By Jay A. Fernandez

Everyone knows The Dude loves his Creedence and hates the Eagles. But what about the man who played him, Jeff Bridges?

I was lucky enough to spend a few minutes chatting with the actor at a Fox Searchlight cocktail party last Thursday — the studio is pushing hard for awards consideration for Bridges — and I asked him for a music recommendation. Bridges is a musician himself, famously performed at Lebowski Fest one year and plays Bad Blake, a craggy old country crooner, in “Crazy Heart,” which Searchlight is releasing next Wednesday.

Anyway, here’s what the man is listening to these days: Benji Hughes. Bridges enthusiastically described the Charlotte, NC, singer-songwriter as a mix of “Paul McCartney, Beck and Brian Wilson,” the kind of references a few friends of mine would jump on in a second. (I listen to stuff like Elbow, The Raveonettes and Ulrich Schnauss, so I admit Hughes was not on my radar.)

Hughes apparently put out a double-disc record last year called “A Love Extreme,” and the music is all over the place genre-wise. Here’s his MySpace page, if you’re interested.

Bridges was at the party with his best friend John Goodwin, with whom he says he’s been “painting, making music, dancing and tumbling” since the fourth grade. Both of these guys have their work on iTunes, too.

So, enjoy.

Just don’t leave the iPod in the car. Freakin’ Nihilists.