From the Rookie to Parent Trap and dozens more big screen hits, Dennis Quaid has been a Hollywood A-Lister for decades.
While his film successes have earned him an Emmy and two Golden Globe nominations, did you know he’s also a singer/song-writer, who has been playing music since his grandfather bought him his first guitar?
Now, he’s on tour and playing live this month on the Central and South Coasts.
"The only thing I guarantee is a good time, for people that come and see me perform," he told KCLU.
The shows are a mix of some of his favorite rock and roll classics and country standards, as well as his own music, all interspersed with stories about the songs and his movie career.
"First song I tried to learn when I got my guitar at 12-years-old was Light My Fire, which is a very difficult song for a beginning guitar player," he explained.
"Johnny Cash was a big influence on me. He wrote story songs, which I like to do," said Quaid.
"Walk The Line has every guitar chord that you could [imagine]. It changes key so much. I learned chords on the guitar by playing Walk The Line."
He's also been spending time on the South Coast filming a big screen biopic about the 40th president of the United States - Ronald Reagan, whose final resting place is in Ventura County.
Quaid plays the titular role.
"Ronald Reagan was my favorite president. I voted for him, I think I was 30 at the time.
"I had a rented apartment back then that I shared with a guy. He said, 'who did you vote for?' I said, 'Ronald Reagan.' He said, 'You are kicked out of the hippies.'
"But I loved Reagan and I voted for him twice."
Quaid said that he originally turned down the role of Reagan in the biopic before changing his mind.
"I felt a tinge of fear up my spine and that's when I said yes. That's usually when I should do something, when it's out of my comfort zone."
He said there's more pressure playing a real life figure than a fictional character.
"Especially Ronald Reagan, he's probably one of the most recognizable people on the planet."
Quaid said he filmed parts of the movie at the Reagan Ranch in Goleta.
"It's not open to the public and it's an amazing place. Much smaller than I would have thought. I realized when I went up there that Reagan was a very humble man.
"The house itself where he had Gorbachev and the Queen of England came too, is total of probably 1500 square feet.
"They had a King-sized bed but it was two single beds zip-tied together. Their clothes were in the closet like they had just left and they were going to come back."
Dennis Quaid’s live show comes to the Forum Theater in Thousand Oaks on May 14 and SLO Brew Rock in San Luis Obispo on May 17.
Tickets for the tour are on sale now at DennisQuaidIsHere.com.
