Dwight Yoakam is considered one of the foremost innovators of traditional country music. Paradoxical as this may sound, especially in a genre that already revolves around a nostalgic longing for an idealized past, it does indicate that you should not expect super smooth, polished Nashville productions with Yoakam. Yoakam makes modern traditional country, honky tonk with blues and rock and roll
… influences. And he does so with great success, given the gold and platinum records that his previous albums yielded. On Population: Me (2003) he continues this course on the same path. That means many well-known country instruments such as the mandolin, dobro, banjo and pedal steel and of course the typical 'bite' in the pronunciation. All this can be heard in more up-tempo songs such as the opening track The Late Great Golden State, with backing vocals by former Eagles member Timothy B. Schmit, the Burt Bacharach cover Trains And Boats And Plains, or the duet If Teardrops Were Diamonds along with Willie Nelson. With Population: Me, Dwight Yoakam once again proves his status as one of the most important modern country artists. (IV)more
