Country music pioneer and actor Dwight Yoakam plays at Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Oct. 5
From a press release:
It was announced today that Grammy Award-winning country singer, songwriter, musician, and actor Dwight Yoakam will be perform at the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Friday, Oct. 5 at 8 p.m.
Tickets, which are $39.50, $59.50, $69.50, and $89.50, plus fees, go on sale this Friday, June 15 at 10 a.m. and can be purchased at the Kirby Center box office (71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre), online at kirbycenter.org, and by phone at 570-826-1100. A Kirby Member pre-sale begins Tuesday, June 12 at 10 a.m.
As a country music pioneer, 61-year-old Dwight Yoakam has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide and is a 21-time nominated, multiple Grammy Award winner. He has 12 gold albums and nine platinum or multi-platinum albums, with five of those records topping Billboard’s Country Albums chart and another 14 landing in the Top 10.
Nearly 40 of Yoakam’s singles have charted on Billboard, with 14 peaking in the Top 10. He is also the recipient of the Artist of the Year award from the Americana Music Association, the most prestigious award offered by the organization.
Yoakam’s self-curated SiriusXM channel, titled “Dwight Yoakam and The Bakersfield Beat: Where Country Went Mod,” launched this past April. The channel celebrates the Bakersfield sound and those whom it has inspired.
In 2016, Yoakam released his first-ever bluegrass album, “Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars,” on Sugar Hill Records. Featuring a band of bluegrass luminaries, this album boasts a collection of reinterpreted favorites from his catalog, as well as a cover of Prince’s “Purple Rain.” Produced by nine-time Grammy winner Gary Paczosa (Alison Krauss, Dolly Parton), Jon Randall (songwriter of “Whiskey Lullaby”), and Yoakam himself and mixed by Chris Lord-Alge, this album reflects the love for bluegrass music that Yoakam developed at an early age in Kentucky that has inspired him for many years thereafter. In 2015, Yoakam released “Second Hand Heart” on Warner/Reprise records, the follow-up to his critically-acclaimed album “3 Pears.”
In addition to his musical career, Yoakam is a formidable film and television actor who has appeared in over 40 feature films, including “Sling Blade” and “Panic Room.” In 2016, he recurred in David E. Kelley’s Amazon series “Goliath.” Recently, he appeared in director Steven Soderbergh’s film “Logan Lucky” with Channing Tatum and Daniel Craig.
Yoakam is 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.
