LOS ANGELES & NASHVILLE, TN. (New West Records) - "There's a lot of reckless joy on this album," says DWIGHT YOAKAM about his upcoming album BLAME THE VAIN, due out June 14 on New West Records/Via Records, marking his first affiliation with New West. "We are thrilled to be working with Dwight. He had a vision for this record and delivered on every level. The songwriting, the production, the performances are all stunning. He really has delivered a magnificent album," says Cameron Strang, president of New West Records. The album's first single will arrive at radio in April, with a video to hit airwaves shortly thereafter. A major cross-country tour will launch in July.
"We never left a session that wasn't flat-out fun," continues the singer, songwriter and guitarist who solely produced the album-a career first -and wrote the music and lyrics for these 12 songs of romantic cravings and deeply felt heartaches.
Mixed by
David Leonard, who did the same honors for DWIGHT's classic albums If There Was A Way and This Time, the new disc is distinguished by DWIGHT's signature panoramic meld. Country, rockabilly, chiming British Invasion guitars, classic Southern rock, Bakersfield grit-and more-are seamlessly blended in the finely etched arrangements on BLAME THE VAIN. You can hear DWIGHT embrace tradition one moment, then playfully uproot it the next, recording with such musicians as ace guitarist Keith Gattis, keyboardist Skip Edwards, bassist Taras Prodaniuk, Mitch
Marine on drums, and legendary percussionist Bobbye Hall, whose work is heard (although she's often uncredited) on many classic Motown albums. She was first credited on Marvin Gaye's album What's Goin' On.
For some "psycho-hillbilly squall," says DWIGHT, there's the song "Intentional Heartache." He ups the ante with "She'll Remember": the tongue-in-cheek intro-"an homage to the Moody Blues, ELP via Monty Python," explains DWIGHT-gives way to a bracing country rock tune with disarming tempo shifts. There's also the subtly poignant innocent plea of the upbeat shuffle "I Want To Love Again," of which DWIGHT enthuses, "I have to pay tribute to Buck and the Bakersfield sound on every album." The album's title track "Blame The Vain" is classic DWIGHT: a self-effacing confessional (where he concludes "...then I just blame me") set against a beautifully raw ascending guitar riff.
This marks Dwight's first album of all-new material since 2003's Population Me on Audium/Koch Records. His current release, The Very Best of Dwight Yoakam, was #28 on the Billboard Top Country Album Chart after more than 30 weeks of release. The disc reaches all the way back to his two million-selling 1986 debut album GUITARS, CADILLACS, ETC. ETC., which secured his stature among country's elite, while subsequent albums like HILLBILLY DELUXE, BUENAS NOCHES FROM A LONELY ROOM, JUST LOOKIN' FOR A HIT, IF THERE WAS A WAY and THIS TIME all achieved platinum or multi-platinum status.
The two-time Grammy winner has garnered 21 Grammy nominations throughout his career, while selling more than 23 million albums worldwide and earning praise from the likes of Time magazine, hailing him as "A Renaissance Man," Rolling Stone, noting "he has no contemporary peer," and Vanity Fair, proclaiming "Yoakam strides the divide between rock's lust and country's lament."
This year, Dwight will have a strong presence in the film world. Look for starring roles in Bandidas with Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek and The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada (directed by and starring
Tommy Lee Jones), plus a cameo in the Owen Wilson/Vince Vaughan movie The Wedding Crashers. Dwight first achieved notice as an actor with his film debut in Red Rock West. He went on to achieve major acclaim for his roles in Sling Blade and Panic Room. He starred in South Of Heaven, West of Hell, also directing the film and co-writing its screenplay and has also been seen in Roswell, The Newton Boys, The
Little Death and The Minus Man and numerous other films that can be found on IMDB.
