"Stephen Yerkey has an astounding voice. Sometimes it soars like Scott Walker's, other times it growls like John Lee Hooker's, at times it preaches like Johnny Cash's. He is an amazing songwriter, too. "Maker's Mark" alone, the track that opened his first solo album "Confidence, Man", should, by rights, guarantee immortality status." -Hans Kuenzler He could be easily compared to Tom Waits, Leon Redbone, Bob Dylan, or even Tom Petty and that's not because he necessarily sounds like any of those artists but just that his eclectism is umatched except for by the very few established artists that can say f you to the establishment and it's rules. From a review for Jellyroll by Glenn Brooks: Stephen Yerkey Confidence, Man "Original variety hour This is yet another interesting Lee Townsend production, with strong all-original songs, very dark overall, in sparse and attractive settings. Yerkey is capable of authentic sounding ventures in a variety of directions, from Tom Waits-jazzish to Bob Dylan-talking-blueish to country twangy--even sometimes a touch of Elvis Costello. But the album still feels cut from the same cloth, partly because of Yerkey's strong, distinctive voice (he reminds me of a new improved version of Norton Buffalo.) By the way, Jason notes that it sometimes feels like you're about to fall into Yerkey's mouth, whatever that means." From and article by Rick Cornell for Indyweek: "Yerkey started in a band, the San Francisco-based Nonfiction, before hitting the solo trail. His 1994 debut, Confidence, Man, is a lost classic waiting to be rediscovered by fans of Richard Buckner and Townes Van Zandt. It's the kind of record that one drops in a conversation about lost classics, hoping no one else has actually heard it. The album hits hard throughout, from the appropriately chugging (and mariachi-visited) "Where Cash Is King" to the elegiac "I Just Haven't Laid Down Yet," but it's the opening lines of "Maker's mark" that are the most telling: "I've got my Maker's mark on me, but I move under my own power." Like all the best singer-songwriters, outlaw or otherwise, Yerkey is blessed with both supreme skills and the gumption to carve his own path." Beginnings Yerkey was born in West Virginia and moved throughout the Midwest during his youth, living for a time in Detroit, St. Louis, Cincinnati and "all the hillbilly capitals." His first guitar, an acoustic, arrived when he was 14, about the same time he discovered the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. "[Dylan's music] was absolutely mind-blowing. It was mind-blowing that somebody could... like in 'It's All Right, Ma.' That you could lash back at your parents in that way," he remembered. "And the other thing, too, that was really shocking, and I guess it still is, but it was the end of 'Masters of War,' 'And I hope that you die and your death will come soon.' Apparently ... somebody told me that he did that on some rock and roll hall of fame on TV three or four years ago, and he dedicated it to Dick Cheney or something, and there was this huge brouhaha." Yerkey's musical tastes were broad, something that, he says, wasn't unusual at the time. "The thing that I remember as a teenager in the 1960s is that you tried to be into all kinds of music, rock and jazz and blues," he said. "They weren't into country. I remember country was very, very unhip. That was another thing that Dylan did, when he recorded in Nashville, which was just absolutely unspeakable." Progress came slowly as Yerkey taught himself to play and sing and write songs. "I wasn't any good for a long time," he said. "My mom and I went to see the new Neil Young movie and I was thinking how good he was when he was 18 and 19, and I was no good until I was like 30 or something." He knocked around San Francisco as a young man, joining a band called Nonfiction, and finally, at the age of 44, releasing his solo debut, Confidence, Man, in 1994. The album, produced by Captain Beefheart and Pere Ubu veteran Eric Drew Feldman, drew glowing reviews and seemed to set Yerkey on the path to eccentric success, à la Tom Waits. But life intervened, specifically that lady in the mountains, and it was 12 long years before the follow-up. From the review byParry Gettelman for the Orlando Sentinel: "Stephen Yerkey, confidence, man: Compared with Stephen Yerkey, Lyle Lovett sounds like a mainstream country artist. Yerkey's haunting baritone emanates from some alternate universe where Johnny Cash, Nick Cave, Roy Orbison and Mel Torme are all the same guy - a guy with a habit of listening to Henry Mancini soundtracks and Marty Robbins records simultaneously. Yerkey was born in West Virginia, grew up in Kentucky and is based in San Francisco. He used to front a band called Nonfiction, which released one album on Elvis Costello's Demon Records. Confidence, man, Yerkey's solo debut, was produced in part by Eric Drew Feldman of Pere Ubu, who plays keyboards on some tracks. The band also includes several alumni of Tom Waits' band - pedal steel player David Phillips, bassist Clark Suprynowicz and guitarist Joe Gore. Yerkey's songs aren't as oddly angular as Pere Ubu's or as clangorous as Tom Waits' recent material. But these musicians all know how to work with a writer whose vision is unique and whose style isn't limited by genre boundaries." Scott Amendola- Drums, Percussion Josef Brinckmann- Harmonica Chris Cacac- Drums Mat Callahan- Producer Jim Campilongo- Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic) Fred Cirillo- Accordion, Keyboards, Organ, Organ (Hammond) Judy Clapp- Mixing Oliver di Cicco- Engineer Tom Doty- Assistant Engineer, Engineer Eric Drew Feldman- Bass (Electric), Guest Artist, Keyboards, Mixing, Organ (Hammond), Producer Markus Fillinger- Piano Eva Jay Fortune- Vocals Joe Gore- Guitar, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric) Christian Jones- Engineer Jim Kassis- Percussion, Percussion Leader, Tambourine Frank London- Trumpet Jeff Mann- Engineer Anwyl McDonald -, Vocals (Background) Mark Needham- Engineer David Phillips- Guitar (Steel), Lap Steel Guitar, Pedal Steel Donald Rowlands Percussion, Vocals (Background) Steven Strauss Bass, Bass (Acoustic) Paul Stubblebine Mastering Clark Suprynowicz Bass, Bass (Acoustic), Guitar Arrangements Lee Townsend Percussion, Producer Chris Von Sneidern Guest Artist, Performer, Producer Ross Yeo Assistant Engineer Stephen Yerkey Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Guitar (Electric), Percussion, Primary Artist, Vocals