When it comes to recasting classic country styles in one’s own image and filtering them through a British Invasion pop prism — as Dwight Yoakam has done masterfully over 30 years of potency, from 1986’s honky-tonk-cowpunk breakout Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. to 2012’s stunning comeback 3 Pears and last year’s Second Hand Heart — the singer owes more to Bakersfield and Buck Owens than he does to once-alt-country-unfriendly Nashville. Dwight made his career in California, not in Music City, but he’s definitely had a fruitful furlough or two ’round these parts lately. First there’s his work with a colorful pair of Jacks. Earlier this year Yoakam cut a Jack White-produced covers 7-inch for Third Man Records. And then there’s Belles & Whistles, the Music City-set country-tinged comedy series — reportedly about a disillusioned dad who packs up and sets out for Nashville to make it as a country star after getting fired from his Silicon Valley tech job — that Yoakam is co-producing with funnyman Jack Black for Fox. You may love Dwight hits like “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere,” “Fast as You” and “Little Ways,” but you haven’t really heard ’em until you’ve heard ’em live, where the singer and his shit-hot band breathlessly play them one after the other after the other like the Ramones playing for tips at Robert’s. Oh, and here’s something Yoakam seldom gets enough credit for: In 2013, he was the first major artist to take Sturgill Simpson on the road as an opener. So show up early to the Schermerhorn Friday night and catch openers Bryan Joyce and King Leg. ADAM GOLD
Dwight Yoakam w/Bryan Joyce & King Leg
