Dwight Yoakam
When: 8 p.m. Nov. 20.
Where: Silver Star Convention Center, Choctaw.
Cost: $25.
Who is he?: Dwight Yoakam is one of country music’s all-time greatest stars, having sold more than 25 million records and charted more than 30 country hits. Along with other superstars like George Strait, he helped launch country music into the mainstream in the 1980s.
Yoakam, a native of Pikeville, Ky., made his national debut in 1986 with the hit album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.
It featured an innovative rock-tinged honky tonk sound and bucked the Nashville trend by Yoakam writing all his own songs, save for some choice left-field covers like punk act The Blasters’ "Long White Cadillac."
His revolutionary crossover sound made him the first country act to appear on MTV with "Honky Tonk Man," and his successes continued with subsequent albums like 1987’s all-time classic Hillbilly Deluxe and 1988’s smash Buenos Noches from a Lonely Room.
Yoakam’s star power continued into the ’90s, when he scored his biggest crossover hit to date with a 1999 cover of Queen’s "Crazy Little Thing Called Love," and issued more timeless albums like 1993’s This Time.
In recent years, Yoakam parted ways with his major label Reprise and teamed with prominent alt-country indie New West Records to issue critically acclaimed albums like 2005’s Blame in Vain and his most recent, 2007’s Dwight Sings Buck, a tribute to his country idol Buck Owens.
He’s also done some acting, with a career-making performance in 1996’s Sling Blade, a menacing turn in 2002’s Panic Room, and most recently as the manic Doc Miles in Crank and its sequel.
On the Web: www.dwightyoakam.com.
Maze featuring Frankie Beverly
When: 8 p.m. Nov. 20.
Where: Jackson State University Lee E. Williams Athletic and Assembly Center, Jackson.
Cost: $25.
Who are they?: Formed in San Francisco in the early ’70s, Maze helped pioneer the fusion of R&B, soul and funk that defined the music of the decade.
The group was formed by Frankie Beverly, who was a member of the Philly soul group The Butlers, as Raw Soul. The group landed a gig opening for Marvin Gaye, who convinced the band to change its name to Maze.
Signing with Capitol Records in 1976, Maze took the R&B charts by storm. Top 10 hits included "Feel That You’re Feelin’," "Love is the Key" and the No. 1 smashes "Back in Stride" and "Can’t Get Over You."
But perhaps the definitive document of Maze is 1981’s Live in New Orleans, a recording that perfectly captured the band’s raw intensity.
Today, Maze continues to exhibit that same live power by touring extensively.
On the Web: www.mazemuse.com.
