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| Birth Name(s) : Dwight Yoakam |
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Full Dwight Yoakam Biography
Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and actor.
When he began his career, Nashville was oriented toward pop "Urban Cowboy" music, and Yoakam's brand of Bakersfield Honky Tonk music was not considered marketable.
Continuing, as he was forced to, outside the mainstream Country music channels, Yoakam did many shows in Rock and Punk clubs around Los Angeles, playing with Roots/Punk/Rock & Roll acts like The Blasters, Los Lobos, and X. This helped him diversify his audience well beyond the typical Country music fans; at many of his shows you would see mohawked and leather-clad Punks alongside Rock & Rollers, as well as the typical cowboy-shirt wearing Country crowd.
Yoakam's recording debut was on the independent album A Town South of Bakersfield, which was a collection of "New Country" artists who were based in Los Angeles, California, and was planned and produced by Pete Anderson in 1984. He released an E.P. on independent label Oak Records; this was later re-released, with several additional tracks, as his major-label debut LP, 1986's Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.. It instantly launched his career. "Honky Tonk Man," a remake of the Johnny Horton song, and "Guitars, Cadillacs" were hit singles. The follow-up LP, Hillbilly Deluxe, was just as successful. His third LP, Buenas Noches From a Lonely Room, included his first #1, a duet with his musical idol, Buck Owens, on "Streets of Bakersfield". 1990's If There Was a Way was another best-seller.
Yoakam's song "Readin', Rightin', Route 23" pays tribute to his childhood move from Kentucky, and is titled after a local expression describing the route that rural Kentuckians took to take to find a job outside of the coal mines. (U.S. Highway 23 runs north from Kentucky through Columbus, Ohio and Toledo, Ohio and through the automotive centers of Michigan.) Rather than the standard line that their Elementary schools taught the "Three Rs" of "Readin', 'Ritin', and 'Rithmetic", Kentuckians used to say that the 3 Rs they learned were "Readin', 'Ritin, and Route 23 North"!
Yoakam has also taken some acting roles, most notably as the abusive alcoholic Doyle in Sling Blade, (1996) and as a sociopathic killer in 2002's Panic Room. He has also appeared in Southern California live theater, combining his acting talents with the talents of director Peter Fonda. More recently, he appeared in a cameo role as the doctor for Chev Chelios in Crank.
Having diverged from pop-icon status in country-western fare, Yoakam is today more likely to be identified as having an older, more traditional style. At one point, Johnny Cash cited Yoakam as his favorite country singer. But along with his bluegrass and honky-tonk roots, Yoakam has written or covered many Elvis Presley-style rockabilly songs, including his popular covers of Queen's "Crazy Little Thing Called Love" in 1999 and Presley's "Suspicious Minds" in 1992. He recorded a cover of the Clash's "Train in Vain" in 1997, as well as Cheap Trick's "I Want You to Want Me". Yoakam has never been associated only with Country music; on many early tours, he played with Hardcore Punk bands like Hüsker Dü, and, as noted above, played many shows around L.A. with Roots/Punk/Rock & Roll acts. His middle-period-to-later records saw him branching out to different styles, covering Rock & Roll, Punk, 60's, Blues-based "Boogie" like Z.Z. Top, and writing more adventurous songs like the almost cinematic "A Thousand Miles From Nowhere".
In the last few years, along with acting, Yoakam has continued as a musician; released dwightyoakamacoustic.net, a record featuring solo acoustic versions of many of his hits; left his major label; and started his own label. His latest album of all-new tracks is 2005's Blame the Vain, on New West Records. Yoakam will be inducted into the Kentucky Music Hall of Fame in 2008. Yoakam also released new album dedicated to Buck Owens, Dwight Sings Buck, on October 23, 2007. On November 7, 2007, the CMA presented Yoakam the International Artist Achievement Award.
Yoakam currently resides in Southern California, but still maintains close ties with his family in the Columbus area. |
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