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Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American musician,
songwriter, and actor.
Yoakam was born in Pikeville, Kentucky, and raised in Columbus, Ohio,
growing up with his mother and step-father, who had a white collar job in
the automotive industry. He graduated from Columbus's Northland High School
on June 9, 1974. During his high school years, he excelled in both music and
drama, regularly securing the lead role in school plays, such as Charlie in
the stage version of Flowers for Algernon.
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Outside of school, Yoakam sang and played guitar with local garage bands,
and frequently entertained his friends and classmates as an amateur comedian,
impersonating politicians and other celebrities, such as Richard Nixon, who,
at that time, was heavily embroiled in the Watergate controversy.
Yoakam briefly attended The Ohio State University, but dropped out and moved
to Nashville in the late '70s with the intent of becoming a recording artist.
When he began his career, Nashville was oriented towards pop Urban Cowboy
music, and Yoakam's brand of Bakersfield honky tonk was not considered
marketable. He began playing live in the Los Angeles area, performing with
punk bands like Dead Kennedys, Butthole Surfers and X; and roots-rock bands
The Blasters and Los Lobos.
Yoakam debuted with the college radio staple A Town South of Bakersfield in
1984 (1984 in music). His debut LP was 1986's Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
and it instantly launched his career (1986 in music). "Honky Tonk Man" (Johnny
Horton) 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 Buck Owens, "Streets of
Bakersfield". 1990's (1990 in music) If There Was a Way was another
best-seller.
Yoakam's song Readin', Writin', and Route 23 pays tribute to his childhood
move from Kentucky, and is titled after a local expression describing the
route that rural Kentuckians need to take to find a job. (U.S. Highway 23
runs north from Kentucky through Columbus and Toledo, and through the
automotive centers of Michigan.)
Yoakam has also taken some acting roles, most notably as the abusive
alcoholic Doyle in Billy Bob Thornton's Sling Blade (1996) and as a
psychotic 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.
Having diverged from pop-icon status in country-western fare, Yoakam is
today more likely to be identified as having an older, or more traditional
style, and mentioned with his contemporaries such as George Strait. 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." He even recorded a cover of the Clash's "Train In Vain" in 1997.
Yoakam is currently touring in support of his new album Blame the Vain. |
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DWIGHT YOAKAM PICTURES |
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