#yoakum

Dwight Yoakam “Turn It On Turn It Up Turn Me Loose”

K: Dwight Yoakam's appearance on “Under the Dome” reminded me how much I like his music and his persona. A: What did you like first about Dwight? The music? Or the persona? K: The music drew me. The persona made me a fan.

A: Talk to me about the music. What is your most vivid Dwight memory? K: ‘Guitars Cadillacs’ was the first song of his I was aware of.

A: That’s the first Dwight album I bought too.

K: I wasn't a country music fan in any sense of the term. I don't even know where I first heard the song. But my Mom gave me a copy of the CD as a random out-of-the-norm gift.

A: I’ve never seen your mother as a country fan.

K: Well, she recognized I wouldn't buy a country CD of my own volition. And I do remember an outstanding promo for either CMT or the country program on Much Music that used the song “Fast As You” along with clips from other artists. But it was Dwight that stood out.    A: I think Dwight was a big transition artist for a lot of people in the eighties who, like me, didn't really want to give country music a chance.

K: I will shout from the rooftops to this day that I am not a country fan.

A: I’m not either. But I have an appreciation for the genre.

K: Why do you think you don’t like country?

A: Maybe it was a defiance thing. I didn't want to listen to country music because my Dad listened to country music. But Dwight sort of changed that for me – sort of like what The Dixie Chicks did for too-cool-for-school audiences in the late nineties by bringing a more traditional and genuine sound to the mainstream.

K: Dwight was different.

A: He was. Dwight wasn't a definitive country artist. He was country by way of Bakersfield and Buck Owens and the Buckaroos. Dwight was the spawn of a sort of California country... a honky tonk rockabilly sound that originated in the 50s as an anecdote to the slick ‘country and western' that was oozing out of Nashville. But Dwight wasn't a traditional cross over artist either; like Kenny Rogers. With the twang in his voice and his cowboy hat sitting on his ears, Dwight was more country than the Eddie Rabbit’s and the Johnny Lee's of the world. So what was it about his music that appealed to the non-country fan in you? K: I guess it was that rockabilly sound you mentioned. I do love me some rockabilly. Always have. A: What's the difference? K: That's hard for me to answer. The only way I can explain it is like this: in Kerry-World…

“She Thinks My Tractor's Sexy” = Bad

“Turn It On Turn It Up Turn Me Loose” = Good.

A: But are they that different?

K: There's probably less difference than I'd want to admit to. I guess I expect country music to be authentic. I think Johnny Cash was authentic. Loretta Lynn seemed authentic to me. But a lot of country seems phony and staged.

A: Now I’m beginning to understand.

K: Maybe my problem with country is that it seems less fragmented as pop/rock. A lot of the time, all country music seemed lumped under the same title; and there's a lot of it I don't like, so by association, I think that I don't like country.

A: But Dwight is definitely different. And I think that’s where his ‘persona’ comes into play too.

K: When I listen to songs like “Turn It On Turn It Up Turn Me Loose” I feel like I'm listening to honesty. Dwight strikes me as an artist who performs as opposed to a performer.

A: Who is a ‘performer?’

K: Dare I type it but Garth Brooks is a performer. Shania Twain is a performer. Really good performers – but for them is seems like ‘performance’ is all that matters. In my mind, Dwight is a real singer and a great songwriter who just happens to be considered ‘country.’

A: Have you ever seen Dwight Yoakam in concert?

K: I saw Dwight in Toronto on the waterfront near the CNE grounds. He had a bad throat and the show was almost cancelled. But he went on anyway and sounded great; however you could feel he was a little put off by not being able to bring it like he normally would.

A: I find it a little hard to believe that you bought tickets to see a ‘country’ show.

K: I got free tickets through work – one of the perks of writing commercials for a country radio station. But I would have gladly paid to see him.

A: What do you want to do right now?