Actor/musician Creed Bratton on his new album, his time in the Grass Roots ... and a reboot of 'The Office'?

Creed Bratton doesn’t want to be pigeonholed as an actor or a musician.

“I believe you just do what you are,” Bratton said in a recent Zoom call with TribLive. “You find the thing that makes you, that fills you up with light, that thing that fills you up with light, that you go, hell yeah, this is what I got to do. And you do that.”

The 80-year-old first rose to fame in the 1960s with folk rockers The Grass Roots (with songs like “Let’s Live For Today” and “Midnight Confessions”). He started acting in the 1970s, but his most famous role came as the mysterious and enigmatic “Creed Bratton” on NBC’s “The Office.”

Bratton has released nine solo albums since the early 2000s, with his 10th — “Tao Pop” — expected to release later this year. Bratton worked on the new album with Grammy Award-winning engineer/producer Dave Way and producer Dylan O’Brien, with a variety of Los Angeles musicians complementing his guitar.

The covid-19 pandemic as well as the SAG strike led to fewer opportunities to perform live, so he’s looking forward to his brief tour, which starts Jan. 17 in Boston. He’ll be unveiling some of his new songs in a show that’s part comedy and part music on Jan. 20 at City Winery Pittsburgh.

“Comedy-wise, I have no idea what he has in store for you,” Bratton said. “I never know, when he comes out, when I let him out of the box and that character comes out and starts doing his thing on stage, I’m as surprised as everyone else.”

With a younger audience that grew up watching the weekly antics of Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute, Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly, Bratton is sure to share behind-the-scenes tales of the workplace sitcom.

“I know what side my bread is buttered on for sure,” he said, “because when I do the show, they will hear ‘Office’ stories because I wouldn’t be up there if it weren’t for ‘The Office.’”

While Bratton may be more known by a younger generation for his work in “The Office,” his time with The Grass Roots offered fodder for his character on the show and some interesting life lessons.

“I think how naive we were because we got this hit record right off the bat, ‘Let’s Live For Today,’ and it was our first record that we recorded. Warren (Entner) and I wrote a song called ‘Beatin’ Round the Bush.’ We recorded that song and then we recorded ‘Live for Today,’ and I don’t think any of us thought it was gonna be that exceptional so we went oh well this rock star stuff is easy, you know. You just cut a record.

“We had no idea that payola big time was going on and that Dunhill Records was paying people off so it went right up the charts. And we thought it was just because everybody heard the song and thought we were fantastic,” he said with a laugh. “‘We love those guys’ voices.’”

Besides the upcoming album, Bratton completed a short film that’s being shopped for the festival circuit. He’s also working on his autobiography with writer John Tyler Allen (who wrote a lengthy feature on Bratton in 2022 that’s well worth reading), as well as a novella with another friend, plus a tour of Europe is slated for the spring.

The elephant in the room is a reboot of “The Office,” which has been discussed on and off for years.

“We just got a call from NBC and Greg Daniels, the whole cast. And in one month’s time we’re all getting together,” he said, leaning in as if talking with a close confidant, before busting into laughter. “You guys buying this (crap). I do this on stage all the time and every time the audience will go ‘oh oh oh.’ And then I’ll say ‘Come on, get over it.’ And then about 20 minutes later, I’ll say, ‘I’m sorry. I was kidding. But I wasn’t joking.’ And I’ll bring them right back again. And I’ll do it to them twice because … they want it so bad.

“It’s not gonna happen. We can’t possibly be as funny as it was originally. Why would we want to do that? I know we all want to see it. I’d love to do it just to work, just to work with my friends. But you can’t, the hubris it would be for us to think that we could actually do that again. Greg Daniels knows, Greg Daniels is a smart man. He knows we can’t do that again, so we’re not gonna do it.”

Although there’s little chance of a full-on relaunch, Bratton didn’t dismiss the possibility of a one-off Christmas special.

“I don’t know how many years it’s been but truthfully — and I think you’re quite aware of this — we’re all starting to talk to each other, the legs of the show, it’s nuts.” he said. “It just keeps on going. How does any artist prepare for lightning in a bottle like that?”

Check out more of Bratton’s interview with TribLive, where he discussed the differences between touring in the 1960s and now, more on his character from “The Office,” his philosophy on dwelling on the past and more: