A Gospel Record For Sinners’

Dennis Quaid is well-known for his roles in films like The Rookie, The Right Stuff, Breaking Away, The Parent Trap, and so many more. He’s also a talented singer and musician who started playing the guitar and writing songs long before he began his acting career some 50 years ago.

“I’ve been playing music since I was 12 years old,” he says. “I was going to be a musician before I was going to be an actor really. So, it’s always been a part of me.”

Through the years, even while acting, he’s been in bands, toured, and recorded music. And he’s often blended both together. He played Jerry Lee Lewis in the 1989 film Great Balls of Fire, and also acted in, as well as wrote and performed the song “I Can Only Imagine,” for the 1999 film with the same name.

Recently, Quaid has been active on the Nashville music scene and just released a new album called Fallen: A Gospel Record for Sinners.

Released through the Gaither Music Group and co-produced by Ben Isaacs, David “Fergie” Ferguson, and Chris Lindsey, it features classic hymns like “Amazing Grace,” “I’ll Fly Away,” “Just As I Am,” and a collection of original songs Quaid wrote documenting his own spiritual journey.

The Texas-native grew up in the Baptist church where the seeds of faith were planted early, but says he became disillusioned and veered away as a teenager. Later, as grew older and his acting career evolved, he became addicted to cocaine, and it wasn’t until 1990 when he finally broke free from his addiction that things changed.

“I always identified as a Christian. Even when I was addicted, I was still praying. When you’re addicted to cocaine you can’t get any sleep and I would scream at God at night, making promises I couldn’t keep, and asking him to take this away. But I was trying to do things my own way. We try different things to fill that hole inside us whether through money or fame or sex or drugs or whatever. I was on that path, and it wasn’t until I got off cocaine that I actually began developing a personal relationship with Jesus.”

He read the Bible for the first time in decades.

“When I got off cocaine, I re-read the Bible. I also read the Dhammapada, I read the Bhagavad Gita, and I read the Koran. I guess I was a seeker. But it was the red words of Jesus that really struck me.

Each song on the new album follows his journey, from “Fallen” which is the title track, to others like “Please Don’t Give Up on Me,” “God Gets Lonely Too,” “On My Way to Heaven,” and “Welcome Home.”

He says “Fallen” sets the tone for the entire record.

“It’s kind of where I start on my spiritual journey. It’s the prodigal son story which is kind of what being a Baptist is all about. The stray lamb that gets caught up with the devil, his own ego, and he’s sort of left out there without hope, and fallen. But he comes back, and the father welcomes him home.”

Quaid’s acoustic version of “Fallen” courtesy of SiriusXM’s The Message.

“Please Don’t Give Up on Me” is another of the five original songs on the album.

“I’d written “Fallen” and I’d written “On My Way to Heaven” years before, but this was the first one I wrote after we decided we were going to make a gospel album and I needed to write some songs. This is about the struggle, which is about falling short. When my mother was still alive, I went to see her and as I was leaving, I did or said something, and now I’ve forgotten what it was. But she turned to somebody there and said, ‘God’s not through working on him yet.’”

He smiles at the memory. His mom passed away four years ago.

“She was the start of all this, she was my rock. And I really miss her, but I’m grateful we had such a close, wonderful relationship. There was nothing left unsaid.”

His song “Welcome Home” shares his mother’s version of Heaven.

“It’s what I remember her telling me when I was a little boy and had questions about where we go from here, what’s it going to be like?”

One track may sound familiar. “On My Way to Heaven” was a song Quaid wrote years ago for the soundtrack to the film “I Can Only Imagine.”

Quaid says even the cover songs he chose have special meaning. From his mother’s favorite hymn “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” to “Just As I Am,” the song Billy Graham played as he invited people to come forward, to “I’ll Fly Away,” believed to be the most recorded song in gospel music.

“I love that song,” Quaid says. “The album kind of moves from “Fallen” which is being by the side of the road to “On My Way to Heaven,” to “I’ll Fly Away” which is kind of a joyous song. I wanted there to be joy throughout the record. And Jackson Brumley, whose father wrote the song, is one of the background singers on it, which is pretty cool.”

Quaid hopes by sharing his own journey, through music, he can inspire and encourage others.

As he celebrates the new album, Quaid says acting remains a priority. His next big film is “Reagan,” a biopic in which he has the starring role as the former president. It’s finished, although it doesn’t have a release date yet, and due to rules governing the SAG-AFTRA strike, he’s unable to talk about the film at the moment.

Quaid, who married his wife, Laura Savoie, three years ago, and is the proud father of three kids (a grown son and two teenage twins) says life is good. At 69, he plans to continue making both music and movies, and knows he’s fortunate to make a living doing what he loves to do.”

“I’ve had a really lucky life. I’m interested in a lot of things and have a lot of gratitude to have been able to do the things I’ve been able to do.”

He laughs, shrugs his shoulders, then looks up with a big smile.

“And I still have a lot of energy to do much more.”