HOLLYWOOD star Kiefer Sutherland is set to show off his musical side at an Oxford gig.

The London-born actor, best known as Jack Bauer in the drama series 24, is also an accomplished musician, with a love of country. On Monday he plays the O2 Academy Oxford to perform tunes from his latest album, Reckless & Me, and gems from his soulful and critically acclaimed 2016 debut, Down In A Hole.

Kiefer, son of acting legend Donald Sutherland (The Dirty Dozen, M*A*S*H, Kelly’s Heroes and The Hunger Games), found fame in movies Lost Boys, Young Guns and Flatliners before taking on the mantle of the perpetually harassed counter terrorism operative in TV show 24.

He last visited Oxford in 2018, performing at the O2 Academy as part of his Reckless tour.

To celebrate the event, he was presented with a gift of ‘welcome to Oxford’ cakes by the city’s own cupcake maker extraordinaire – Julia Atkinson of Summertown-based Happy Cakes.

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Highlights will include new single Something You Love – a propulsive Petty-meets-Springsteen rocker which bursts with energy. Co-written with producer and long-term friend Jude Cole Cole, it pays tribute to the “average person who works very hard just to stay in the middle” who finds themselves betrayed by big business.

“Has it happened to a lot of people I care about?” questions Kiefer. “Yes, of course it has.”

Reckless & Me emerged organically from Kiefer’s touring in support of his debut. The 10 songs were written primarily by the star with select contributions from 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.

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He was inspired by the location’s rich history, and especially by posing next to a photo of Paul McCartney looking back at a photo of Frank Sinatra. Their supporting musicians shared a strong pedigree, notably guitarist Waddy Wachtel (Stevie Nicks), drummer Brian MacLeod (Sheryl Crow) and pianist Jim Cox.

Oxford Mail:

While country music is the beating heart of Reckless & Me, its songs span wider Americana, encompassing folk, rock, blues and a whole lot more. They’re all connected by Kiefer’s love of sharing stories.

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“As an actor I know that making a connection with an audience always comes by virtue of the story or the character,” he explains. “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.”

  • Tickets from ticketmaster.co.uk