Dwight Yoakam - Biography
Grammy winning, honky-tonking Dwight Yoakam is one of country music’s true mavericks, a singer and songwriter who steadfastly goes his own way, regardless of commercial trends. One of the few singers with a credible acting career — his turn as the villainous stepfather in Billy Bob Thornton’s Sling Blade won universal praise — Yoakam is constantly pushing the envelope, looking for new and more impressive way to express himself. Several of his albums have gone platinum and gold, but even his less commercially successful albums are packed with driving, tough music that’s all killer and no filler.
Yoakam was born in Pikeville, Kentucky in 1956, but grew up in Columbus, Ohio. Before he was ten years old, he taught himself to play guitar by playing along with the Hank Williams, Johnny Cash and Buck Owens records in his mother’s collection. He composed his first song when he was eight and honed his licks at many front porch gospel and bluegrass sessions with his extended family. He acted in school plays and played in rock and country bands while in high school and at Ohio State University. After two years of college he dropped out and moved to Nashville, where he met lead guitarist and soon to be roots music producer, Pete Anderson. Both were interested in hardcore honky tonk and country rock and not the crossover country that dominates the industry.
In 1978, Yoakam and Anderson moved to LA and put together a band that played at punk, rock and country clubs, helping launch the cowpunk genre in the process. With his band, he opened shows for X, Los Lobos and The Blasters, bands that played country flavored rock that complimented his rock flavored country. In 1986, he was signed by Reprise and released Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc. Etc. (1986), an expanded edition of an EP put out previously by the indie label, Oak Records. The album drew raves from critics and fans of country, rock and punk music. Two songs, a cover of Johnny Horton’s “Honky Tonk Man” and Yoakam’s own “Guitars, Cadillacs” hit the Country Top 10. The album slowly went platinum.
Yoakam’s next four albums - Hillbilly Deluxe (1986 Reprise), Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room (1988 Reprise), Just Lookin’ for a Hit (1989 Reprise) and If There Was a Way (1990 Reprise) - struck gold and sent seven singles to the top of the charts. “Streets of Bakersfield,” an old Buck Owens hit, was re-recorded as a duet with Owens on Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room and gave Yoakam his first Country #1. If There Was a Way eventually earned a Platinum Record.
This Time (1993 Reprise) was praised for adding pop and rock to the mix, while staying true country. It won a Grammy for “Best Country Vocal, Male” for “Ain’t That Lonely Yet” and went platinum. “Ain’t That Lonely Yet,” “A Thousand Miles from Nowhere,” and “Fast as You” all placed in the Top 5. He made his stage debut in Peter Fonda’s production of Southern Rapture at the MET Theatre in Los Angeles and received favorable reviews. Gone (1996 Reprise) went gold the same year and Yoakam burned up the screen in Sling Blade. Under the Covers (1996 Reprise) includes remakes of Yoakam’s favorite country and rock hits, notably including a Cajun flavored remake of The Clash’s “Train in Vain.” He closed the ‘90s with A Long Way Home (1998 Reprise) and Last Chance for a Thousand Years: Greatest Hits From the ‘90s (1999 Reprise), a compilation with one new track, a cover of Queen's “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” that broke into the pop charts. In 1998, he also took part in the star-studded Salute to Tradition (1998 Columbia), a collection of country standards that won him a “Best Country Collaboration with Vocals” Grammy for the track “Same Old Train.”
An acoustic reinvention of his back catalog, dwightyoakamacoustic.net (2000 Reprise), and the roots/Americana outing, Tomorrow's Sounds Today (2000 Reprise), closed his career at Reprise. Warner later released the soundtrack to South of Heaven, West of Hell (2001 Warner) a film that marked Yoakam’s debut as a director.
Since leaving the majors, Yoakam has remained prolific. Population Me (2003 Audium) adds a bit of bluegrass and LA country rock to the mix. Dwight’s Used Records (2004 Koch) collects duets that appeared on other albums, unreleased covers and tracks from various tribute compilations. Blame the Vain (2005 New West) is another fine collection of kick ass honky-tonk originals. Dwight Sings Buck (2007 New West) is a cover album, devoid of slavish imitation, that shows Yoakam in fine voice, with a razor sharp band that’s still too country for Nashville. In 2012 he released 3 Pears.