Dwight Yoakam, Noah Guthrie team for Palace show

A country legend and a rising star will team up for an evening of classic hits and Americana soul sounds.

Headliner Dwight Yoakam and show opener Noah Guthrie play a show on March 21 at Greensburg’s The Palace Theatre.

The unique pairing promises to draw a diverse audience, ranging from devoted fans of Yoakam, a multiple Grammy Award winner with 12 gold and nine platinum or multi-platinum albums under his belt, to younger fans looking to meet Guthrie, a past semifinalist on NBC’s “America’s Got Talent” who performed on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” and acted on the Fox TV series, “Glee.”

“We’re expecting a crowd from early 20s to late 60s,” said Guthrie from Atlanta, Ga., where he and his band were getting ready to head to Pensacola, Fla. for a concert stop. “I’m really excited,” he added. “Our Dwight shows are the biggest we’ve done.”

Guthrie’s own original single, “Moment,” was released on Feb. 15 and was already featured on CMT’s reality show, “Music City.”

‘Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars’

Yoakam also has good reason to be excited. The release of his latest album, “Swimmin’ Pools, Movie Stars…” comes more than 30 years after he made his mark with such country hits as “Guitars, Cadillacs,” “Streets of Bakersfield,” “A Thousand Miles From Nowhere,” “Honky Tonk Man,” “Turn It On, Turn It Up, Turn Me Loose” and “Little Ways.”

The title of his new release with its nod to “The Beverly Hillbillies” is “tongue in cheek,” says the artist now located on the West Coast,” “because the album started in Nashville, and ended up in – well, you know, California is the place you oughta be!”

Yoakam says the album pays tribute to other bluegrass country stars like guitarist Lester Flatt and banjo player Earl Scruggs “and everybody who came out here. And this album really is that hybrid expression of a journey – and it’s the American journey. It’s the Dust Bowl ‘30s era blowing colloquial music out to California with all the Okie/Arkie/Texan migrants. Folks from Kansas and Nebraska and the plains all ended up out here and brought with ‘em their cultural elements.”

Yoakam was born in Pikeville, Ky., and grew up in Columbus, Ohio, where he honed his guitar skills with local garage bands. After attending Ohio State University for a while, he moved to Los Angeles in 1977 to follow his dream to become a recording artist.

In addition to his musical career, Yoakam has appeared in more than 40 feature films, including “Logan Lucky” (2017), “90 Minutes in Heaven” (2015) and “The Last Rites of Ransom Pride” (2010).

Two for the show

While Yoakam’s faithful followers will be savoring his classic hits at the Palace, Guthrie’s fans will be soaking up his soulful twist on contemporary songs as well as his own music.

Guthrie, 25, from Greer, S.C., has opened concerts for a variety of artists, including Ed Sheeran, Neon Trees, Ben Rector, Corey Smith, Sister Hazel, Matisyahu, Matt Nathanson and Selena Gomez.

He started out covering hit songs on YouTube, including his blues version of LMFAO’s “Sexy and I Know It,” which garnered more than 25 million views and led to his offer for a role on “Glee” in 2014.

“Right now I’m very much focused on the music side of things, because that’s where my heart is,” he says.

Following his concerts with Yoakam in May, Guthrie plans to do a few weeks of shows with Delta Rae, a folk rock band from Durham, N.C., and then perform at some summer festivals.