Lori Yates is a Canadian alternative country music singer and songwriter.

Biography

Early career

Yates' early music career was with Toronto-area bands such as Rang Tango, Senseless and The Last Resorts. Yates was influenced by varied artists including

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

Tanya Tucker Tanya Denise Tucker (born October 10, 1958) is an American country music singer and songwriter who had her first hit, "Delta Dawn", in 1972 at the age of 13. During her career Tucker became one of the few child performers to mature into adulthood ...

, and

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

Nashville

Yates became a Nashville-based artist on the

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

Nashville label. Her debut album ''Can't Stop the Girl'' was released worldwide in 1989. She was nominated for a Juno Award in 1990 as Best Female Country Vocalist, and was also nominated for a CCMA Award. She toured with such artists as Big Sugar,

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...

The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Nitty Gritty Dirt Band (sometimes abbreviated NGDB), also known as the Dirt Band, is an American band founded in Long Beach, California, in 1966. Since 2018, the band has consisted of Jeff Hanna and his son Jaime Hanna, both guitarists and voc ...

and

Dwight Yoakam Dwight David Yoakam (born October 23, 1956) is an American singer-songwriter, actor, and filmmaker. He first achieved mainstream attention in 1986 with the release of his debut album ''Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc.''. Yoakam had considerable s ...

. Co-writers during this time included

Guy Clark Guy Charles Clark (November 6, 1941 – May 17, 2016) was an American folk and country singer-songwriter and luthier. He released more than 20 albums, and his songs have been recorded by other artists, including Townes Van Zandt, Jerry Jeff ...

, Don Schlitz and

Matraca Berg Matraca Maria Berg Hanna (; born February 3, 1964, in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American country music singer and songwriter. She has released five albums: three for RCA Records, one for Rising Tide Records and one for Dualtone Records, and h ...

. Yates recorded the duet "Brother To Brother" with

Gregg Allman Gregory LeNoir Allman (December 8, 1947 – May 27, 2017) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was known for performing in the Allman Brothers Band. Allman grew up with an interest in rhythm and blues music, and the Allman B ...

for his album ''No Stranger to the Dark: The Best of Gregg Allman'' and on the soundtrack to the

Patrick Swayze Patrick Wayne Swayze ( ; August 18, 1952 – September 14, 2009) was an American actor, singer, songwriter, and dancer. Known for his romantic, tough, and comedic roles in blockbusters and cult films, Swayze was nominated for three Golden Glob ...

film ''

Next of Kin A person's next of kin (NOK) may be that person's spouse A spouse is a significant other in a marriage. A female spouse is called a wife while a male spouse is called a husband. Married The legal status of a spouse, and the specific righ ...

''. She later signed with Virgin Music Canada and released her second album ''Breaking Point'' in 1994, a collection of roots, rock and soul.

Rick Danko Richard Clare Danko (December 29, 1943 – December 10, 1999) was a Canadian musician, bassist, songwriter, and singer, best known as a founding member of The Band, for which he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1994. During ...

(

The Band The Band was a Canadian-American rock music, rock band formed in Toronto, Ontario, in 1957. It consisted of the Canadians Rick Danko (bass, guitar, vocals, fiddle), Garth Hudson (organ, keyboards, accordion, saxophone), Richard Manuel (piano, d ...

) and

Jim Cuddy James Gordon Cuddy, (born December 2, 1955) is a Canadian singer-songwriter primarily associated with the band Blue Rodeo. Early life and education Cuddy was born in Toronto, Ontario. His mother Jean Cuddy was an English teacher at Monarch P ...

(

Blue Rodeo Blue Rodeo is a Canadian rock band formed in 1984 in Toronto, Ontario. They have released 16 full-length studio albums, four live recordings, one greatest hits album, and two video/DVDs, along with multiple solo albums, side projects, and colla ...

) appeared as guest vocalists. She later toured with

Jann Arden Jann Arden (born Jann Arden Anne Richards; March 27, 1962) is a Canadian singer-songwriter, author and actress. She is best known for her signature ballads, " Could I Be Your Girl" and " Insensitive", which is her biggest hit to date, as well ...

