Q&A with Joe Walsh

Joe Walsh's life outside the Eagles has been good, too. He toured in Kenny Chesney's band, reunited with the James Gang and rooted for his daughter on an MTV talent contest.

Q Your reunion tour last year with the James Gang didn't visit many cities. But how did it go?

A It went really well. It was pretty radical to go from the Eagles to being the only melodic instrument. You have to play a certain way. It's like the Who. It was a great kick in the pants for me to get my chops up and to improvise a little more.

We wanted to just go out and test the waters so we didn't book a really long tour. I think in the future we'll do some more of that. It's pretty much a full-time job being an Eagle right now, with the new album out. That's fine with me.

Q Are you thinking about another solo project?

A I've got one in me, I know that. I've been writing with some people. I did some work with Jeff Lynne. That's going really good. I'm just working on that when there's time.

Q I saw your daughter Lucy, 24, play in Ashlee Simpson's band a couple of years ago, and then Lucy made a name for herself this year on MTV's "Rock the Cradle."

A That was kind of a weird show. But she did the best she could do. The judges were kinda weird. She plays in Los Angeles a lot. She's really working it by herself. I talked to her about it at length. I said, "Daddy can get you a career, but it'll be your 15 minutes of fame. It would be better if you did it yourself and you'd still be around in five years." Ashlee's peaked, shall we say. Lucy's got the gene from me, and she's a good all-around musician. She's been in school studying classical piano and majoring in music.

Q You sat in on some shows on Kenny Chesney's tour last year. How did that come about?

A That was really fun. I had a period of down time where I had done most of my assignments on the [Eagles] album, and it was up to Don [Henley] and Glenn [Frey] to finish up the words and singing and mixing. I was talking to Kenny and he said, "Why don't you come out and play my show?' The country scene is amazing. The big stadiums get totally packed and everyone knows the words and it's screaming young girls. I met a whole bunch of great Nashville musicians and they accepted me in their community. Classic rock and country music go well together.

Q In 1980, you mounted a, um, campaign for president even though you weren't old enough to hold the office. You're not running this year, are you?

A There is the write-in vote.

JON BREAM