Editing Dwight Yoakam (section)

==Biography==
[[File:Main at Grace in Pikeville.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Dwight Yoakam was born in [[Pikeville, Kentucky]].|alt=A view of buildings along a street in Pikeville, Kentucky.]]
Dwight David Yoakam was born October 23, 1956, in [[Pikeville, Kentucky]].<ref name="whitburn"/><ref name="allmusic">{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/dwight-yoakam-mn0000791483/biography | title=Dwight Yoakam biography | publisher=AllMusic | access-date=September 2, 2022 | author=[[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]]}}</ref> He is the eldest of three children to Ruth (née Tibbs) and David Yoakam. At the time of Yoakam's birth, his father was serving in the [[United States Army]].<ref name="roots">{{cite web | url=https://www.columbusmonthly.com/story/lifestyle/2019/10/21/from-archives-dwight-yoakam-s/2482742007/ | title=From the Archives: Dwight Yoakam's Columbus Roots | publisher=Columbus Monthly | date=October 21, 2019 | access-date=September 2, 2022 | author=Eric Lyttle}}</ref> After David Yoakam was discharged from the Army, the Yoakams moved to [[Columbus, Ohio]].<ref name="virgin">{{cite book | title=The Virgin Encyclopedia of Country Music | publisher=Virgin Books | author=[[Colin Larkin]] | year=1998 | pages=477 | isbn=0-7535-0236-4}}</ref> By this point the couple had a second son named Ronald and a daughter named Kimberly.<ref name="roots"/> Meanwhile, David supported his family by working at a [[Westinghouse Electric Corporation]] factory and later by ownership of a [[Texaco]] gas station.<ref name="roots"/> Yoakam's father had acquired a guitar manufactured by the [[Kay Musical Instrument Company]] while in the Army, and gave it to Yoakam after being unable to learn to play it himself. Although Yoakam later broke this guitar, he received another one as a Christmas present while he was in the fourth grade. He also wrote his first song around this point.<ref name="roots"/> As a child, Yoakam took influence from the music that his parents listened to on [[phonograph record|records]] as well as [[WMNI]], then an [[AM broadcasting|AM]] country music radio station in Columbus.<ref name="roots"/> Among these records were compilations by [[Johnny Cash]] and [[Johnny Horton]].<ref name="roots"/> According to his mother, the family would also sing songs to each other when on road trips to visit Yoakam's maternal grandparents. Yoakam himself also stated that he was influenced by [[rock and roll]] acts he had seen on television, such as [[Elvis Presley]].<ref name="roots"/>

The Yoakam family moved to another neighborhood of Columbus in 1968, where Yoakam attended [[Northland High School]]. His mother encouraged all three of her children to join the school's band, in which Yoakam played drums. He also attended drama class at Northland High School, which led to him playing the role of Charlie in a production of ''[[Flowers for Algernon]]''. Yoakam later attributed this performance as giving him more confidence performing in front of others.<ref name="roots"/> In his senior year of high school, Yoakam and some classmates formed a [[rock and roll]] band to compete in the school's talent show.<ref name="allmusic"/><ref name="roots"/> The band became popular enough that they began performing at a number of private parties throughout Columbus as The Greaser Band. Yoakam attended [[Ohio State University]], but quickly dropped out in order to focus on his musical career.<ref name="allmusic"/> While playing at a club in [[Gahanna, Ohio]], Yoakam was approached by a man who promised a musical contract but later turned out to be a [[con artist]]. Despite this, Yoakam chose to move to [[Nashville, Tennessee]], to continue pursuing a career in country music. He faced difficulty in the Nashville music scene, as his style was more indebted to [[honky-tonk]] and [[bluegrass music]] at a time when such sounds were not popular compared to [[country pop]] and [[Nashville sound]].<ref name="allmusic"/>

Yoakam then moved to [[Los Angeles, California]], at the encouragement of Billy Alves, a former member of the Greaser Band. While he was initially unsuccessful there as well, he met guitarist and record producer [[Pete Anderson]] at a Los Angeles bar in 1982. The two became friends when they realized they had common interest in musicians such as [[Merle Haggard]].<ref name="allmusic"/> Anderson also observed that [[cowpunk]] and [[alternative country]] were popular in California through acts such as [[Joe Ely]], [[Rank and File (band)|Rank and File]], and [[Lone Justice]]. By performing at clubs where these acts also performed, Yoakam was thus able to gain further exposure.<ref name="roots"/>