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Country music's pinup boy Billy Currington releases his third album today, a record that is true to its title: "Little Bit of Everything."

Currington wraps his sultry Georgian baritone around songs that tap dance over several styles, from blues and R&B to soul and twangy country. In the end, the album is less about country than about American music.

"I think it's because of the influences I had growing up," Currington, 34, said in a phone interview from his home in Nashville last week. "I loved listening to the different types of music. I loved all the Willie Nelson and the (Merle) Haggard stuff, and then I loved all those soul singers and blues singers from Memphis. When I was making this album, all these different types of songs started coming out of me."

The record, Currington's first in three years, has wonderful turns down a Southern path with the vintage country pace of his self-penned "Every Reason Not to Go" and the rollicking "That's How Country Boys Roll." Then it dances through the uptempo first single "Don't," where sexy vocals are perfectly matched with a bluesy, soulful undercurrent. The song, the album's first single, has already broken into country's Top 30.

But there are just as many pop twists, with Jimmy Buffett-esque breezes blowing in the opening cut, "Swimmin' in Sunshine," and the bluesy R&B-basted "Everything." Smoky blues underline the sexy "Heal Me," and there's a south-of-the-border spice to "I Shall Return," one of five songs he co-wrote for the album.

In our conversation, Currington — who famously graced the covers of People and Playgirl magazines a few years ago without a shirt, his rippled midsection and bulging biceps competing for attention with his tidy-whities in full view under low-slung jeans — said he hopes listeners feel the positive energy he put into the project.

"It felt so good; I was rested. It seemed like such a happy time in my life," he said. "Overall to me, the album feels happy. I hope it lifts their spirits as much as it does mine."

A couple of other things Currington would like you to know:

His favorite song on the album: " 'Everything.' I just love the feel of the song. It's got a great groove. The lyrics are really simple. . . . Everything about the song stands out for me."

Put him on the big screen: "I would love to do some acting, and I really feel that's going to happen within the next five years. I feel like I will be part of a some kind of movie out there. . . . We're just searching for the right role, and when we find it, we're going to pursue it."

He's where he wants to be: "I don't want to be anywhere else. I don't really feel like I need to be ahead of the game or behind the game. I'm living in the moment, and very happy in this moment."