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 Tucked beneath Dwight Yoakam’s ever-present cowboy hat lurks a mind of mischief and curiosity that has made modern country music a better thing to listen to, and a better place for performers to exist. While he’s best known for accepting the torch for the Bakersfield sound and taking it into new traditionalist territory, Yoakam’s ability to find connections between everything from honky tonk to bluegrass and punk to pop and rockabilly, has made him more appealing to tattooed cowpunks than mainstream country fans. Along the lines of outsiders like Steve Earle, Gram Parsons, Lyle Lovett, and Emmylou Harris and her Hot Band, his music is compelling, intelligent and reverent to its roots … but fails to be easily defined.
Yoakam was raised in Ohio and moved to Nashville to pursue a music career in 1977, where he met guitarist/producer Pete Anderson, who remained a chief collaborator for many years. After finding Music Row less than welcoming, the pair moved to Los Angeles, where they carved a niche with punk crowds and in the free-for-all club scenes throughout the West. Yoakam opened ears with his 1986 full-length debut, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.; among the more notable releases in his catalog are the heartache-drenched Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room, the fresh and revitalized Tomorrow’s Sounds Today, the sharply written Blame the Vain, and Dwight Sings Buck, a tribute to his friend and mentor, the late Buck Owens.
In addition to his work as a musician, Yoakam has successfully crossed over into acting, with roles in a slew of films including Sling Blade, Panic Room, Bandidas and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. He made his directorial debut in 2000 with South of Heaven, West of Hell, for which he also co-wrote the screenplay and penned the soundtrack.
Provenance: Pikeville, Kentucky
Latest release: Dwight Sings Buck (2007)
© 2008 Nigel Music Media LLC. Used by permission.
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