The music coming from a North Hollywood studio might not be familiar – yet – but you've definitely heard that voice. Recently Kate Hudson was fine-tuning her songs, for her new album, "Glorious." It's a role the singer-songwriter was born to play. 

Asked how long she's been writing songs, Hudson replied, "Really poorly, my whole life! I guess I wasn't ready for it until now."

And why is she "ready for it" now? "Because I just don't care anymore about what people think, probably. It was never right, whether it was my own stuff or feeling afraid to mess up my movie career – just never felt right. Until now. I'm just doing it."

She made her stage debut this year at a few small-ish events, but she didn't sound like a novice – maybe because she's always been on stage (or very close to it).

Her first really big film role was as "band aide" Penny Lane in Cameron Crowe's "Almost Famous," which earned her an Oscar nomination:

Smith asked, "How fitting is it that your breakout role was in this movie that's essentially a love letter to rock 'n' roll?"

"It kind of makes sense," said Hudson. "Probably a reason why Cameron hired me."

She could act, but she also had the pipes: As the daughter of Bill Hudson, of the '70s band The Hudson Brothers, you might say that music is in her blood. "Those Hudson Brothers are crazy-talented musicians and wonderful songwriters. My dad's a great songwriter."

Bill Hudson and wife Goldie Hawn split when Kate was a toddler, so she grew up with her mom's longtime partner, Kurt Russell, and has been estranged from her father for some time.

Asked what her relationship is now with her dad, Kate replied, "I don't really have one. But it's like, you know, it's warming up. There's warming up [with] this all happening. But it'll be whatever it will be, you know? I have no expectation of that with my father. It's like, I just want him to be happy."

And what makes her happy is singing – on stage, on camera, or both. "Any musical that you've seen in the last 15 years, I have auditioned for it!" she laughed.

Like? "Oh, oh God, I'll never forget one of my favorite auditions of all time was 'Moulin Rouge' with Baz Luhrmann. And we had so much fun. And at the time, it was written for – I was like 19 at the time – it was actually written for a young girl, and Nicole [Kidman] ended up doing it -- she wanted to do it! And I was like, Oh well, my chances are gone!

"I mean, all of them, a ton. That's what we do: we audition!" she laughed.

And between auditions, life happened: relationships, children, and the kinds of things that inspire songs. Maybe not surprisingly, the one song of Hudson's that truly rips her heart out, "Live Forever," is about Ryder, her son with her former husband, Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson. 

You and I will be forever
You will walk off on your own
Down the streets that you'll call home
And I'll watch in wistful wonder
As you'll meet your destiny
I'm there, why don't you be free
Take it over, take your time

Oh, I was just a little girl
Gone deep into the world
Thought I could take it on
And you showed up right by my side
My witness and my light
Now, we've grown up in stride

Hudson said, "It's the strongest love I ever had. So, when you have your first child, I was so young, and when I was writing this album, which was two years ago now, Ryder was leaving for college. … I was like, oh my God, my whole adult life, I've had this incredible partner, and now I have to like, say goodbye? So, that's really like all of the things I was thinking about in the song."

The album's out next month, and she's definitely going on tour: in her words, she can't wait to get back on the bus. "It just feels, like, normal," she said. "They say like, when you're ready to solo for the first time you should be kicking the instructor out the plane, like, Get out of here! I'm ready! And that's kind of what I feel like right now. I just feel like I'm ready to do it. I don't have the fear. I just have excitement. It's wild."

At 45, she's still very much involved with acting projects, but for Kate Hudson, following one dream doesn't mean giving up on another.

She remembers when someone said to her she couldn't do music: "There was someone who said to me – and it kind of jarred me a little – it was when I was in my early thirties, and they basically said, 'It's done, it's passed. You can't, you're too old.' And you know, for me it wasn't just about being a performer, it was about wanting to write music. So it kind of, like, kind of resonated there for a bit.

"And then I was like, 'Eh, **** you,'" she laughed. "No, no one tells me what to do!"

To hear Kate Hudson perform the single "Gonna Find Out," from her new album, "Glorious," click on the video player below: 

For more info:

• "Glorious" by Kate Hudson will be released May 17
• katehudson.com

      
Story produced by John D'Amelio. Editor: Carol Ross. 

     
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• Kate Hudson