Why is Gwyneth Paltrow trying to reinvent herself as a country music star?

She's an Oscar-winning actress, mother, runs a lifestyle blog and has released her own cookbook.Most would say Gwyneth Paltrow is quite the over-achiever. So why is the 38-year-old moving in on husband Coldplay rocker Chris Martin's turf? After a film about a country music singer and two appearances on Glee, Gwyneth appears to have been bitten by the music bug... and she's just revealed she's in talks to sign a record deal.

Singing sensation? Gwyneth Paltrow reminds us that she's now a music star in a new rock-inspired photoshoot

And in case anyone was still unsure that she is now a rock star, Gwyneth has posed amongst guitars, a keyboard and old records in a new photoshoot. The actress is interviewed by her good friend Faith Hill for the new issue of InStyle magazine, and talks about performing onstage with her pal Jay-Z, dance parties at her and Martin's London home, and ditching London for Nashville.

Gwyneth got to know Faith, 43, while working on Country Strong with Tim McGraw, the singer's husband. 'We've been friends for a year,' Gwyneth says of the country music star. 'But now we're soul mates.'

After starring in her new film as a country music singer, Gwyneth is in talks to sign a recording contract

While Miss Paltrow and her children Apple, six, and Moses, four, spent many nights at the Hill-McGraw household during filming in Tennessee, Faith was keen to know what goes on in Gwyneth's abode across the pond.'

I like having dance parties at my house and being super-goofy with my girlfriends,' Gwyneth says. 'We just play dance music like whatever is on the radio and then old stuff - Michael Jackson, disco - and new stuff; we mix it up. It's fun.'

'What's a typical Saturday night at the Paltrow-Martin house?' Hill asks.'

Well, last Saturday night, I made turkey meatballs and we all had dinner together, then put the kids to bed and watched a movie on Apple TV,' is Paltrow's reply. 'We always go out one night of the weekend, because it's nice for me to get out of the house. I cook so much during the week, it's good for me to have a break and eat something that I don't make, like sashimi or Indian food.'

And while Gwyneth and Chris, 34, make their home in London during the school year, Gwyneth reveals that she longs for her native America - and that she felt right at home in Nashville. 'I loved it. There's something about it here - it is so relaxing and everybody is so kind and I just loved it,' she tells Faith in the candid interview. 'Cut to me moving into your house.'

The Iron Man star was so enamoured with the music capital that she devoted two articles on her lifestyle blog GOOP to the city. 'London is great, but I miss America,' she adds. 'Nowadays, I feel like we're citizens of everywhere.'

The actress, pictured on this week's episode of Glee, talks about 'dance parties' at her London home with Chris Martin and performing onstage with Jay-Z

Gwyneth, who took to the stage at the recent Grammys and Oscars, also reminisces about performing onstage with her good friend Jay-Z. She says: 'I got onstage with him at the Royal Albert Hall [in 2006]. I stood in the back and sang with him. That was the night of my 34th birthday and I drank a bunch of champagne before going on just to get through it. 'It was also before I had any singing lessons. I was sooo nervous, but that was just for fun. I'm glad I did it.'

The 38-year-old is the new music star of the Paltrow-Martin clan, after performances at the CMA (left), Grammy, and Academy Awards (right) ceremonies in recent months