Minnie Driver Wants To Restart Music Career, Looking To Randy Jackson For Help

Minnie Driver is looking to make a career change, and Randy Jackson is helping out.

The actress is reportedly trying to restart her music career and has been meeting with the former American Idol judge to make it happen.

A source recently spotted Driver having lunch with both Randy Jackson and her boyfriend, art expert Neville Wakefield.

“Minnie walked in and greeted Randy like an old friend,” a source told the New York Daily News. “They hugged and laughed, with Randy praising Minnie for her recent work and music. They had a conversation and she said she hoped to do another music project.”

Singing is more than a side project for Minnie Driver. She had her own record deal as a 19-year-old and released her own solo record in 2001, later going on tour in 2004.

She has earned some praise for her music as well, with Amazon.com giving her largely high marks for the 2007 album Seastories.

“Writing every song on the album (with just a few musical assists from producer Marc “Doc” Dauer), she positions herself somewhere between Suzanne Vega and Sheryl Crow, getting help from alt-country and roots-rock Illuminati Jonny Polansky, Neil Casal, Eric Heywood, Ryan Adams, and Rami Jaffee. The album has a wafting, acoustic-pop ambience, with a few country rockers driving home her serviceably sexy vocals.”

But the review also took issue with Driver’s songwriting abilities.

“The problem is her songs barely rise to the level of a Jewel chapbook. Driver obsesses over her own erotic-spiritual journey, and can often create a plaintive, sensual mood, but the material lacks the universal touch of an inspired singer-songwriter. Head-scratching lines like “If love is the answer you seek, you’re asking the wrong kind of questions” and “When my shadow cuts my life in two, I can see the best of me is you” suggest she yearns to make a personal statement. Crafting her stories or honing her hooks would have been more convincing.”

Minnie Driver could be looking to Randy Jackson for some help fine-tuning her songwriting. Randy has a number of songwriting credits under his belt and has won a Grammy Award as a producer.

Minnie Driver could soon have a lot more time to work with Randy Jackson. Sources say her show, About a Boy, is close to being canceled by NBC. While she has a guest spot on the CBS show Happy Life, her show’s cancellation could free up Minnie’s schedule for more time in the recording booth.

[Image via Today.com]