Is there anyone Ben Kweller hasn't rubbed shoulders with? When he was just a 15-year-old kid his punk rock outfit, Radish, dined with Brian Wilson.

Several years later as a solo artist it was the Moldy Peaches and Dave Matthews Band. And that's just a sampling.

"When I moved to New York five years ago, I didn't have a band, and Evan Dando took me under his wing," Kweller says. "And then Jeff Tweedy took me out and Juliana Hatfield. All three have fans that are a little older. And then I played with Dashboard Confessional and those are all high school kids."

Needless to say, Kweller has played for audiences of all tastes, last year performing with Ben Folds and Ben Lee in The Bens Rock Over Australia tour.

Today, the Texas native seems to have found his niche, schmoozing with the likes of The Strokes, Kings of Leon and My Morning Jacket, although his music really spans all genres.

"I have a lot of different styles: country, punk, piano ballads," Kweller says.

This diverse blend of sounds was first showcased on Sha Sha in 2002 — his first major label release after going solo. Now Kweller is set to deliever his sophomore effort On My Way on April 6. However, the 22-year-old approached this album a little differently.

Rather than bothering with pre-production, Kweller went straight from the stage into the studio with his backing band, creating "a real spontaneous feel."

"After Sha Sha, we were on the road for two years," Kweller says. "We got really tight and really intuitive with each other. I would teach the guys a new song at the sound check and they just picked it up. It sounded so good."

Recording with Ethan Johns — son of Glyn Johns, who produced the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin and The Who among others — On My Way has a raw, dirty garage sound that came from doing each song in a few takes with no headphones.

"There's a theme of doing your own thing, making sure you follow your heart, keeping your head up," Kweller said in reference to On My Way. "I feel like I can hear the subway and see the dirt on the sidewalk. It's definitely a home album for me, but it's also a traveling album. It's everything."

With a new album comes a new tour, and this time around Kweller will be coheadlining with Death Cab for Cutie. The most unusual thing about this pairing? Kweller has never even met the indie-rock band.

"Connor from Bright Eyes told me that he thought I would really like them," Kweller says. "We've never actually seen each other; we've only talked on the phone."

But any tour for Kweller is a good tour as he enjoys gearing up for life on the road.

"I ordered a bunch of road cases," Kweller said. "They are all white cases with the black crooked 'L' logo. I think it's kind of addictive. Once you get cases, you'll see a chair sitting in a room and go, 'Let's get a road case for that chair.' We look professional and s— with our white cases. It's kind of bad ass. I've also been doing album artwork on my Web site. I did the laminates, the tour book covers. We got a drumhead that says 'BK.' That's kind of cool."

And Kweller is ready to share the new songs from On My Way.

"We haven't unleashed it yet," Kweller says. "I'm excited to see what the fans think."

Ben Kweller will be co-headlining with Death Cab for Cutie at The Rave Friday night. Tickets are $15.