Which new song will most surprise die-hard Crowes fans?

Warpaint is what we do: Rootsy, psychedelicovertone- based rock and roll. But maybe "Whoa Mule," the last song on the record. We were in this beautiful studio in Woodstock, New York, on top of a mountain with a beautiful courtyard. We were working on the song out there, and it sounded really good, so we attached 400 feet of cable together and recorded it outside with all the birds chirping and everything that was going on. We only had a rough framework, but it all came together in one take and everybody played it live. The main message in the song is, "We're dirty, but we're dreaming." In a day and age of shameless promotion, I like the idea that not everyone is squeaky clean, not everyone is shining up to look like everyone else. Some of us are keen to keep our uncombed hair and our dirty jeans.

Finding Homer An author and NPR contributor discovers that epic journeys can still be had.

The Book: No-Man's Lands: One Man's Odyssey Through The Odyssey by Scott Huler (Crown, $25). In stores March 11.

Classic works like Homer's The Odyssey tend to evoke a fight-or-flight response. Readers either consume the book with gusto or run away from it. In Scott Huler's case, it was read and then run.