Well, I’m coming. Obviously I’m not playing in America so it should be some time in the Fall.

And you’re going to come to Dallas?

Of course I am.

Awesome. I can’t wait for that.

Me too.

We’ve done a couple of interviews in the past.

Well, it’s nice to hear your voice.

It’s nice to hear yours again.

Thank you.

I understand you were on Tony Iommi’s Fused CD. That was a really awesome CD.

Thank you. It was great. We loved making that album.

How did you guys hook up to do that?

In 2003 we talked about making another album. We make an album every 10 years so we just figured it was time to make another album. We began writing the music and I went home with the music and came up with the lyrics. I flew back to the U.K. and we recorded the album and it’s what you heard. It’s a great record.

It is. A really nice and heavy one. I think that’s cool that you guys get together and do something every 10 years.

We’re really, really good friends and at this point, Angela, in my life I want to work with people I love. I can actually get up and have a little breakfast with them, a little coffee, have some jokes, make some music. It’s so different from the way it used to be.

It used to be that you were pressured to do this and you have to do that.

A lot of us didn’t make it. A lot of us had to give our lives to the diseases we were into. I’ve come full circle and I’m just so blessed to have found a new life.

Isn’t that so awesome just to be sitting here many years later and you have this sense of calm about yourself.

I’d say so.

I guess people get so pressured that they drink themselves to death or they drug themselves to death.

It’s a different Glenn Hughes than what it used to be, I know that.

A much more relaxed Glenn Hughes.

Sure.

The album you did before the new one was Soul Mover. How did you hook up with Chad Smith as your drummer?

I met Chad at a music show in Los Angeles called the NAMM show and I was playing with my band there. Chad and I met the night before at a dinner party and we sat next to each other and we were very big fans of each other. I asked Chad if he wanted to sit in with me and he sat in with me. He sat in on eight songs. He knew the songs like they were his own. One thing about Chad Smith, I’ve worked with John Bonham prior to me joining Deep Purple and Chad Smith plays in the same distinctive way that John Bonham did. I wasn’t going to miss the opportunity of playing with another John Bonham so I invited Chad Smith to play with me and since that night in 2002 Chad has obviously gotten married and I was best man in his wedding and I’m godfather to his child. I’ve been very graciously held in his esteem so he’s my best friend Angela. It’s simple as that. When you’re playing with your best friend it’s great.

I interviewed Kevin DuBrow a few months ago and he was talking about how he enjoyed you recording that one track with him for Rehab. I think that CD came out great too.

Oh, it’s great. I’m really happy it came out well. I wrote about four songs with Kevin on that. He’s another one of my closest friends. He’s another guy that I love to pieces.

It’s so great to still have that band around. That band was one of the most important bands of my childhood.

Is that right?

Yeah, Quiet Riot and KISS.

I understand that. You’re a child of the ‘70s are you?

Yeah, I was born in 1967.

Right on!

I’ve been around a few years myself.

That’s great.

And loving every minute of it. Some people are always afraid when they get older. I always embrace it because I just know some new adventure is coming.

I understand. I’m the same way. I’m really happy and blessed to have been born in the ‘50s. When I came into the late ‘60s and ‘70s, I remember all the good shit, the bad shit, and I wouldn’t change a thing.<> You saw so much exciting stuff happen.

I did.

That’s what I think is so cool. To be able to say that you’ve seen such exciting shit happen.

And I did see exciting shit.

You have come out with Music For The Divine. What was the inspiration behind this one?

I wanted to make an organic record Angela. It was focused on my acoustic guitar playing, orchestrations I had with a string quartet, and harmonic melodies I’ve put in there. I call it my Beatles album. It’s my homage to John and Paul. I wanted to make a very British sounding album. Soul Mover was more American. This one is more British. I think artists go through a period where they want to make an organic record and this is more organic than the last one.

You recorded it at Chad’s house?

I did, yeah. Which was Cary Grant’s old house. There’s a ghost in the house. There are very intimate lyrics on this house. I sing about how the house is filled with love. There’s a loving ghost in that house. A very friendly ghost. I just wrote the song on the spur of the moment with Chad one afternoon.

