Dwight Yoakam
A Reason To Smile
BY DAN RATHER AND TEAM STEADY
Happy 70th birthday to a favorite of mine, Dwight Yoakam. He and his unique brand of country music are this week’s reason to smile.
The singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker was born and raised in Appalachia. He told me in an interview a few years back that where he came from was a “profound” influence on who he became as an artist.
“There must be something in Kentucky, Appalachia, that area I was born into, something that had an indelible kind of impact on my life… Because it was about mountain music and bluegrass, Appalachian music, because of those car rides and AM car radio in the ‘60s, I was influenced to make this kind of hybrid.”
“This kind of hybrid” is a mix of traditional country, alt-country, and honky-tonk. But it meant that Yoakam’s success and eventual fame were a long time coming.
He was initially shunned by Nashville as a young musician, so he moved west and eventually found his musical home in California. In Los Angeles, he wrote songs that blended the hillbilly music of his upbringing with the country rock of the West Coast.
He spent nine years toiling in small clubs in Southern California, playing five sets a night. He finally got his first record deal in 1986 at age 30 and then released his debut album, “Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.” It exploded onto the country music scene and shot to No. 1, as did his next two albums.
He told me about the first time he heard one of his songs on the radio. It was on a Southern California college station.
“I remember sitting pulled over at a curb when I heard the first thing ever of mine played on the radio. [The host] talked about it, that this was different and she was curious about whoever this was. And I thought then, ‘Well, maybe there’s a chance that I’ll succeed at doing this on some level.’”
I’d say he was right.
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Stay Steady,
Dan
NYA Thanks Dan Rather and Team Steady!