Mama rocks

Bebe Buell is a rock goddess of sorts.

Not only is she the mother of actress Liv Tyler and a former Playboy Playmate, but she's also played muse to a smorgasbord of rock 'n' roll heroes: Todd Rundgren, Jimmy Page, Elvis Costello and Steven Tyler. (Her 2001 book, "Rebel Heart," is a recommended read for those with prurient interest.) The former model formed her first band in the '80s and has continued to record and perform. Last month, Buell, 56, released the 12-song album, "Sugar," a surprisingly heavy and dark chunk of girl power.

She chatted from New York about the album and her fans in Minneapolis.

Q What should people expect from "Sugar"?

A I have a kick-ass band. My bass player played with Iggy Pop and Danzig. It's a full-on rock 'n' roll show. It's a very young audience, too, and I don't know quite what to attribute that to. My daughter's fans? The pop culture connection?

Q How did the album come about, and why did you release it digitally via iTunes and Amazon?

A The recording process was just me, my guitar player Jim [Wallerstein], who's my husband, and my drummer Bobbie [Rae]. Jim and Bobbie did all the music and I wrote all the lyrics. Every note you hear on the record is three people.

This record is still going to come out on a label. The beauty of iTunes and Amazon is that most labels test the waters with those formats. It takes me literally an hour to go through my mail on Facebook. When I get that many requests from people who want the album, I'm thinking, "Why don't I do Phase One myself?" I figure that I've been around long enough and have a strong enough fan base that I can take a chance like that.

Q Do Liv and your rock friends come out to your shows?

A All my friends from my past and now have come to see me play. I never know who's going to be in my audience. I look out and see Kate Moss, I see Michael Stipe. I'll see a kid with a 12-foot-tall Mohawk. Liv comes when she can. She's been watching me play since she was 3 years old, when I formed my first band. She is no stranger to her mother rocking.

Q Are you planning to tour?

A Of course, and I will come to Minneapolis, for sure. I think I'm playing First Avenue. The thing that's great is that I've never played there but I get so much fan mail from Minneapolis. Minneapolis people are really smart about their rock 'n' roll. The first downloads I got on my single were from Minneapolis.

Q As someone who's seen amazing artists over the decades, do you miss the '70s and '80s? How does this generation of musicians compare?

A I don't sit around and pine for it. There's plenty of good music. I listen to Jack White, the Dead Weather. I love Muse, the Raconteurs. There's a lot of stuff out there that's real and digestible. Is it ever going to be like it was when Jimi Hendrix was around? That isn't repeatable. Moving on is important, keeping the music alive. In 20 years when it's going to be robots, everyone will look back and this is going to seem downright organic and earthy.