{{short description|American singer-songwriter}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Stephen Yerkey | image = Stephen Yerkey 2016.jpg | caption = Yerkey in 2016 | birth_name = Stephen McKay Yerkey<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ascap.com/repertory#/ace/search/workID/900952593 |title=ALICE MCALLISTER |website=ASCAP |publisher=American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers |access-date=March 13, 2023}}</ref> | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1950|12|15}} | birth_place = West Virginia, U.S. | origin = San Francisco, CA, U.S. | genre = [[Americana music]] | occupation = Musician | instrument = Guitar | years_active = | website = {{URL|stephenyerkey.com}} }}
'''Stephen McKay Yerkey''' (born December 15, 1950) is a singer-songwriter and performer of soulful Americana and rock currently living in northern California, playing solo and with his band, Two Car Funeral, around San Francisco and Sacramento; he developed a following while based in the Bay Area during the early part of his career.
==Early life== Yerkey was born in [[Welch, West Virginia]] and grew up in, among other places, [[St. Louis, Missouri]], [[Covington, Kentucky]], and [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]].<ref name="os">{{cite web | url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/1995/06/09/stephen-yerkey/ | title=Stephen Yerkey | work=[[Orlando Sentinel]] | date=9 June 1995 | access-date=22 May 2014 | author=Gettelman, Parry}}</ref><ref name=neumu/> He began playing guitar at the age of 14, at which time he discovered [[Bob Dylan]] and the [[Rolling Stones]], and started developing his own unique style.<ref name="nzz">{{cite news|url=https://www.nzz.ch/aktuell/startseite/articleEDVZJ-1.59320|title=Ein Genie, lebenslang auf Jobsuche|date=9 October 2006|language=German|trans-title=A genius, live long on job search|work=[[Neue Zürcher Zeitung]]|accessdate=4 October 2014|author=Kunzler, Hans Peter}}</ref>
==Career== Yerkey was the frontman of the band Nonfiction, 1977-1987, and again during their reunion, 2016-2018. Nonfiction released one eponymous album on [[Demon Records]].<ref name="os" /> In 1990, he contributed the song "The Final Word" to ''Acoustic Music Project'', an AIDS benefit album on [[Alias Records]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDWxkmx1bj4C&dq=%22Stephen+Yerkey%22&pg=PA111 | title=Indies | work=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] | date=December 1990 | accessdate=26 May 2014 | pages=111}}</ref> His solo debut album, ''Confidence, Man'', was released in 1995 on [[Heyday Records]] and was produced by, among others, [[Pere Ubu]]'s [[Eric Drew Feldman]].<ref name=os/> Yerkey's recording of the Ted Hawkins song "Stay Close to Me" from ''Confidence, Man'' was featured in the soundtrack of the 1997 movie "Lewis & Clark & George." His next album, ''Up From Mo's'', was independently released in 2003. His most recent album, ''Metaneonatureboy'' was released in 2006 on [[Echo Records]] and, like ''Confidence Man'', was produced by Eric Drew Feldman.<ref name=neumu>{{Cite web |url=http://www.neumu.net/datastream/2006/2006-00010/2006-00010_datastream.shtml |title=Stephen Yerkey's Wandering Songs |last=Kelly |first=Jennifer |website=[[Neumu]] |publication-date=13 April 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/metaneonatureboy-mw0000704005/releases | title=Metaneonatureboy Releases | work=Allmusic | accessdate=22 May 2014}}</ref> ''Metaneonatureboy'' included the song "Translated from Love", which [[Kelly Willis]] later covered on her album of the same name.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12033066 | title=Kelly Willis, Working in Translation | work=[[NPR]] | accessdate=22 May 2014 | author=Tucker, Ken | date=17 July 2007 }}</ref> In 2016, with Yerkey again at the helm, Nonfiction reunited for a single performance at the [[Hotel Utah (San Francisco, California)|Hotel Utah]] in San Francisco.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hotelutah.com/event/1261059-nonfiction-tom-heyman-waldo-san-francisco/ |title=Nonfiction, Tom Heyman, Waldo Mack |website=Hotel Utah |publication-date=17 September 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170206023514/https://www.hotelutah.com/event/1261059-nonfiction-tom-heyman-waldo-san-francisco/ |archive-date=6 February 2017}}</ref>
==Reception== ''Confidence, Man'' has been described as "...a lost classic waiting to be rediscovered by fans of [[Richard Buckner (musician)|Richard Buckner]] and [[Townes Van Zandt]]."<ref name="cornell">{{cite web | url=http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/otis-gibbs-and-stephen-yerkey/Content?oid=1197946 | title=Otis Gibbs and Stephen Yerkey | work=[[Indy Week]] | date=21 June 2006 | accessdate=22 May 2014 | author=Cornell, Rick}}</ref> Other critics have praised the album's tracks "Cocksucking Blonde" and "Maker's Mark,"<ref name=cornell/><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1995-03-11-ca-41354-story.html | title=Pop Music Reviews : He's Got All the Goods--Except One | work=[[Los Angeles Times]] | date=11 March 1995 | access-date=22 May 2014 | author=Cromelin, Richard}}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=stephen+yerkey | title=CG: Stephen Yerkey | accessdate=22 May 2014 | author=Christgau, Robert}}</ref> and have written that its music depicts the gritty aspect of life in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/confidence-man-mw0000122917 | title=Confidence, Man | work=[[Allmusic]] | accessdate=22 May 2014 | author=Cook, Stephen}}</ref><ref name=iuma/> Yerkey has also been called the "[[Elvis Costello]] of country."<ref name=iuma>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/iuma-yerkey_stephen | title=Stephen Yerkey | work=[[IUMA]] | accessdate=22 May 2014}}</ref> A review in the ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' described his music as "barroom laments, howled prayers and fiery indictments that burned with the intensity of a real person with real soul."<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.sfgate.com/music/article/Amazing-evenings-with-songwriter-Stephen-Yerkey-2780281.php | title=Amazing evenings with songwriter Stephen Yerkey and comic Doug Holsclaw, plus Hotel Utah news | work=San Francisco Chronicle | date=17 March 2004 | accessdate=22 May 2014 | author=Lisick, Beth}}</ref>
''Up From Mo's'' is described on at least one website as "Solo voice, acoustic guitar and harmonica, fusing country, jazz, folk and blues, rich storytelling and the eccentric West-Virginia-born baritone singing tales of railroad workers, robber barons, short pants, love, despair, Algiers and lighthouse keeping."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.cdbaby.com/cd/stephenyerkey2 |title=Up from Mo's |website=[[CDBaby]]}}</ref>
==Discography== ===Solo=== *''Confidence Man'' (Heyday, 1994) *''Up From Mo's'' (Self-released, 2003) *''Metaneonatureboy'' (Echo, 2006)
===With Nonfiction=== *''Nonfiction'' (Demon, 1986)
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yerkey, Stephen}} [[Category:Echo Records artists]] [[Category:American alternative country singers]] [[Category:American country singer-songwriters]] [[Category:Singers from San Francisco]] [[Category:Songwriters from San Francisco]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:American alternative country musicians]] [[Category:American baritones]] [[Category:1950 births]] [[Category:Singer-songwriters from California]] [[Category:Country musicians from California]] [[Category:American male singer-songwriters]] [[Category:Singer-songwriters from West Virginia]]