Dwight Yoakam - dwightyoakamacoustic.net
For several years in concert, Dwight Yoakam would set apart a portion of the evening to come
out on his own with his guitar and play a few songs acoustic for his audience. The adoring
audience responded so favorably to these times that Dwight decided to sit down and record
whatever of his catalog happened to come into his head. He went into the studio with long-time
producer Pete Anderson, and this disc is the result.
Dwight played music for the full 74+ minutes that fit on a standard CD. He played songs from
every point in his career, all the way from "Guitars, Cadillacs" to "A Long Way Home," which was the most current release at the time of this release. Every track is produced just as he sang it, including mistakes (he briefly forgot the words to "It Only Hurts When I Cry" and sang the first verse twice), which gives it the real and true feeling that Dwight has just come into your living room, sat down, and started to play guitar for you personally.
While not received well commercially, there is no doubt this disc is the best showcase for
Dwight's considerable talents as a singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Of the 25 tracks on the disc, Dwight wrote (or co-wrote) every one of them with the sole exception of the Pomus/Shuman standard, "Little Sister" ("Little Sister" is also an anomaly in the mix, as it features producer Anderson's amazing lead guitar licks accompanying Dwight). It's no wonder he's won Gibson's "Country Guitarist of the Year."
Reviewed by Kathy Coleman.
