Dustin Kensrue enjoys the challenge of covering a song by another artist, dissecting it and coming up with a unique approach to making it his own and presenting it live. He’s included numerous covers over the years on his solo sets, yet admits to being partial to tracks by Bruce Springsteen as he’s tackled much of the Boss’ “Nebraska” record.

Tom Waits’ “Down by the Train” is another one of his favorites to play around with vocally and on an acoustic guitar, but that’s definitely much more in his wheelhouse than the pop cuts he’s toyed with, like Lorde’s song “Buzzcut Season” and venturing even further outside of the box with Miley Cyrus’ synthpop ballad “Wrecking Ball.”

“It’s an off-color choice, at least with what people expect from me, but I like taking songs that may seem like they’re not all that deep and trying to explore what happens with them if you put them in a different environment,” Kensrue said during a chat over highly caffeinated drinks last month at Portola Coffee Lab at the District in Tustin.

The 35-year-old longtime Irvine resident and vocalist-guitarist for popular Orange County rock band Thrice, is preparing for two intimate solo shows at the Constellation Room, a smaller room located inside of the Observatory in Santa Ana on Tuesday and Wednesday. During those performances, he’ll be recording tracks for a forthcoming live album of cover songs. Since it’s now something fans have discovered via YouTube videos and they’re now requesting it at his shows, his take on “Wrecking Ball” could very well wind up on this new record.

“When you break that song down and strip away all of the big pop trappings it’s a really cool tune,” he continued. “People end up laughing as I start playing it in the set. They recognize it right away and they laugh like ‘Where’s he going with this?’ Multiple people have have come up to me after shows and been like, ‘Man, I thought I hated that song, but it’s actually pretty amazing.’ It is. I think mostly people dismiss it because (Miley) is a controversial figure and it’s easy to react negatively towards something like that, but it’s still a good song.”

Kensrue has released several solo albums and EPs, even while still being very active in Thrice, beginning with his 2007 debut, “Please Come Home.” Some of his other efforts, such as 2012’s “Grace Alone” and 2014’s “Lowborn King,” were released under the moniker The Modern Post and were comprised of worship music and released via Mars Hill Music by worship leaders, including Kensrue, at the Christian megachurch Mars Hill in Orange County.

Kensrue also put out a worship record under his own name, “The Water & the Blood” in 2013, but said that caused confusion among fans so from here on out, all of his church music will be released under The Modern Post. Earlier this year, he dropped a new rock solo record titled “Carry the Fire.” He said he likes having one foot in both worlds, being able to express and share his faith through worship songs and being able to rock out on other releases and with Thrice.

In 2012, Kensrue was the main factor in Thrice’s announcement to go on “indefinite hiatus” after playing with guitarist Teppei Teranishi, drummer Riley Breckenridge and bassist Eddie Breckenridge for nearly 14 years, touring the world and releasing eight studio albums.

Back then, Kensrue wanted to spend more time at home with his wife now of 13 years, Shadlie, and their three daughters. He was also fully immersed as a worship pastor at Mars Hill and uprooted his family to relocate to Washington to further his church duties.

However, amid controversy surrounding lead pastor Mark Driscoll, who stepped down in 2014, Kensrue resigned from his position and explained in his exit letter that it was because there was “an unhealthy, fear-driven, self-protective leadership culture” at Mars Hill. He’s not dwelling on any of that drama now and said he still attends and volunteers at a church near his home, but that family and music are back to being his primary areas of focus.

“I didn’t like all of my time being in the church,” he said. “Not that there’s necessarily something inherently bad about that, but for me at least, I wanted to be spreading my time in between other things and having connections with other people. It just felt so isolating and now I’m actually excited to be more in control of how and where I split and invest my time.”

Upon moving back to Orange County in 2014, Kensrue said he had a new appreciation for his hometown, being able to raise his girls in a more culturally diverse neighborhood in Irvine and for the sun, which he didn’t see much of living up in gloomy Washington. He also touched base with his old bandmates in Thrice and the guys began plotting their return. Earlier this year, the band was in the studio working on new music and scheduled a fistful of festival dates, including a set at the Taste of Chaos fest in San Bernardino on Oct. 3. In late November, Thrice announced there would be a new album in 2016 and added a lone show date, June 3, at the Shrine Expo Hall in Los Angeles.

“The break was a good thing, a really good thing,” Kensrue said. “We had just been trucking for so long at that point, I mean 14 years or something, and if you do anything that long without taking a significant break, I think it becomes something that’s not very life-giving, even if it’s a great thing, you just need space from it. For all of us to come back together, I think we have a new appreciation for every facet of being in a band and playing with these specific people in this band. I think it was healthy, as much as I think it was hard for everyone in the band in different ways at the time we took the break, but coming back, I also think we’re all grateful for it.”

Contact the writer: 714-796-3570 or kfadroski@ocregister.com