Invasion of the actor-singers

William Shatner, Brent Spiner, Jada Pinkett Smith, Bruce Willis, Scarlet Johnasson, Don Johnson, Terence Howard, Minnie Driver, Jeff Bridges, Eddie Murphy, Robert Mitchum, Russell Crowe, Robert Downey Jr., Lynda Carter, John Travolta…

The list just keeps growing longer. The list – that is – of actors who feel the deep inner need to express themselves musically.

Jeff Daniels knows that the last thing the world needs is another actor-singer-songwriter.

So he kicks off his CD, “Jeff Daniels: Live and Unplugged,” with a pre-emptive strike – a wonderfully witty little ditty titled “If William Shatner Can, I Can, Too”:

“Despite people across the country screamin’, `Please don’t do it,’
We’ve got another CD from Jennifer Love Hewitt,
And now that Adam Sandler’s got more money than God,
I hope he takes his guitar and … just goes away.”

Daniels, of course, isn’t about to go away. And he isn’t about to stop singing, either. In fact, he’s swinging into the Colonial Theater in Pittsfield for a concert on Monday, July 20.

And Daniels isn’t the only actor-singer headed into Nippertown this week. The very next night – Tuesday, July 21 – Kevin Costner rides into Northern Lights in Clifton Park with his band, Modern West.