Exclusive: Kiefer Sutherland Strives For Honesty in Upcoming Album

Kiefer Sutherland is giving fans a sneak peek of his new album. The singer and actor has just [...]

Kiefer Sutherland is giving fans a sneak peek of his new album. The singer and actor has just released "This Is How It's Done," the debut single from his upcoming sophomore record.

"It literally is the story of the very first time I walked into a bar, when I was about 16 or 17 eyears old with an older friend of mine, and what happened that night, " Kiefer tells PopCulture.com. "That's a more fun song, but there are some fun songs, and some difficult times too. For me as a writer, those are the songs that come very naturally; either something very personal to me, or a very personal observation of something else."

The 51-year-old admits he is honest in all of his songs, both on his freshman Down in a Hole, and in his next project, a truth that both frightens and inspires him.

"If I were to tell you the artists that I really fell in love with as a listener, whether it was Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson – all of those guys wrote songs that were clearly about them, that were not necessarily flattering, or not flattering at all. But it was that honesty that made me as a listener realize that what I was going through in my life, I was not alone. And my respect for them for their honesty, and their ability to do that, is certainly something that I would aspire to as a songwriter myself."

Sutherland chose to keep his next record personal, much like Down in a Hole.

"I always worry that you sound like such a narcissist when you say this, but I don't write about a lot of other people," Sutherland explains. "There was a song on the very first record, 'Shirley Jean,' which was more of a story I created. All of the other songs were from personal experience. There's a few songs on this record, 'Open Road' and 'Agave,' which are story-oriented songs. But the rest are all very personal stories that have happened to me."

While a title or release date has yet to be announced for Sutherland's next set of tunes, he is eager to get the album in the hands of his loyal fans.

"I was very pleased, actually, that we managed to come out with a second record, as quickly as we have," says Sutherland. "I'm really proud of the songs."

In between Sutherland's busy acting career, the Designated Survivor star will spend much of the next few months on the road, performing all over the country.

"I love playing," says Sutherland. "And being able to have this shared dialogue of life experiences and that you're not alone out there, going through hard times, good times, falling in love, falling out of love, they're all shared things. We all go through this. And to be able to have a night together to celebrate that has been a really special thing."

Download "This is How It's Done" on iTunes. See a list of all of Sutherland's upcoming shows by visiting his website.

Photo Credit: Beth Elliot

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