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Date Posted: 09:07:41 10/15/01 Mon
Author: No name
Subject: DWIGHT

DWIGHT YOAKAM
"TOMORROW'S SOUNDS TODAY"
BIOGRAPHY


Grammy-winning California-based country singer DWIGHT YOAKAM has met the turn of the century head-on with an unprecedented burst of creativity. In the past year, DWIGHT has undertaken a kaleidoscopic range of concurrent projects--recording and touring in support of a critically acclaimed solo CD set, dwightyoakamacoustic.net, re-visiting the best material from DWIGHT’s remarkable career; scripting and directing his forthcoming motion picture "South of Heaven, West of Hell"; launching his dwightyoakam.net website; and now, the release of TOMORROW'S SOUNDS TODAY, produced by longtime collaborator Pete Anderson, caps off this remarkable period with a considerable flourish.

Openers "Love Caught Up To Me" and "What Do You Know About Love" (the first single) set the tone for this mostly upbeat set, bristling with steel guitar runs and a vocal that makes clear DWIGHT is once again speaking directly from the heart and creating his own bold type of country music.
DWIGHT's musical instinct and approach have continually sharpened, attaining a consistence and clarity that is flat-out exhilarating. On "A Place To Cry,” DWIGHT’s gritty rockabilly-style vocal leads into an eruption of extended jamming, a gleeful, gutbucket-groove finale that's near dizzying--as is his use of contemporary street hustler vernacular ("straight up need to score...what I'm jones'n for"). "Dreams Of Clay," a fascinatingly subtle piece of writing urged on by some Buddy Holly's Crickets-style rhythm, demonstrates DWIGHT the writer is far from dry on the perennial subject every tunesmith endlessly confronts--the love song. His ability to present romance with entirely new perspective and understanding is extraordinary; he knows that the best country lyrics rarely depend on facile happiness and here, even with upbeat messages, he deftly applies layers of conflict--whether the song’s protagonist is wary, cynical or elated, each experience is tempered with shadows of reality and an evident joy in the use of language itself, crafting a series of affecting and impressive tales.

DWIGHT and Anderson's seemingly effortless facility in transposing and expanding country's various sub-genres, whether it's a hard shuffle, rockabilly passion, or the odd curl of a Cajun-style steel guitar figure, is downright wild--they pluck diverse elements seemingly out of the air, weaving them into gleaming new creations. The remarkable process is bolstered by contributions from some stellar guests--Buck Owens, Flaco Jimenez, country-rock originator Chris Hillman (Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers) and esteemed singer-songwriter Jim Lauderdale--not to mention DWIGHT's high voltage band, with Anderson's guitar, Scott Joss' fiddle and steel guitarist Gary Morse each contributing brilliantly to the mix. They dig into the music with verve and passion, from classic modern Southwestern Country to hardcore old school, resulting in the most luxuriously brash DWIGHT album yet. It's a terrific set on several levels: there's more warmth and joy in the vocals, the stories told by the songs themselves are brighter and the band even tighter then ever. But it's DWIGHT's pure country style and the manner in which he expands a rich musical tradition that gives the album its remarkably exuberant character, all stirred up into a sort of joyful, momentous groove that sounds as if the band just can not stop playing--simply because it feels so good.

The ability to put across "The Heartaches Are Free," a dead center Hank Sr. Drifting Cowboys-style lament, replete with tense, vintage Williams phrasing, and not sound like a waxwork-phony speaks to the intense purity of DWIGHT’s vision, just as the flashes of Elvis influence on "A World of Blue" hit the ear, not as playful homage but as perfectly natural outgrowth of American music. DWIGHT also looks far beyond country's established heritage and boundaries with the chugging reggae rhythm and dub break of "For Love’s Sake"; his straight, sweet reading of Cheap Trick's "I Want You To Want Me,” provides the opportunity to extend both his own appeal and, in the process, country music as a whole.

One of DWIGHT's finest past historical moments--wooing legendary Bakersfield hit-maker Buck Owens out of a decade of retirement to duet with him on DWIGHT’s 1988 #1 hit "Streets Of Bakersfield"--continues to pay off, with Owens contributing his magnificently stylized vocals and considerable songwriting skills: "The Sad Side of Town," a classic weeper co-written by DWIGHT and Buck and performed with the veteran star, is a bittersweet gem; Owens himself comes up with his own tradition-based twist, taking his "I Was There" ("when love crashed and burned") loosely from the old gospel "Were You There?" ("when they crucified my Lord?") and fashioning an atmospheric, deceptively simple piece of country emotioneering. The Hall of Famer also joins DWIGHT for the giddy Tex-Mex romp "Alright, I'm Wrong," with legendary norte patriarch Flaco Jimenez sweetly momentous accordion urging the tune along. This marks the first time since "Streets Of Bakersfield" that DWIGHT, Buck and Flaco have performed together.

Of writing "The Sad Side Of Town" with Buck, DWIGHT recalls: "Buck and I were together for the millennium New Year's show in Bakersfield and we were sitting there in the afternoon lamenting the fact that we had never written a song together. I said, 'Buck if you've got an idea for something, I'm wide open' and he began to play the opening of a melody. The thought was there and when he started to play it, I realized it was the song we had to write together. A couple of months later, I went back up there and we got together and resurrected it. I said, 'Remember New Year's Eve, that melody and he played the idea he'd had and I said, "I've got a title I think would work for this and we began writing the first verse and came up with the general idea for the song. And from there it just sort of wrote itself. A couple of months later, we recorded the song "The Sad Side Of Town." DWIGHT adds: "The thing I'm proudest of is that it reminded me--the melodic idea--immediately, of a Buck Owens song in the classic form from around 1966. I'm proud to have written something like that with Buck, and for him to come down to the studio and sing the harmony on it with me was an added bonus. This was a very special opportunity to make music with Buck Owens again in the 21st century."

DWIGHT's unstoppable drive rates him as one of the most encouraging forces in his chosen field, and TOMORROW'S SOUNDS TODAY is quite possibly his finest album to date. DWIGHT's gift for updating and restructuring established forms into vibrant new styles only highlights both this singular performer's natural gift and the crucial role he plays in country music--not as mere tradition bearer, but as an aggressive artist whose ongoing career is one of the very few that's not just continually evolving but, more importantly, ascending to new heights.



The Kentucky Tourism Development Cabinet and the Kentucky Governor's office dedicated a stretch of Highway U.S. 23, newly designated "Country Music Highway," in Floyd County, KY in honor of YOAKAM.

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