Dwight Yoakam, Tim McGraw team up in Xmas comedy

Brighter Days

For his first album of original music since 2016, Dwight Yoakam does exactly nothing different, and thank goodness for that. One of country music's most consistent stylists, Yoakam's sound has always been a nod to the Bakersfield of Buck Owens, hardcore honky-tonk played by a swinging band, and he's not about to change this far into his career, it seems. Analyzing his albums, then, boils down to which songs hit the spot best; they will all fill you up but some just taste better than others. ...

Here on Earth

Tim McGraw's collection, "Here on Earth," finds the country star sounding peaceful and down to Earth. He's more meditative than overly active, throughout. It's very much an adult album in that McGraw is speaking from the perspective of maturity, rather than pretending he's still a young man. If he's got any barbecue statins on his white t-shirt, he's not letting on here. McGraw burns through five mellow tracks before he gets to anything with a discernable beat. ...

Live from Austin, TX;

In this 1988 Austin City Limits program and nearing 32 years old, Dwight Yoakam was approaching his commercial zenith. His third album, "Buenas Noches From A Lonely Room," had just been released, bringing him his only number one country singles "Streets of Bakersfield" (included here in duet with Buck Owens along with Flaco Jimenez) and "I Sang Dixie," also included. His second ACL appearance, Yoakam delivers a generous, 14-song reminder of how freakin' unusual ...