With his swaggering approach to traditional honky tonk and Bakersfield country, Dwight Yoakam pays homage to rule-breaking country legends like Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, while also following his own iconoclastic path. Starting with his classic 1986 debut Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc., Yoakam found an audience that included mainstream country listeners as well as roots rock and rock & roll fans; he frequently charted in the country Top Ten with albums like 1988's Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room and 1993's This Time, and remained one country's most respected and adventurous recording artists. 2012's excellent 3 Pears reached the Top 20 on the pop album chart, 2016's Swimmin' Pools, Movie Stars... delved into bluegrass, and by the time of 2024's Brighter Days, Yoakam had become one of the kind of legends he had long admired.
