If you only know Hunter Parrish as the easy on the eyes actor who plays eldest son Silas Botwin on Showtime’s Weeds, then his singer-songwriter side will come as a surprise. But in the last several years, as Parrish has grown into a (hot) pot connoisseur on the series, he’s showcased his vocal talents on Broadway, first taking over the lead role in the Tony Award-winning Spring Awakening from Jonathan Groff and then starring as Jesus in the revival of Godspell on the Great White Way. In June, he released his debut EP, Guessing Games.

Parrish, who’d always had the goal of recording his own music while also pursuing his acting endeavors, co-wrote the set’s six songs with Dan Pringle and Leah Haywood of production team Dreamlab (Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez & The Scene). “It’s not like I’m doing this for money or to have a career,” he tells Billboard. “It’s for me. I want this for myself. I’ve always loved music, and I need to have a voice of my own.”

First single, “Sitting At Home,” has an earnest Jon McLaughlin vibe that I totally love. That the melody from “Bette Davis Eyes” also figures into the song (uncredited, I’m sure) is just the cherry on the top, though the music video with lots of shots of Parrish is pretty sweet too. Andrew Keyser directs.

With Weeds wrapping up an eight-season run with a series finale in September, Parrish has some one-off shows in the works to support Guessing Games, but the time might be right to give music his full and undivided attention. Though fans of the often-shirtless Silas might be disappointed that Parrish chose to be clothed on the show this year, he’s building a new body of work that merits closer inspection.

Purchase Hunter Parrish – “Sitting At Home” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.