Colin James Colin James (born Colin James Munn; August 17, 1964) is a Canadian blues rock singer and songwriter. James has been very successful in Canada, having attained seven Gold-certified albums in Canada during his career, including four Platinum alb ...

and

Faith Hill Audrey Faith McGraw (; born September 21, 1967), known professionally as Faith Hill, is an American Country music, country singer. She is one of the most successful country music artists of all time, having sold almost 50 million albums worldwide ...

. In 1996, Yates released her second Virgin Music Canada album ''Untogether'', a complete musical departure into melodic trip-hop with Toronto's Opium Concepts. The album was recorded at

Metalworks Studios Metalworks Studios is a music recording studio in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1978 by Gil Moore of the Canadian rock group, Triumph (band), Triumph. Since 1978, Metalworks Studios has expanded into a six studio facility ...

Mississauga, Ontario Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

. During this time period, she also contributed vocals to numerous songs for the gothic-oriented sci-fi television show ''

Forever Knight ''Forever Knight'' is a Canadian television series about Nick Knight (Forever Knight), Nick Knight, an 800-year-old vampire working as a police detective in modern-day Toronto, Ontario. Wracked with guilt for centuries of killing others, he seeks ...

'', eight of which later appeared on the series' two soundtrack volumes.

Present

In 1998, Yates formed Hey Stella! with bassist Bazil Donovan of

, David Baxter and

Michelle Josef Michelle Josef (born March 21, 1953), formerly Bohdan Hluszko, is a Canadian musician and transgender activist. Under her former name, Josef was already established as one of Canada's leading session drummers, and has continued her career in music ...

. The band remains active following the release of their 1999 self-titled CD. They won ''NOW Magazine'''s "Favourite Band" in 2000. She moved to

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. Hamilton has a 2021 Canadian census, population of 569,353 (2021), and its Census Metropolitan Area, census metropolitan area, which encompasses ...

, with her family in 2002, where she produced the 2007 album ''The Book of Minerva'' with artists such as Bazil Donovan,

Justin Rutledge Justin John Rutledge (born January 3, 1979) is a Toronto-based Canadian alternative country singer-songwriter signed to Outside Music. Rutledge's musical style is often compared to that of American alt-country singer Ryan Adams. In 2006, Justi ...

and Tom Wilson. She won "Songwriter of the Year" and Alternative Country Recording of the Year" at the 2007 Hamilton Music Awards on 18 November 2007. She played with late Brian Griffith, (Daniel Lanois, Emmylou Harris, Willie Nelson), Mike Eastman (Ronnie Hawkins), Jack Pedler (Teenage Head) and many notable Hamilton musicians. She is an original member of power pop/punk band The Eveyln Dicks with Chris Houston (The Forgotten Rebels) and Buckshot Bebee, Jimmy Vapid (The Vapids) and

Cleave Anderson Cleave Anderson is a Canadian punk rock, alt. country, rock, pop, etc drummer. Anderson has played and recorded with several well-known groups, including Blue Rodeo, Battered Wives,Tyranna, Viletones, Sherry Kean, Forgotten Rebels, and the Beat ...

( Battered Wives,

). Yates is the creator and producer of popular variety shows ''Johnny Cash – The Original Punk'' and ''Your Good Girl's Gonna Go Bad'' with The Nashville Rejects (Steve Miller, Ted Hawkins) as the back up band. She is the creator and producer of a popular ongoing six-week songwriting workshop combining group work, studio recording and live performance, The Creative Genius Songwriting Workshop. Yates has gained a solid reputation as a photographer with her iPhone. As part of the i-phoneography movement, she shoots under the tag of #crazyates_xoxo. She has had three successful exhibitions: * ''Killer Tomatoes'', Hamilton's Finest Female Vocalists, 2015 * ''Framed'', Hamilton Musicians & Creative Class, photo exhibit, 2014 * ''Disappearing Hamilton'', photo exhibit, 2013 ''Sweetheart of the Valley'' is Lori's seventh studio album. Released late October 2015, it received critical acclaim as Yates' best work yet. Recorded at Knob & Tube Toronto, QED Media and This Ain't Hollywood, Hamilton, she enlisted Hey Stella! (David Baxter, Bazil Donovan, Michelle Josef) as the recording band.from an interview o
Americana Music Show #282
published January 19, 2016 Additional musicians include Steve Wood (pedal steel) and Stephen Miller (guitar). Rita Chiarelli, Terra Lightfoot, and Ginger St. James are among a choir of background vocals.

