Yates McKendree

“Yates is proof of reincarnation. Only a very old and experienced soul could make his kind of art. Yes, he’s been around plenty before, and he’s giving it to this world again, just getting started being timeless.”   Gary Nicholson

Born in Nashville and raised in a recording studio, multi-instrumentalist Yates McKendree grew up hearing and playing with many great musicians. Self-taught from the age 3, music came to him naturally. Although just 21 years old, his experience as a professional musician goes back more than a decade. That early experience includes playing regularly in some of Nashville’s most notable venues, as well as North American and European tours and multiple appearances on national television.

During Yates’s high school years, he played on and engineered many recording projects, 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.”

His debut LP “Buchanan Lane” on the Qualified Records label was released last fall to critical acclaim worldwide. The album features both classic tunes and four original compositions, two of which Yates co-wrote with stellar Nashville Songwriter Hall of Fame 2022 inductee and multi-Grammy winner Gary Nicholson. Produced with his father, Kevin McKendree, “Buchanan Lane” highlights Yates’ skills, remarkable style and taste as a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist with an emphasis on guitar.