EASTON, Pa. - From "Sex and the City" to "Emeril Live." It's easy recognition for someone who's a fan of the tall, handsome, actor-turned-country-rock musician John Corbett.

"We're having so much fun. We're never taking a break," says Corbett from his home in California, as he describes having the time of his life on his current road tour.

That's how the Wheeling, W.V., native wound up on "Emeril."

"We were in New York, and somebody found out. We got to be the house band and got to eat," he says.

The "we" Corbett mentions is his self-titled band. And his self-titled debut album on his own independent label, Fun Bone Records, was recorded in Nashville with producer D. Scott Miller and Corbett's longtime music partner, Tara Novick. His first hit single to hit the Billboard charts was "Good to Go."

He's been playing intimate venues around the country and opening for such acts as ZZ Top and Charlie Daniels. What makes his band such a crowd-pleaser, he says, is what they see is what they get - "a rockin' four-piece rockin' band."

"We're a great bar band ... used to having people up against the stage, so close that you almost need chicken wire," he describes. "But when we play seating, it's different, not as rowdy. ... We're four guys playing music. We don't breathe fire."

Corbett, in his mid-40s, says he's been playing music since he was in garage bands back in Wheeling. His uncle owned the Club Madrid where Corbett met top artists who would stop in while visiting the nearby Capitol Music Hall.

The former steel-factory worker says he turned to acting when he moved to California in 1986. But he made sure he packed his guitar.

He appeared on the TV series "Northern Exposure" as the radio DJ and on "Sex and the City" as Carrie's boyfriend. He also starred in the comedy-romance film, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," as the non-Greek boyfriend Ian Miller, and in "Raising Helen."

Corbett has appeared on the Country Music Television Awards in Nashville with Carrie Underwood and Keith Urban.

Meanwhile, Corbett's been working on a film in Los Angeles starring Forest Whitaker and Keanu Reeves called "The Night Watch," set for a November release. It's directed by David Ayer, who did "Training Day," starring Denzel Washington.

Corbett, who plays a station cop, describes the film as "a down-and-dirty cop story that's really complicated."

Is he a good cop or a bad cop? He laughs and answers, "You just have to come see it to find out."

He says "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" remains as one of his favorite movies, and he continues to stay in touch with writer/co-star Nia Vardalos.

"You make these little families," he says of the friendship.

When asked who would play himself if a movie was made about his life, he thinks before answering: "Someone very young and handsome, and talented!"

Is there any one person he would like to meet?

"They're all political guys who I admire," he says. "Not so much musicians, although I admire Willie Nelson and the late Buck Owens. Artists should never reveal their political status.

"I'm just really happy to be playing for people now," he says. "We hope they're entertained in hearing us, and that they'll hang on us for the evening."