The last time Kiefer Sutherland played Glasgow, he said he had “the best night” of his life. That double take is forgivable. This is Kiefer Sutherland: Hollywood actor for more than 30 years; famous for his roles in era-defining films such as Stand By Me, The Lost Boys, Young Guns and Flatliners and a household fixture throughout the noughties as 24's Agent Jack Bauer.

Throughout, he's kept mum about his other creative passion, only releasing his debut album, Down In A Hole two years ago. That record was not an embarrassment, critics expressing surprise with the quality of Sutherland's storytelling and outlaw grit.

If the idea of writing tunes to win back a woman's heart; about there always being – to borrow a song title – “Never Enough Whiskey” seems a little hokey, fair enough.

As far back as 2007, Jake Kasdan's Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story nailed the trope of the tortured country singer, with John C Reilly's Dewey Cox having to “think about his whole life before he goes on stage”.

Sutherland was wise to this. Especially the stigma surrounding the actor-turned-rocker and the hubris of thinking that, because a person is good in one field, they surely must be in another.

As anyone who has had the morbid curiosity to seek out the actual music made by Dogstar (bass-player: Keanu Reeves) or Russell Crowe's 30 Odd Foot Of Grunts/The Ordinary Fear Of God (genuine band names), the schadenfreude is a little painful. These were not good bands.

Relievedly, Sutherland is actually pretty good. Down In A Hole made a respectable dent in the US Americana/folk chart on its release in 2016, and its contents proved this wasn't a PR exercise for the actor.

Instead, his songs had an honesty which didn't always show their creator in the best light.

Current single This Is How It's Done, from his forthcoming second LP Reckless & Me, shows Sutherland's less confessional side. An up-beat rockabilly number with a killer line: “You're messing with a veteran/Of kicking ass for fun”, it's as raucous as a chair-hurling bar-room brawl.

Out later this month on his own Ironworks label, the record was produced, like Down In A Hole, by Jude Cole. Speaking to Digital Spy last year, Sutherland said it was Cole who convinced him to perform his material instead of his original intention of only writing for others.

Working with Cole helped him overcome his misgivings, he told the website. “I had to have that moment where I went: 'No, I actually really like these songs, and I like the way they sound',” he said. “If someone was going to take the p*** out of me for that – OK, I get it. But I also got to a point where I really did like the songs, and at some point you've got to stand up for that."

Scotland is special to Sutherland, who has dual UK/Canadian citizenship. Born in 1966 to actors Donald Sutherland and Shirley Douglas, his maternal grandfather was Tommy Douglas, a Falkirk-born Baptist minister went to become the premier of Saskatchewan from 1944 to 1961, and is widely credited for bringing universal health care to Canada.

The first live show he played, in Ann Arbor, was seated. It threw Sutherland, who covered his nerves with chat. It worked. Connecting with audiences is his primary motivation for taking to the road instead of taking a break after shooting months of Designated Survivor, the third season of which will be aired on Netflix later this year.

“It was kind of a great moment,” he recalled. “And that's when the touring became an experience for me that's unlike anything I've done before. And it mattered really deeply to me.”

Kiefer Sutherland, Cottiers, Glasgow, tonight