Grants and awards

* City of Hamilton Arts Award – Established Artist 2014 * Ontario Arts Council – Songwriting Grant, 2014 * Hamilton Spectator People's Choice Awards 2012 – Favourite Female Vocalist, silver * Songwriter of the Year – Hamilton Music Awards 2007 * Alternative Country Recording of the Year – Hamilton Music Awards 2007 for "The Book Of Minerva" * Ontario Arts Council – Recording Grant, 2007 * SOCAN Award for No. 1 song "Usure De Jours" * NOW Magazine "Best Band" Readers Poll – 2000 * Kensington Market Community Awards – Best Female Artist, 1993 * Juno Awards nomination 1990 * Canadian Country Music Association nomination 1990

Discography

Albums

Singles

Rang Tango

* ''Rang Tango'' (1987)

Hey Stella!

*'' Hey Stella!'' (1999)

Guest appearances

* ''The Lucky Ones'' album from

Willie P. Bennett William Patrick "Willie P." Bennett (26 October 1951 – 15 February 2008) was a Canadian folk music, folk-music singer-songwriter, harmonica player, and mandolinist. Bennett was part of the 1970s folk music scene in Canada, and wrote and recorded ...

(1989) * ''South at Eight, North at Nine'' album from

Colin Linden Colin Kendall Linden (born 16 April 1960) is a Canadian guitarist, songwriter and record producer. Linden plays acoustic and electric guitar, specializing in slide guitar, country blues, and ragtime fingerpicking, who frequently collaborates wi ...

(1993) * ''

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, or Midtown West on real estate listings, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, New York. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, ...

'' album from

Leslie Spit Treeo Leslie Spit Treeo were a Canadian folk-rock band in the 1980s and 1990s. The band took its name from the Leslie Street Spit area of Toronto Harbour."Leslie Spit Treeo still true to street-busking roots". ''Toronto Star'', May 11, 1990. History Th ...

(1994)

Soundtracks

* ''

'' (1989) Contributed a duet with

titled "Brother To Brother" * ''

- Original Television Soundtrack'' (1996) Contributed vocals to "The Hunger", "Black Rose", "Touch The Night", "Dark Side of the Glass" and the intro to the ''Queen of Harps'' suite * '' The Hanging Garden'' (1997) Contributed the recording "The Future Is Here" * ''

- More Music from the Original Television Soundtrack'' (1999) Contributed vocals to "The Night Calls My Name", "Heart of Darkness" and "Destiny's Edge"

Compilations and tributes

* '' Borrowed Tunes: A Tribute to Neil Young'' (1994) Contributed a cover of the

Neil Young Neil Percival Young (born November 12, 1945) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter. After embarking on a music career in Winnipeg in the 1960s, Young moved to Los Angeles, forming the folk rock group Buffalo Springfield. Since the begi ...

composition Composition or Compositions may refer to: Arts and literature *Composition (dance), practice and teaching of choreography * Composition (language), in literature and rhetoric, producing a work in spoken tradition and written discourse, to include ...

"Helpless" * ''Classic Country, Vol. 5'' (2000) Contributed the recording "Scene of the Crime" * ''No Stranger to the Dark: The Best Of

'' (2002) Features Allman and Yates' duet "Brother To Brother" from the ''Next of Kin'' soundtrack

References

External links

Lori Yates Official Web SiteForever Knight soundtrack information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yates, Lori Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Canadian women country singers Canadian country singer-songwriters Canadian women guitarists Musicians from Oshawa Columbia Records artists Canadian women singer-songwriters 20th-century Canadian singer-songwriters 20th-century Canadian women singers 21st-century Canadian singer-songwriters 21st-century Canadian women singers