When Kiefer Sutherland headed out on a 70-date club tour across North America earlier this year, he was convinced no one would turn up. The 49-year-old veteran actor--with encouragement from his longtime friend and producer Jude Cole--had just recorded an album of country-inflected rock songs. The record, called Down in a Hole, was his attempt at jumping on the moving train that is the music industry, but after running a record label of his own for years, Sutherland knew the odds were stacked against him. Much to his delight, the fans proved him wrong.

"I was just so grateful that anybody showed up at all," Sutherland admits over the phone. "We managed to sell out almost all of the places we played, and we were touring ahead of an album release, so I know it's not because people really liked the music."

Yes, Sutherland's concerts may have been filled with people who wanted to see Jack Bauer croon about life and love, but that discounts the deftness with which Sutherland writes and sings. From the steel-guitar weeper "Not Enough Whiskey" to the ominously affecting "All She Wrote," Sutherland's debut LP is much more than just another actor trying his hand at music.