excited by the butterflies he's feeling as he prepares to hit the road, and, is thrilled by the response to his new "World."

"If I was a politician," he says with a chuckle, "I would say the response has been very gratifying."

Sarah Rodman can be reached at srodman@globe.com.