Kweller's roots are showing

Indie rocker heads for the country

Texan Ben Kweller's new CD is getting a lot of attention from country fans. (Ato records)

For Ben Kweller, going country wasn't a choice, it's who he is. On his latest album, "Changing Horses," the 27-year-old Texan, who's been garnering indie rock acclaim since he was a teenager, reaches back to his childhood for a collection of songs that tip a Stetson to inspirations as varied as Garth Brooks, the Beatles, and the Band. The record has struck a chord outside his normal fan base, with even mainstream country outlet CMT picking up the video for the first single, "Fight." "Seriously, it's really bizarre," said Kweller with a laugh, checking in from a Milwaukee restaurant earlier this week. But Kweller, perhaps one of the most easygoing musicians ever, is happy to take whatever comes his way. Or as he puts it, "Everything is what it is and I make my music."

Q. When hipster indie-rock musicians cite country influences, they tend to be in the classic Hank-Merle-Willie area. But you haven't been afraid to also profess your love for more contemporary country inspirations like Garth Brooks and Alan Jackson.

A. I'm no hipster by any means, I just happened to move to New York City at a time in 1999 when that music scene [in Brooklyn] was just starting to take off. I grew up in this little rural town north of Dallas, and if you didn't have Garth Brooks's third album, "Ropin' the Wind," you were such a loser. It's the same as my older sister having "Thriller." It's just a part of me and my upbringing. . . . The three flavors that I was really reared on were my dad's music of the '60s, all the British invaders, the country music that was on the radio from the time I was like 8 until about 13, which was when Nirvana came out, and that was the third genre that really affected me. Then I got really into punk rock. It wasn't until years later that I discovered the Velvet Underground or Hank or Johnny Cash or George Jones.

Q. Still, as someone who has been embraced more by the alt-rock community, you must have been a little surprised when they started playing "Fight" on CMT.

A. Oh my God. I was talking to [my publicist] about it and I was just like, "Let's just send it to CMT and see what happens, for fun." And by God they called back and said, "Who is this guy? This is amazing." And then all these real country outlets were like, "Who is this up-and-coming country singer?" So we're just digging on it; it's really fun.

Q. Has it been difficult integrating the new stuff with the older songs that have more of a rock edge?

A. It's actually been really fun because I'm picking a lot of material from my back catalog that I don't play too often, or some of the songs that are already really rootsy, and it just flows really nicely. And even some of the completely non-rootsy songs are getting the "Horses" treatment, which is really fun too.

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