Dennis Quaid has a big reason for kicking off his Western Tour in Park City May 5-7 at the Egyptian Theatre.

“I can’t wait to be there,” he said. “I’ve had some great times in Park City.”

While many people know the Emmy Award- and two-time Golden Globe-nominee for his acting in films such as “The Rookie,” “Great Balls of Fire” and “The Right Stuff,” others know he is also a singer-songwriter. He performs with his band The Sharks and has written songs since he was a pre-teen.

So the three-night residency in Park City will showcase his musicianship and songwriting prowess.

“It’s just me, piano and guitar,” he said. “I basically go through my life, and the different lives I lived, through music. It will be a mix of songs I wrote and songs I grew up with and spent time with in my life.”

Some of those covers will include works by Johnny Cash, The Beatles — George Harrison, in particular— Waylon Jennings, The Doors and, of course, Jerry Lee Lewis, whom he portrayed in John McBride’s 1989 biopic, “Great Balls of Fire,” Quaid said.

“Half the songs I’ll play are ones I wrote at different times in my life,” he said.

The Western Tour is the second solo tour Quaid has embarked on since the world slowly emerged from the coronavirus damper, he said.

“I did a little bit of an East Coast and Midwest tour last year for 14 days, and it turned out to be a whole lot of fun to have that rapport with the audience,” he said. “The shows in Park City will be a blast—a guaranteed good time—or your money back.”

Quaid enjoys songwriting like he enjoys acting and producing.

“I don’t consider myself a human being,” he said. “I’m a human doing. I still have fire in my belly to do this, and in a lot of ways this is a lot more fun than when I was in ny 20s and 30s. I’m still here,and I have a lot to draw from.”

Although he has been writing songs since he was 12, Quaid says he still considers the craft a “mystery.”

“It sometimes starts with an idea or something that just won’t let go of me,” he said. “I try to be conscious of things. Like, I’ll see somebody on the street and make up a story.”

Quiad knows much of his songwriting is just him making up those stories.

“I think the storytelling aspect comes from Johnny Cash, who wrote story songs,” he said. “And I do like to write story songs.” (Click here to see the video of his song “On My Way to Heaven”)

According to Quaid, the best songs come from a deep and personal level.”I didn’t think there was another way to write songs,” he laughed.. “I’m always writing from a personal point of view because I don’t write by committee. The songs are usually about some kind of human experience that I think everybody goes through in life.”

Quaid usually doesn’t know how good the song is until he plays it for an audience.

“That’s the only way you know it works,” he said.

Even after winning a string of acting awards throughout his career, Quaid confessed he still feels butterflies when he steps onstage.

“You’re out there and it’s just you, so you’ve got to keep the ball in the air,” he said. “I kind of like that fear actually. It’s a great motivator.”

Performing live is also a different way Quaid can engage his audiences.

“Usually in public when you catch somebody’s eye, there is this etiquette where you look away, but if you’re on stage and look at somebody’s face, they look back,” he said. “I love looking at people’s faces, because as audience members, they are kind of open to what I’m doing. And it gives me a chance to brighten people’s days.”

Speaking of brightening people’s lives, Quaid is set to release a gospel album in the next few months.

“I wrote half the songs and the others are songs I grew up with in the Baptist Church,” he said. “I just finished my part after working on it for a year, and I’m really happy with it.”

Although it seems the world’s population is divided politically and racially, Quaid said his music is meant to encourage people to find the uplifting aspect of their lives.

“After COVID I think all of us learned some big lessons,” he said. “It think a lot of people woke up and decided that they wanted to redirect their lives to doing the things they love to do. I think they wanted to start living to work, rather than working to live.”