Watch Jeff Bridges, Slash and Conan O’Brien Trade Licks With ‘Somebody Else’

Meditation doesn’t exactly make for riveting television, so while Jeff Bridges is promoting his new Sleeping Tapes album, he’s falling back on that shiny Oscar trophy for late-night entertainment inspiration.

On Thursday night’s Conan, the affable actor explained that his new spoken-word LP, which is accompanied by ambient soundscapes crafted to lull listeners to sleep, stemmed from his dedication to the stress-relief practice. He attempted to demonstrate its relaxation results with an “epic omming session” — joined by show host Conan O’Brien, sidekick Andy Richter and the entire studio audience — which ended in more snickering than snoring, of course.

A second, more caffeinated performance resulted in some deafening screams from the audience. After Bridges and O’Brien both whipped out acoustic guitars to trade licks and lines on the rockabilly “Somebody Else,” a song on the Crazy Heart movie soundtrack, rock guitar hero Slash came out from behind a curtain to electrify the song, with a jam session ensuing.

“Somebody Else” was written by Bridges’ co-producers on the Crazy Heart soundtrack, T Bone Burnett and the late Stephen Bruton. It’s the first song the actor’s character, Bad Blake, sings in the film. Burnett tells New York Magazine they penned the lyrics as if the reckless Blake were “the fifth outlaw in the country group of Kris [Kristofferson], Waylon [Jennings], Willie [Nelson], and Johnny Cash.” Bridges won the 2010 Best Actor Academy Award for his Crazy Heart performance.