Multiple GRAMMY Award-winner and country superstar Dwight Yoakam confirms the release of his first album of new music in nine years, Brighter Days, set for November 15 on Via Records/Thirty Tigers. Pre-order/pre-save Brighter Days HERE.
A first taste of the new music, "I Don’t Know How to Say Goodbye (Bang Bang Boom Boom)" featuring Post Malone, debuts today. The song was written specifically by Yoakam for this collaboration. Listen to the song HERE, and stay tuned for a video coming soon.
Written and recorded over the last three years, Brighter Days features 12 brand-new songs written or co-written by Yoakam, as well as two seemingly disparate covers: "Keep On the Sunny Side" by the Carter Family and "Bound Away" by Cake. These tracks are artfully woven into the body of work in the unmistakable style that only Dwight Yoakam could create.
At once timeless and timely—embracing a "cowpunk-tual" attitude—Yoakam self-produced Brighter Days, infusing a modern appreciation for country music's history with the trailblazing rock-and-roll spirit of California. The result is an album that reflects a sense of craftsmanship and immediacy, capturing the quintessential Dwight Yoakam "cool" that has set him apart from his country contemporaries since the beginning of his legendary career. As always, Yoakam’s lyrics are both deceptively effortless and profoundly poignant. The album was mixed by world-class engineer Chris Lord-Alge.
Yoakam will continue his time on the road with additional North American tour dates, kicking off on September 13 in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
Dwight Yoakam has sold over 26 million albums worldwide, with five reaching the #1 spot on Billboard. He is a 21-time GRAMMY nominee and multiple GRAMMY Award winner. He has 12 Gold albums and nine Platinum or multi-Platinum albums. Yoakam is the recipient of the Americana Music Association's Artist of the Year Award and the prestigious BMI Country Awards' President’s Award and has been inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. He will receive a Lifetime Achievement Honor at the 2024 Americana Music Awards. Throughout his career, Yoakam has collaborated with artists ranging from Beck to Kid Rock, ZZ Top, Hunter S. Thompson, and Jack White. He has toured with the likes of Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, and Hüsker Dü. His last album, Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars..., was released in 2016. Rolling Stone Country raves, "Yoakam sounds right at home on these new versions," while NPR Music praises, "You can hear Yoakam making masterful choices on every phrase."
In addition to his musical career, Yoakam has appeared in more than 40 feature films, including Sling Blade, Panic Room, and Steven Soderbergh’s Logan Lucky with Channing Tatum and Daniel Craig, plus a role in the Amazon series Goliath. Over the course of his storied acting career, he has worked with Jodie Foster, Tommy Lee Jones, Jared Leto, Matthew McConaughey, and more.
In 1977, Yoakam left Kentucky for Nashville to pursue a music career but found that the Music City was moving away from traditional country roots toward more pop-country sounds. He found himself better suited to the post-Bakersfield movement and became one of the founding fathers of the "L.A. Cowpunk Scene," influenced by second-wave rockabilly and punk alongside X, Los Lobos, The Knitters, Rank & File, and The Blasters.
Dwight Yoakam—Brighter Days TRACKLIST
Wide Open Heart
I’ll Pay the Price
Bound Away (Cake cover)
California Sky
Can’t Be Wrong
I Spell Love
A Dream That Never Ends
Brighter Days
I Don’t Know How to Say Goodbye (Bang Bang Boom Boom) (with Post Malone)
If Only
Hand Me Down Heart
Time Between
Keep On the Sunny Side (The Carter Family cover)
Every Night
TOUR DATES
September 13—Simmons Bank Arena—North Little Rock, AR
September 14—Golden Nugget Lake Charles Hotel & Casino—Grand Event Center—Lake Charles, LA
September 15—Born and Raised Music Festival—Pryor, OK
September 26—The Fruit Yard—Modesto, CA*
September 27—Redding Civic Auditorium—Redding, CA*
September 28—Hayden Homes Amphitheater—Bend, OR
October 3—The Masonic Temple Theatre—Detroit, MI*
October 4—Charleston Coliseum & Convention Center—Charleston, WV*
October 5—Country Calling Festival—Ocean City, MD
October 11—Red Rock Resort—Las Vegas, NV
October 12—Pepsi Amphitheater—Flagstaff, AZ
October 14—The Big Fresno Fair—Fresno, CA
October 17—F&M Bank Arena—Clarksville, TN*
October 18—Mercedes-Benz Amphitheatre—Tuscaloosa, AL*
October 19—Brandon Amphitheater—Brandon, MS*
November 13—St. Augustine Amphitheatre—St. Augustine, FL*
November 14—The Baycare Sound at Coachman Park—Clearwater, FL*
November 15—Pompano Beach Amphitheater—Pompano Beach, FL*
November 21—Texas Trust CU Theatre—Grand Prairie, TX
November 22—Ford Park Pavilion—Beaumont, TX
November 23—American Bank Center Arena—Corpus Christi, TX
*with The Mavericks and Special Guest
