Dwight Yoakam was born in Pikeville, Kentucky, but spent a sizable portion of his youth in Ohio. Inspired by the Beatles and the Byrds, as well as the honky-tonk music of the area, he moved to Los Angeles in 1978 after years of rejection in Nashville. He realized he might need to find an alternate highway for his music, so he brought his music to an unlikely audience — the roots rock fans of Los Angeles. Yoakam teamed with producer Pete Anderson for the 1984 EP Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.. A few years later, Nashville was again eager for unconventional artists and Reprise Records reissued the six-song EP with four additional tracks. Through the end of the 1980s, he had notched nine Top 10 hits, including the No. 1 hit “Streets of Bakersfield,” a duet with California-country pioneer Buck Owens. In 1993, Yoakam delivered a commercial smash with the album This Time. Three of its singles peaked at No. 2, and “Ain’t That Lonely Yet” won a Grammy. Following an impressive box set in 2002, he released Population: Me in 2003. In 2004 he released Dwight’s Used Records, an anthology of duets from other artists’ albums, unreleased covers and cuts he contributed to various tribute compilations. He released Blame the Vain in 2005, which he produced himself. More recently, he dropped Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars in 2016. Dwight Yoakam continues to tour the world.
