"Blue's Clues" exploded on Nickelodeon in 1996. The wonderful program quickly gained wild popularity to the delight of young children and parents across America. On the program, main character Steve (played by actor Steve Burns) solved riddles conjured by his friend Blue the dog--with assistance from a talking pail, a bucket, a bar of soap and other personified household objects.

After five successful years and 100 episodes, actor Steve Burns left "Blue's Clues." He now makes psychedelic songs about science and love. He is currently constructing his first record, "Songs For Dustmites."

According to Burns' Web page (steveswebpage.com), "there's the Steve working on Songs For Dustmites for grown-ups and the Steve seen on television talking to a saltshaker made of felt. They are both the same person."

This will be hard for most people to believe. Burns' role on "Blue's Clues" could lead a biased audience with a limited vision to dismiss his efforts as a musician.

Now that Burns is a self-proclaimed "Rock Godlet," listeners may find it awkward hearing a song from "Songs For Dustmites" like "Mighty Little Man" from an actor famous for the "We Just Got A Letter" song. Although extremely exceptional as both an actor and as a musician, Burns' spot on Nickelodeon provided a seemingly limited future. While he tries to break from those limits, and asserts his talents with "Songs For Dustmites," being taken seriously will be his biggest problem.

But in listening to songs from the record, it's clear that Burns is serious. Dead serious. With the shift from stage to studio, Burns has come up with an album of music by him and friends from the well-regarded rock band the Flaming Lips. Assisting in the studio are Flaming Lips drummer Steve Drozd and producer David Fridmann.

Drozd and Fridmann have definitely left their mark on the album. Burns' "Songs For Dustmites" are similar in nature to the songs found on "The Soft Bulletin," the Lips' latest record. They are gigantic tunes, rich and heavy with melody, stringed orchestration, distorted moog and thunderous drumming. Four songs can be downloaded from Burns' peculiar Web page--a place where Burns refers to himself as "we."

In more ways than one, Burns is not dead. In 1999 and again in 2002 rumors circulated around the Internet that Steve Burns had died. Stories from '99 claimed he had overdosed on drugs, and those more recent supported the idea that he had committed suicide after leaving "Blue's Clues." Burns followed the rumors of '99 with live television appearances and letters and e-mails detesting the falsifications. In an interview with "Family PC" Burns said, "There's a lot of cynicism in this country. If something is too pleasant, people want to corrupt it. Four-year-olds don't need to hear that kind of stuff." His statement is sadly all too true.

Despite the somber reality, Burns has used his talent to create powerful and dreamy music, rich in hope and melody.