Posted Today At 5:00am

TimothyBSchmit.comAll four Eagles members currently are busy with their own solo projects.  Both Glenn Frey and Joe Walsh have hit the road in support of new albums, Don Henley reportedly is nearing completion on a collection of country-flavored tunes and Timothy B. Schmit is set to kick off a new series of tour dates with plans for a studio effort of his own on the horizon.

Schmit tells ABC News Radio that having the chance to work individually "is a good thing for the mothership," and healthy for the longevity of the band.

"We're all certain that the reason it broke up in the first place [in 1980] is we didn't take enough breaks from each other and from the pressure of having to do records and tour," the bassist explains.  "So now we know how to do that and, hopefully, we'll be around a lot longer."

Schmit launches a new solo trek Saturday with an appearance at the Cherokee Creek Music Festival in Cherokee, Texas.  He says he plans to play songs from his latest album, 2009's Expando, along with material from the two well-known bands of which he's been a member.

"I do realize I have a pretty long history, and people are gonna wanna hear not just new stuff," he offers.  "So, I sprinkle my set with a little bit of history of both Poco and Eagles and it seems to work out really well."

Noting that Expando was released more than two years ago, Schmit explains that the new tour is not so much about promoting the album as it is about the enjoyment he gets from performing solo.

"I really love doing this and we all seem to have a great time with it," he says.  "I certainly don't do it for the money."

Meanwhile, Schmit says he's "surrounding a bunch of ideas" for his next solo effort, but that he's "right at the tip" of the project.

"I just started recording something just recently, and then I had to leave so I didn't get too far into it," he shares.  "I also have a song that I wanted to put on the last album but…it seemed like a complete unit as it was."

Schmit adds that he plans to focus his full attention on the recording after his solo tour, which wraps up with a June 9 show in Newton, New Jersey.  Visit TimothyBSchmit.com to check out his complete itinerary.

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio

Posted Today At 6:02am

Kevin Winter/Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- The movie may be named for Battleship, the game, but it has absolutely nothing to do with it. First of all, I don’t ever remember Brooklyn Decker standing on my grid. And I’m confident I would.  I would also remember having to sink water-dwelling, lizard-eyed extraterrestrials.

This Battleship stars Friday Night Lights and John Carter lead Taylor Kitsch as Alex Hopper, a highly intelligent, underachieving bad boy whose older brother, Stone (Alexander Skarsgard), forces him to join the family business. That business? The Navy.

Turns out the Navy sort of agrees with Alex.  He quickly ascends to the rank of captain, although we're given absolutely no idea how that happens: he goes from a civilian arrested for stealing a burrito to impress a girl, to a Navy captain in a matter of one scene.  No exposition necessary, I guess.

By the way, the girl he stole the burrito to impress? Samantha Shane (Decker), daughter of Admiral Shane, played by Liam Neeson. Hopper is getting ready to ask the admiral’s permission to marry Samantha but the admiral is confounded by Hopper’s lack of discipline. You could say Hopper drives the Admiral INshane.  Or not.

And then -- the aliens attack!  Why? We kind of invited them.  How?  See the movie.  Sure, Battleship is dumb, but only in a mindless-summer-blockbuster sort of way. The aliens are fantastic and the destruction is epic, magnificent and never boring.  While we as yet have little clue how Battleship is going to play here in the U.S., it’s already making a fortune overseas.  That's good news for Taylor Kitsch, a talented actor who didn't deserve the poor business and marketing decisions that plagued the box office failure John Carter.  Hats off as well to director Peter Berg for infusing some heart and guts into a banal script that could’ve gone terribly wrong.

Three out of five stars. 

Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio