Honky tonkin’ in Primm

By Jerry Fink

Friday, Nov. 21, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Chris Morris

Dwight Yoakam wears two hats — one as the singer of such country hits as “Honky Tonk Man” and “Guitars, Cadillacs,” the other as a character actor in films such as “Sling Blade” and “Crank.”

“I’m fortunate to have the opportunity to do both,” Yoakam says recently from his office in Los Angeles.

He’s easy to recognize onstage with the broad-brimmed hat that hangs low over his forehead and keeps his eyes in shadow — and his tight-fitting jeans.

On film you might not recognize him at all. He often sheds the cowboy hat to expose his balding pate and loses himself in his various roles.

Yoakam, who was best pals with the late Buck Owens, will perform Saturday in Primm, about 40 miles south of Las Vegas. His concert in Primm isn’t exactly a rare appearance, but he hasn’t done a lot of touring in the past couple of years.

Fans are more likely to see him on screen. Since his debut in “Red Rock West” in 1992 Yoakam has made more than 20 films and seems to be picking up the pace. He’s made 10 films in the past four years.

Yoakam played the shady Dr. Miles in “Crank,” the 2006 release starring Jason Statham as a hit man given a poison that makes his heart slow down to the point of stopping. To counteract the effects he must constantly crank himself up with adrenaline through a series of exciting events, ending with his apparent death. The sequel, “Crank 2: High Voltage,” is due in February, and fans are wondering how Statham’s character is brought back to life.

“I can’t tell you,” Yoakam says. “Suffice it to say there is a ‘Crank 2’ and I’m reprising Dr. Miles. Jason returns as his character, much to my character’s shock.”

Yoakam just finished shooting “Last Rites of Ransom Pride” in Canada with Kris Kristofferson, and he has a role in the upcoming “Four Christmases” with Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn.

There’s no word on when he’ll record a new album.

“I don’t have a studio album scheduled as yet,” the 52-year-old singer says. “But I’ve been writing. Music is part of my everyday life.”

Born in Kentucky and raised in Ohio, Yoakam’s roots are in rock and country. His success came in country music that doesn’t fit the Nashville mold and crosses over to rock audiences. He has sold more than 25 million albums worldwide, has 12 gold albums and nine platinum or multiplatinum albums — including the triple platinum “This Time.” He’s won two Grammys and has more than a dozen Top 10 hits, including “I Sang Dixie,” “It Only Hurts When I Cry,” “Ain’t That Lonely Yet,” “Fast as You” and “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere.”

Yoakam formed a friendship with Owens in the mid-’80s. They performed the duet “Streets of Bakersfield,” Owens’ first No. 1 single in 16 years.

Owens died in 2006 at age 76. The following year, Yoakam released an homage to his mentor, “Dwight Sings Buck.”

“As fate would have it I spoke at length with him just a few days before he passed,” Yoakam says. “He was not thinking about anything but the future — that was the solace for me. I got to spend about four hours on the phone with him. I happened to be off that day. I was on the road, on tour. He called me at home and left a message. I called him back from Washington, D.C. It was like the bookend to our relationship.”

Owens was his inspiration.

“I was given a road map by what Buck Owens had done,” Yoakam says. “What he was doing was inspiring to me as a young adult trying to find my way into what I was going to do in the studio and to carry over to what I was doing live. The honky tonk sound he took from the nightclub circuit, he captured that on his records.

“His was the embodiment of the quintessential California country honky tonk sound, which he captured on record at a time when most of the pop and a great deal of country music had gone to using studio musicians for records but used touring bands for live performances. Often they weren’t the same configuration of folks.”

He loved Owens’ signature Bakersfield sound.

“It was found in the space that he allowed to exist in the music — the boldness of how austere he would allow arrangements to present themselves. He was very bold in that way. Listen to songs like ‘Together Again,’ his original version, or ‘Crying Time.’ ‘Together Again’ has an acoustic guitar, pedal steel, bass and drum. That’s it, other than the vocal. That was a bold thing to do at a time when things were becoming progressively more produced. It was a courageous way to approach music and it had more in common with the rock ’n’ roll aesthetic of the ’60s.”

Yoakam will perform at Owen’s nightclub, the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, on New Year’s Eve, along with Owens’ son, Buddy, fronting the Buckaroos and Steve Davis & Stampede.

“We’re going to have some fun New Year’s Eve in memory of Buck.”