"I've always done friends' songs," says Slaid Cleaves, of Austin, Texas, whose new album is all covers.

Karen Cleaves

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Slaid Cleaves gave his writing hand a rest while putting together music for his latest Rounder Records release, "Unsung."

Despite his reputation as a shining star in Austin's music scene, Cleaves relied solely on the songwriting of his friends and neighbors to fill space on the album, released May 23.

Austin's own Graham Weber, Ana Egge and Adam Carroll all have featured tracks.

"I've always done friends' songs," Cleaves said in a recent phone interview from his Austin home. "My very first record had a friend's song on it. I like to give a nod to my cohorts, my brothers-in-arms. Those are the records I listen to. Those are the songs that have moved me the most over the last few years."

Cleaves comes through Old Town Artisans tonight as part of a six-month tour taking him through the United States and parts of Europe.

The trek promises to be rigorous, but Cleaves said he hopes it also might provide some inspiration.

It was Cleaves' constant touring, after all, that led to the creation of "Unsung."

"My writing had been slow," he said. "The touring had gobbled up a lot of my creative energy. I started adding my friends' songs to my sets. I learned about four or five over the last two years. Then it dawned on me that if I learned six more I could do a whole record. At that point I started consciously looking for them."

Cleaves' busy search yielded more than 30 cover tracks when all was said and done, 13 of which made the album.

"I had to cut 18 of them for various reasons," he said. "Either I already had a song like that on the record or I couldn't figure out how to sing it and make it my own."

It was then off to Nashville to put his new project together. "Unsung" not only marks Cleaves' first full cover album but his first album recorded outside of Austin. Cleaves chose producers David Henry and Rod Picott over longtime collaborator Gurf Morlix to help with "Unsung."

"It was a little scary," Cleaves said. "I made four records with Gurf here in Austin and it was comfortable. We had our own stable of musicians. Gurf is a professional and a dear friend. It was kind of hard to pull away from a known good thing and try something new, but I was inspired.

"The other thing was that I was a little afraid I was getting a little too comfortable here in Austin and was kind of scared I'd make the same record over again. It seemed like a good combo of reasons to step outside of that."

Whether covering his own music or the songs of others, Cleaves can't seem to go wrong with critics.

The Boston Globe hailed his latest as "stunning," and the New York Daily News said the album conveyed "a consistent intelligence to the lyrics and flair to the melodies" with the best songs standing "in the tradition of pieces by Americana writers like Townes Van Zandt and Rodney Crowell."

Cleaves said he has received just as much support from the artists that he covered.

"From my own experience, it is a great thrill when someone else wants to learn your song and record it," Cleaves said. "I've always been flattered by it. I love the idea of giving a leg-up to my friends, many of whom I've struggled in the bowels of the Austin music scene with and good friends who play shows with me from time to time."