Dan Tyminski's voice may be more famous than his face.

The 40-year-old Vermont native, now living in Nashville, provided George Clooney with a high, clear tenor in the Coen brothers' 2000 comedy O Brother, Where Art Thou? -- heard most prominently during Man of Constant Sorrow. That brief brush with Hollywood didn't distract Tyminski from his day job, providing sparkling harmonies and spirited guitar work as part of Alison Krauss' band Union Station. Krauss is now touring the world with Robert Plant in support of the pair's T Bone Burnett-produced Raising Sand album, so Tyminski's got some free time -- and he's putting it to good use. Wheels, his second solo album, hits stores Tuesday on Rounder Records and the bluegrass vocalist will tour with the Dan Tyminski Band.

The affable Tyminski checked in from his Nashville home to discuss the new record.

1 You've said your 2000 solo debut (Carry Me Across the Mountain) was a case of songs in search of an album. Was that the situation with Wheels?

Wheels was a lot more about the band. I tried to build Wheels around these five guys [in the Dan Tyminski Band], where the last record was definitely I had some songs, [but] it was more about building bands around the songs.

2 Was that a different creative process, working with the band this time?

Absolutely -- we worked everything up together, tried to throw as many ideas back and forth as we could; I'm just very fortunate to be with a group of guys with such a high level of musicianship. It's inspiring to be around; their ideas are a lot better than mine (laughs).

3 Is it fair to say you get inspiration from collaborating with others?

Yeah, I think so. I think most musicians I know tend to feed off what's going on around them. When you're playing with different musicians or people who bring their own life to something, it definitely triggers you to respond.

4 Bluegrass music often feels so niche. Do you consider it a part of country or a separate entity?

I've always felt like it's its own thing. I grew up with bluegrass blinders on -- I never compared it to, well, what today we would call country music. There was a time way back when, when I was a very young guy, when country music was a little different-sounding and there were a few more similarities, but I wouldn't think to ever put the two in the same category.

5 Union Station's obviously on hiatus (as Krauss tours with Plant), but are there plans to reconvene at some point?

We're looking forward, absolutely, to getting together and making some new music. Every time I try to put a time frame on it, I'm wrong, so I'll leave it at that (laughs).