If Dennis Quaid ever decides to chuck his acting career, this recent album shows he could make a respectable living playing the country roadhouse circuit. With a band that sounds like it was weaned on the blue highways, Quaid mixes his own thoughtful yet swinging blues rockers with some covers to create a toe tapping hour of blue jeaned grooves.
Quaid’s leathered baritone voice is perfectly teamed with Jamie James/g, Tom Mancillas/b, Ken Stange/key-harp and Tom Walsh/dr for steady riffed original like “I’m In Love” and the catchy love song “You’re So Fine.” He knows how to spin a yarn, with a hilarious trailer trash tune “Peaches No. 9” while delivering some dark shadows to Boomer hits like the Doors’ “Riders on the Storm” and Van Morrison’s “Gloria” before taking you on a tour of the side streets as the band cruises in a V8 on “LA Woman.”
The deeper attraction of this album, however, is in a handful of deeply reflective tunes that only a man that understands sin, salvation and grace can appreciate. His “Good Man, Bad Boy” reveals his struggle between virtue and vice, while the deeply touching “On My Way to Heaven” and “Walk With the Angels” could only be penned by someone who’s been brought to his knees. These are songs that will stop you in your tracks and reflect on your purpose in life. Isn’t that what a true artist is supposed to do? Check out this one; you’re going to be pleasantly surprised.