Country music legend Dwight Yoakam has released a second song, “The Big Time”. It is taken from his upcoming release, “Second Hand Heart”.
Born in Kentucky, but raised in Ohio, Yoakam moved to Nashville in the late 1970s with the goal of becoming a recording artist. However, the Nashville scene was focused on a pop sound, which catered to self-styled urban cowboys. Yoakam had been developing a honky tonk country sound, and as he wasn’t fitting in with the Nashville dynamic, at the time, he packed his bags and moved to Los Angeles.
While in Los Angeles, Yoakam honed his craft as a songwriter and performer. And, he would self-finance his debut album, “Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.”, on the independent label Oak Records. This Pete Anderson-produced album was later re-issued on Warner Brothers Record’s subsidiary Reprise with additional tracks, marking Yoakam’s major-label debut in 1986.
Not only did “Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.” launch Yoakam’s career, but it would spawn two hit singles – “Guitars, Cadillacs” and “Honky Tonk Man” – that went on to make Yoakam a staple on country radio in the late 1980s through the mid 1990s. Many years later, in 2014, Rolling Stone ranked “Guitars, Cadillacs” #94 in their list of the 100 greatest country songs.
In the wake of so-called pop country becoming the mainstream sound at the new millennium, many neotraditional country artists left the major labels behind, and Yoakam followed suit. He departed Warner/Reprise to do things independently, after the release of his album “dwightyoakammusic.net”, which featured solo acoustic versions of his hit songs.
In 2011, Yoakam re-signed with Warner Bros. Nashville, and released a new album, called “3 Pears”, in September 2012. It featured 12 new tracks, including a collaboration with Beck. “3 Pears” reached #1 on the Americana Radio chart on October 29, 2012, according to Warner Music Nashville, and the album remained there for at least five consecutive weeks, breaking the 2012 record for most weeks at #1 on Americana Radio.
So, what can Yoakam’s fans expect going forward with the “Second Hand Heart” album, and tracks like “The Big Time”?
Well, GQ.com stated: “Second Hand Heart is being touted as a return to [Yoakam’s] core “cowpunk” sound…though Yoakam has become somewhat of an icon, blessedly little has changed in the music. ‘The Big Time’ is raw and raging, fun without being trite, anthemic without being rote.”
Check it out:
And, mark your calendars, because Dwight Yoakam will be performing in May during The Shaky Boots Festival in Kennesaw, Georgia.
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