Dwight Yoakam

Internationally renowned recording artist, songwriter and actor Dwight Yoakam will return to City National Grove of Anaheim on November 30 in support of his latest record, Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…

Looking at the title of Dwight Yoakam’s new album, Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…, you might see a cheeky nod to the name of the debut album that put him on the map three decades ago, Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc. And he even reprises the title track of that groundbreaking album on his new effort for a 30th anniversary salute. But he’s hardly resurrecting the style of that freshman album. Instead, he is recasting some of his greatest songs (plus Prince’s “Purple Rain”) in an acoustic mountain-music vein.

Bluegrass “has always been, as Glenn Frey would say, whispering in my other ear,” Yoakam says. “I hope we did justice to the legacy of that genre and kept the spirit of reckless abandon. When you look back on the ‘30s and ‘40s, the bluegrassers were considered the wild men in music – on the white side of culture, with of course R&B and jump blues on the black side. Bluegrass was rock and roll, before there was such an animal. Hopefully we have that spirit in this.” 

Yoakam has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide, placing him in an elite cadre of internationally acclaimed recording artists. He has earned 12 gold albums and nine platinum or multi-platinum albums, including the triple-platinum This Time. Five of those albums have topped Billboard's Country Albums chart with another 14 landing in the Top 10. More than 30 singles have charted, with 22 going Top 20. He is a 21-time nominated, multiple GRAMMY Award winner. His previous album, 3 Pears, spent a record-breaking eight weeks at the top of the Americana Chart.

In addition to his musical career, Yoakam is a formidable film and television actor, capable of seamlessly melting into his roles, and impressively standing toe-to-toe with some of the world’s top thespians over the course of his storied and successful acting career, including Jodie Foster, Tommy Lee Jones, Jared Leto, Forest Whitaker, and Matthew McConaughey.