This year, Scarlett Johansson and Zooey Deschanel both released their debut albums, and their status as young, gorgeous actresses arguably made them among the more welcome figures to move from acting into music. Traditionally, the transition from actor to singer or singer to actor is perilous and leaves the celebrity in question open to much ridicule; for every Frank Sinatra or Jennifer Lopez, there is an Eddie Murphy (who convinced Michael Jackson to duet with him on his timeless song “Whatzupwitu”) or Vanilla Ice (remember Cool as Ice?). Now, however, Kevin Costner is throwing his hat into the ring for serious musical consideration and, what’s more, that hat is a Stetson. "I grew up with Motown because I was born in Compton,” Costner explains in an AP interview, “but every time I do a song it sounds like something in Oklahoma." A few years ago, Costner’s wife encouraged him to embrace music more fully and his resulting efforts lead to a record deal for his band, Modern West, who this week release their first record, Untold Truths. Though Costner has admitted that crossing over is very tough to do, he says that playing music relaxes him and is undaunted by the challenge of being taken seriously: "What scares me is not trying. I'm real confident of how we sound with an audience. I'm real confident that an evening with us will be real fun and will be remembered."