The "cowboy gospel album" is a sacred tradition going back to the great country western crooners like Hank Williams and Jimmy Rogers. With sacred music being such a bedrock art form in the south of our country, many performers (singers, actors, and the like) have been steeped in church music (in all its many forms) from a young age. Such is the case with veteran Hollywood actor and Texas native Dennis Quaid. After a substantial role in the film I Can Only Imagine (where he contributed a song to the film's soundtrack), Quaid mentioned that he always wanted to record a gospel album since it's the sort of music he was surrounded with as a child.

With Fallen: A Gospel Record For Sinners, Quaid fulfills that lifetime dream and delivers an honest, heartfelt spiritual country western album that shows him as a capable musician and humble follower of Jesus. With the ominous title track kicking things off (including a mournful, wailing harmonica), Quaid states his purpose in the album with a fine set of lyrics about a fallen man wanting to come back home: "I went for a joyride down the devil's highway / my eternal soul hanging by a thread / I was determined that the world would go my way / wound up beside the road / left for dead / now I'm fallen, fallen / feeling so low / all I want to do is go back home." With a sincere delivery and a fine set of backing musicians (including some great, soulful backup singers) Quaid acquits himself quite well as a gospel singer (if occasionally making his way outside his vocal range or over-singing a few lyrics here and there) and clearly knows his way around this classic American music form. The references to the Parable Of The Prodigal Son are nicely entwined with Quaid's own life story, and the song achieves a rare sort of synthesis of vanity music project and humble testimony all at the same time.

If there is a real strength to Fallen, it's in the cover songs and old hymns that were chosen for the record. Quaid confidently covers Country Music Hall of Famer Kris Kristofferson's classic "Why Me Lord," a humble, downhome lament of thanksgiving, and does a good job with such beloved hymns like "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" and "I'll Fly Away." (And it's hard to go wrong with "Amazing Grace.")

Fallen ultimately shows Quaid to have a reverence and love for the kind of music he grew up on, and he approaches each song here with a respect that many other performers could take a cue from. With classic songs and new ones fitting together well, the album is a good one for remembering your roots and celebrating The Father who longs to welcomes us all home.

- Review date: 8/18/23, written by Alex Caldwell of Jesusfreakhideout.com