Born in Nashville and raised in a recording studio, multi-instrumentalist Yates McKendree grew up hearing and playing with some of Music City’s greatest musicians. Self taught from the age 3, music came to him naturally. Although still just a young man of 23 years, his experience as a professional musician goes back over a decade. That early experience includes playing regularly in some of Nashville’s most notable venues (The Bluebird Cafe, The Ryman Auditorium, Third & Lindsley). It also includes North American and European tours and multiple appearances on national television (Imus In The Morning, CBS Mornings).
During Yates’s teenage years, he played on and engineered dozens of recordings in his father’s (Kevin McKendree) studio, The Rock House; most notably for Delbert McClinton and John Hiatt, who told Rolling Stone Magazine, “Yates was our secret ingredient.” In January 2020, Yates earned a Grammy® Award for his role as an engineer and a musician on Delbert McClinton’s “Tall Dark & Handsome”.
In 2023, the award winning McKendree released his debut LP, “Buchanan Lane” on Qualified Records. The album was nominated for two Blues Music Awards® and is a favorite among blues lovers everywhere. The success of the album led to a strong demand for live performances in North America and Europe. Yates has been hitting the road with his band ever since.
In between touring and his Monday night residency at the world famous Bluebird Cafe, Yates managed to find time to write and record another album of original songs, deep blues and r&b. Available everywhere July 11, 2025, “Need To Know” highlights Yates’s skills, remarkable style and taste as a multi instrumentalist and vocalist with an emphasis on guitar.
Because of Yates’s lifelong, intense dedication to blues and roots music, he has developed a direct line from his soul to whatever instrument he holds. When he sings and plays, you don’t just hear it, you feel it…deeply. Yates and his band are looking forward to playing the blues for you!
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