Few artists can hold an audience in the palm of their hand with just a piano, guitar, distinctive voice and a sense of humor, but Dennis Quaid did just that last night when he wrapped his fall tour with a riveting show at Nashville’s City Winery. The veteran actor/singer/songwriter mixed well-crafted original tunes with revered classics and welcomed special guests John Carter Cash and Jamey Johnson to join in the fun.
Though he was occasionally accompanied by other musicians, including Grammy winning artist/engineer David Ferguson, the majority of the evening was simply Quaid and his guitar as he shared the stories behind his songs and anecdotes from his accomplished film career. The native Texan, who will star next year as President Ronald Reagan in the biopic Reagan, also previewed songs from his upcoming inspirational album due in 2022 via Gaither/Primary Wave.
The evening began with an engaging opening set by hit songwriter Aimee Mayo and her husband Chris Lindsey. Mayo started with “My Best Friend,” a No. 1 she penned, which was recorded by Tim McGraw. She then segued into “Liar,” a hilariously biting break up song recorded by Deana Carter. Mayo then delivered an emotional rendition of “Who You’d Be Today,” a song she penned with Bill Luther that became a hit for Kenny Chesney. Mayo recruited an audience member to join her on stage to sing Martina McBride’s hit “This One’s for the Girls” and recounted how the first thing she asked McBride when she met her was if her grandmother could be in the video. McBride complied, and her family has a precious visual heirloom.
The set also included a poignant song Mayo wrote about her dog dying and their rendition of Lonestar’s award-winning hit “Amazed,” which Lindsey wrote with Marv Green. In addition to delivering their arsenal of impressive hits, the duo’s set was punctuated by Mayo’s endearingly funny stage banter. She was vulnerable, honest and by the end of the set, the audience was in love with her. She shared how she’d spent 15 years writing her life story in Talking to the Sky, and Quaid is turning her book into a film. The audience was ready to buy a ticket to see it by the time her set wrapped.
But of course, the main attraction of the night was Quaid. Well known for such films as The Parent Trap, I Can Only Imagine, Great Balls of Fire, Frequency, The Rookie, Wyatt Earp, The Big Easy, Blue Miracle and The Right Stuff, he is a thoroughly engaging live performer who instantly develops a warm rapport with the audience through his self-deprecating stage banter and obvious passion for making music.
He opened with “Next to You” and finished the song by vocalizing with a little Elvis Presley panache. “Elvis was probably the first guy I heard on the radio that I wanted to be,” he told the crowd. “I write songs thinking about other people. That first song was the Elvis song. He didn’t write it, but I did, thinking of him doing it if he were around today.”
Quaid then proceeded to share that his grandfather bought him a guitar when he was 12. “He bought me my first guitar in Palestine, Texas and where else would we have got that $15 guitar, but Western Auto where everyone got their first guitar,” he said as the audience erupted in laughter. “I found myself turning toward Mr. Johnny Cash. He still remains my biggest musical influence. He wrote story songs for one thing, and they still live. They’ll be singing Johnny Cash 500 years from now I’m absolutely sure.”
Quaid then welcomed Cash and June Carter Cash’s son John Carter Cash to the stage to perform “I Walk The Line” and the collaboration was magic, one of the evening’s highlights.
Next Quaid shared his recollection of seeing the Beatles get off the plane when they came to America to do The Ed Sullivan Show and the impact they had on the country and him. “I love John and Paul, but I really love George Harrison as far as the songwriting goes. He was special,” he said before delivering a thoughtful rendition of the Beatles’ “I Need You,” which was penned by Harrison.
Before launching into the next song, a self-penned ballad title “Fallen,” Quaid reminisced about his church roots. “I grew up in a Southern Baptist church down there in Houston. My grandfather was actually a Baptist preacher, among other things. And the great thing about the Baptist church is you could go out and raise hell all week long and then come in on Sunday and you were cool. At least that’s the way I interpreted it cause I’ve got this good man/bad boy type thing going on with me, and I have all my life. I kinda realized that when I got out of cocaine school back in 1990,” he said referring to his well-publicized bout with addiction and rehab. “I like to be bad. I do. Who doesn’t like to be bad?
“This song is my prodigal son song,” he said and shared the Biblical story of the prodigal son who goes off and squanders his inheritance on wild living yet is still welcomed back with open arms by his father when he has lost everything and wants to return home. Quaid then told the crowd that Billy Ray Cyrus will be joining him on “Fallen,” which will be featured on his upcoming inspirational album.
Next Quaid welcomed a trio of musicians to the stage, including Ferguson, a legend in his own right who has worked with Cowboy Jack Clement, Tom T. Hall and Waylon Jennings, among others. Quaid took a seat at the piano and began pounding out “Good Man Bad Boy.” At the conclusion, he pounded his feet on the keys then slid his butt across them as well, jokingly asking the musicians if they had sharpened them.
Quaid then launched into the Jerry Lee Lewis classic “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On,” recreating the energy he brought to his portrayal of Lewis in the 1989 biopic Great Balls of Fire!
Quaid hugged the trio of musicians as they exited the stage and then shared with the audience why he went into acting when music was his first love. “In 1972 or 73, I went to audition at what they called a coffee house there in Houston. Coffee houses, for those younger folks, weren’t Starbucks. They were an extension of the folk movement,” he explained. “I auditioned for this lady, and she sat there smoking a cigarette while I was up there pouring my heart out…She said, ‘You’ll never make it.’ So I packed up my guitar in my 1971 Plymouth Duster, olive green, and said ‘I guess it’s acting,’ cause I believed her. But then music came into my life anyway through the movies.”
Before performing the next number, Quaid asked the audience, “Does anybody recognize the world you grew up in?” to which the audience grumbled, and he said, “I don’t either. . . I got frustrated about it a couple years ago and wrote this song. It’s called ‘After the Fall.’”
He followed with four more original songs including “Everything,” which he said encapsulates his philosophy, “Heartbeat,” a beautiful ballad he wrote for his wife Laura and “Please Don’t Call Me Legend,” which was inspired by a dinner he had with Kris Kristofferson and his longtime spouse Lisa. “His wife said, ‘Nobody ever calls Kris because they think he is such a legend that he’s not going to take their call,’ so I’ve got Kris’ personal cell number and I’m gonna give it out and I want everybody to call Kris and tell him what a great guy he is,” Quaid joked with the audience. “I wrote this song that very night after dinner with Kris.”
Quaid started winding down the evening by performing “On My Way to Heaven,” a song he wrote that was included in the soundtrack for the hit film “I Can Only Imagine.” Quaid called his pal Jamey Johnson to the stage and the two traded verses on the moving ballad. In addition to their love for music, both artists are aviation buffs. “Jamey and I are both pilots too. That’s one of the things giving up cocaine really helps out with. You can do other stuff besides just stare at the wall and wonder if somebody is really outside or not,” he quipped, as the audience laughed.
When they finished the song, Quaid thanked the crowd for coming and began shaking hands with those closest to the stage. For an encore, he told the crowd, “I’m gonna send you out rockin,” and launched into “Great Balls of Fire” as the guest musicians rejoined him on stage. It was a perfect end to a great night of music and storytelling. Quaid is a consummate entertainer. He’s a thoughtful, eloquent songwriter equally skilled with a poignant ballad or humorous ode. He’s a strong communicator gifted with the ability to truly connect with an audience. People often go see actors in concert out of curiosity, but Quaid easily won over any skeptics with a combination of strong songs, skilled musicianship and a disarming sense of humor and vulnerability that made everyone in the audience leave the show feeling like they’d made a new friend.