HOLLYWOOD superstar Kiefer Sutherland will be swapping Tinseltown for Bournemouth this summer. The A-list actor and director is bringing his band to the O2 Academy in Boscombe on Saturday, August 3 at 7pm.

For the star of the hit series 24 and a string of blockbuster movies, is now enjoying big success on the music circuit. Sutherland’s brand of country music has resulted in two hit albums and he has just released his new single Open Road, taken from current album Reckless & Me.

Open Road showcases Sutherland’s raw, whisky-soaked vocal, raspy and full of sincerity while he sings about his passion for the road. He co-wrote the song with Jude Coleback in 1987 when they were on a road trip.

Kiefer Sutherland followed his critically acclaimed 2016 debut album Down In A Hole by releasing the follow-up Reckless & Me in April via BMG. Since then Sutherland has played hundreds of shows and charted in the Official UK charts earlier this year at #9.

Reckless & Me emerged from Sutherland’s touring in support of his debut.

The ten songs were written primarily by Sutherland with select contributions from his producer and long-term friend Jude Cole.

They recorded the majority of the album in two sets of sessions, each spanning three or four days, at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles.

A record spokesman said: “While country music is at the heart of Reckless & Me, its songs span wider Americana, encompassing folk, rock, blues and a whole lot more.

“They’re all connected by Sutherland’s love of sharing stories, whether by recounting snapshot of his own life or relating the experiences of others.”

Ahead of his forthcoming UK tour, Kiefer Sutherland explains: “As an actor I know that making a connection with an audience always comes by virtue of the story or the character

“This is very different. They’re personal stories from my life. As lucky as I am, there are things you can’t avoid: friends of yours are going to die, you’re going to be let down, your heart will be broken.

“Hopefully they help both me and the audience to realise that none of us are alone in trying to get these things in life.

“And there’s something comforting about that. At least to me.”

One of the album’s immediate highlights is This Is How It’s Done which is described as “a high octane honky tonk that demonstrates that Sutherland’stake on country is steeped in tradition.”

Sutherland says he was waiting in a bar when he had a flashback to his youth which inspired the song, hastily scribbling the lyrics onto napkins and recording the melody onto his phone.

“It’s about the first night I walked into a bar,” he recalls, ”and it was the first time I’d seen two adult men beat the shit out of each other. And that happened like three minutes after I walked in the door. It scared me a bit, and I’m still trying to figure out why I kept going back!”

And Reckless & Me comes to close with Sutherland’s heartfelt ode to his daughter, Sarah.

Looking back upon photos of her as a baby, he started written what eventually became Song For A Daughter. In that emotional moment, he promised to finish it.

“Long after I’m gone, the song will still be there and she’ll know how much I love her,” he says.

“I cried when I wrote it thinking about how much she’s meant to my life, and how different it would’ve been without her.”

* Reckless & Me is released on CD, vinyl and digital formats.

Fans can purchase the album here: https://BMG.lnk.to/RecklessAndMePR

To buy tickets for his show at the O2 Academy, visit academymusicgroup.com