Harry Shearer Voices 'Songs of the Bushmen'

As the voice of Mr. Burns on 'The Simpsons,' Harry Shearer kind of owns the Republican Party. At least, in the cartoon he does. Speaking in character, Mr. Burns (err, Shearer), tells Spinner that Bush "is one of mine." Shearer also plays Ned Flanders, Smithers, Rev. Lovejoy and Scratchy, all of whom have varying political views. But Shearer isn't just a bag of cartoon voices -- he's also a Grammy nominated musician. His first band, heavy metal wash-ups Spinal Tap, were well-documented in a 1984 mockumentary (Shearer went by the stage name Derek Smalls), and his folk alter-ego Mark Shubb starred in the 2003 mockumentary 'A Mighty Wind.'

His wife, singer-songwriter Judith Owen, told him that if he was going to play "funny music," it would have to still hold its own musically. Shearer's latest release, 'Songs of the Bushmen,' is a collection of songs written from the perspective of various members of Bush's posse -- Dick Cheney, Karl Rove, Alberto Gonzalez, etc. "The poignancy comes from the fact that I'm not just standing there throwing rocks at these people," says Shearer, who advertised the album on 'The Drudge Report.' "I'm trying to write from inside their character about how I imagine they feel now. These are people who had a lot of pride, some would say hubris, and who are seeing the whole project end in shambles."

So, any chance we'll ever see Spinal Tap cover these songs? "No," says Shearer. "Too many chords."