Stephen Yerkey

Stephen Yerkey
Born 1950 (age 65–66)
West Virginia
Origin San Francisco
Genres Alternative country
Labels Heyday Records

Stephen Yerkey is an alternative country singer-songwriter who was based in San Francisco for most of his career.

Early life

Yerkey was born in West Virginia and grew up in Kentucky.[1] He began playing guitar at the age of 14, at which time he discovered Bob Dylan and the Rolling Stones.[2]

Career

Yerkey was the frontman of the band Nonfiction, which released one album on Demon Records before it broke up.[1] In 1990, he contributed a song titled "The Final Word" to the Alias Records AIDS benefit album "Acoustic Music Project."[3] His solo debut, Confidence, Man, was released in 1995 on Heyday Records and produced by, among others, Pere Ubu's Eric Drew Feldman.[1] His sophomore album, Metaneonatureboy, was released in 2006 on Echo Records.[4] The latter album contained the song Translated from Love, which Kelly Willis later covered on her album of the same name.[5] He has attributed his low rate of musical output to what he considers a lack of interest in his music.[2]

Reception

Confidence, Man has been described as "...a lost classic waiting to be rediscovered by fans of Richard Buckner and Townes Van Zandt."[6] Other critics have praised the album's tracks "Cocksucking Blonde" and "Maker's Mark,"[6][7][8] and have written that its music depicts the gritty aspect of life in San Francisco.[9][10] He has also been called the "Elvis Costello of country."[10] A review in the San Francisco Chronicle praised Yerkey's live performance at the Makeout Room, and described his music as "barroom laments, howled prayers and fiery indictments that burned with the intensity of a real person with real soul."[11]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Gettelman, Parry (9 June 1995). "Stephen Yerkey". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  2. 1 2 Kunzler, Hans Peter (9 October 2006). "Ein Genie, lebenslang auf Jobsuche" [A genius, live long on job search]. Neue Zürcher Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 4 October 2014.
  3. ↑ "Indies". Spin. December 1990. p. 111. Retrieved 26 May 2014.
  4. ↑ "Metaneonatureboy Releases". Allmusic. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  5. ↑ Tucker, Ken. "Kelly Willis, Working in Translation". NPR. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  6. 1 2 Cornell, Rick (21 June 2006). "Otis Gibbs and Stephen Yerkey". Indy Week. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  7. ↑ Cromelin, Richard (11 March 1995). "Pop Music Reviews : He's Got All the Goods--Except One". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  8. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "CG: Stephen Yerkey". Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  9. ↑ Cook, Stephen. "Confidence, Man". Allmusic. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  10. 1 2 "Stephen Yerkey". IUMA. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
  11. ↑ Lisick, Beth (17 March 2004). "Amazing evenings with songwriter Stephen Yerkey and comic Doug Holsclaw, plus Hotel Utah news". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 22 May 2014.
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