I always like to think that people’s spirits stay where they were the happiest. Are there any particular songs on the record that are real favorites with you?

I really like the song “This Is How I Feel” because it’s a song about living in the moment. It’s a song about facing the fear and just enjoying life. That’s a song that really resonates with me.

Every time you do a record I just sit there and listen to it, there’s so much passion. So much heart and soul.

I am a passionate person. I’m one of the very few singers that really, really go through a range of emotions on the microphone. I take it very, very serious. It’s God’s gift to me. The voice that He’s given me to use to sing to people just extremely blows my mind each day. I’ve been given this gift.

Kevin told me he thought you were the greatest singer on the planet.

That is so sweet.

I have to agree. It’s like seeing the inside of you on a lot of these songs. These songs really help people get to know who you are.

I have really been given accolades from other singers and it’s really nice when my friend calls me the greatest singer. It’s great that people regard me as their favorite singer. It really means a lot to me. It means I’ve been doing something right.

You sure have. What inspired the record cover?

We were standing up on Chad’s balcony from his bedroom and that’s a picture of downtown L.A. I guess it symbolizes the house itself. It’s real loving and giving and nurturing and downtown in any city, Dallas included, is there’s drugs and there’s darkness and there’s titty bars and there’s dark shit going on. I just wanted to portray the calmness and loving nurturing that was going on in this house and looking down on the evil goings on of Los Angeles.

Yeah, there’s some beautiful shrubbery.

Yeah, it’s a beautiful record and it’s made with love. I keep using that word love but I am a child of the ’60s and I just love that era. I’m a man of love and I insist on loving people.

The number one song when I was born was “All You Need Is Love” by the Beatles.

People play these songs and they get that same feeling so as a songwriter it means a lot to me…people always talk about how good a singer Glenn is but now they’re talking about how Glenn Hughes is a great songwriter. It’s taken a bloody long time for people to say that.

And now finally you’re getting your due.

I am. My cat is freaking out.

Yeah, I heard him.

We’re all outside, me and my dogs and the cat is nuts. My wife has hummingbirds. They’re all having babies at the moment. She’s got four hummingbirds and two doves in the courtyard here and the cat knows that they’re here. They haven’t hatched their eggs yet so he’s not allowed outside.

You have a houseful of animals. I do too.

We have. My wife is in a bird sanctuary. She belongs to the Paul L. Wattis Bird Sanctuary. She’s like the mad woman of the hill because when I leave town, fucking animals are coming up and there’s birds and there’s shit. Fucking every time I come back there’s more shit going on. It’s crazy.

Yeah, I have two cats and a full grown leopard gecko.

Isn’t that sweet?

Yeah, he’s beautiful. I just got a little baby leopard gecko that I’m raising.

Oh, that’s so sweet. I admire you for that. I knew you were a cat woman.

Oh, yes. I love cats. They’re my favorite.

That’s really nice to know.

I can’t wait to get my aquarium going again.

That is so cool.

I love fish. I don’t know what it is about watching fish swim but it makes you feel so relaxed.

Ain’t it great? I love it as well.

Tell me what kind of touring plans you have.

I’m playing in L.A. in June and I’m playing in New York in June. Then I’m going to go back to Europe and do some festivals but I am booking a Texas tour sometime in October or September. I’ll let you know when we’re coming and we’ll give you some tickets so you can come down and see me.

Awesome. I would love to have an opportunity to meet you.

Absolutely.

That would be great. Are you going to be doing any videos?

I’ve got three. If you go to www.myspace.com/glennhughesonline, you can see the videos.

Have you been involved in any other projects outside of your solo CDs?

I’m working with two artists in Australia, Jimmy Barnes and Vanessa Amorosi. I’ve got songs on their albums coming out and I’m looking to produce new, exciting American artists so my plate is full.

You’re doing the production end too.

I think it’s about time I did that.

There must be something fun about being able to do that.

Well, it’s a gift. I’m a workaholic and I love to work a lot.

That’s what keeps you alive forever.

Completely.

Any other thoughts or comments?