Stephen Yerkey

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, Michigan.

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. 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. Metaneonatureboy included the song "Translated from Love", which Kelly Willis later covered on her album of the same name. In 2016, with Yerkey again at the helm, Nonfiction reunited for a single performance at the Hotel Utah in San Francisco.

Reception Confidence, Man has been described as "...a lost classic waiting to be rediscovered by fans of Richard Buckner and Townes Van Zandt." Other critics have praised the album's tracks "Cocksucking Blonde" and "Maker's Mark," and have written that its music depicts the gritty aspect of life in San Francisco. 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."

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."

Discography Solo Confidence Man (Heyday, 1994) Up From Mo's (Self-released, 2003) Metaneonatureboy (Echo, 2006)

With Nonfiction Nonfiction (Demon, 1986)