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American singer songwriter

Yates traveled between Missouri and Nashville, Tennessee, several times in pursuit of a music career. He found brief work as a demo singer in 1982, but felt at the time that he was unprepared. At this time, Yates supported himself financially by continuing to work as a barber. In addition, Kenny Chesney would later cover the song on his 1996 album Me and You. Yates also co wrote the title track of Ricky Van Shelton's 1993 album A Bridge I Didn't Burn. "Flowers" went on to reach number 36 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs charts in 1997. "Flowers" also received a music video, which was nominated by Billboard at their 1997 Music Video Awards in the category of Best New Country Artist. Bob Cannon of Entertainment Weekly rated the album "C+", describing the song "Flowers" as "maudlin" and overall finding Yates' style imitative of Merle Haggard. Yates would chart only one more single for Almo Sounds, "When the Walls Come Tumblin' Down", before the label closed its Nashville division later in 1997.

In 2000, Yates signed with Columbia Records Nashville and charted one single, "What Do You Want from Me Now". Yates told Country Standard Time in 2003 that he chose to leave Columbia because he felt that label executives considered his style too neotraditional country in nature to be successful. His first release on his own label was If I Could Go Back in 2001. His next independent album was 2003's Country. According to an interview with Country Standard Time, the idea for the album's title track came to Yates in a dream. Another song on the album was "Smokin' Grass", which Yates co wrote with Shannon Lawson. Two more independent albums, Anywhere but Nashville and Harmony Man, followed in 2004 and 2005 respectively. Brian Wahlert of Country Standard Time reviewed the same project positively, stating that it contained "traditional country songs that display keen insight into everyday trials and joys, with a healthy dose of fun mixed in." In 2006, Chris Young covered "Flowers" on his self titled debut album. Also in 2006, Yates founded the songwriting and publishing company Smokin' Grapes. Two more discs came in 2009. First was a compilation called Favorites, which included tracks from his previous albums, as well as a re recording of "Choices" as a duet with Jones. Yates toured several countries in Europe, including Switzerland and Lithuania, to support this album. According to Yates, his music gained popularity on that continent thanks to fans discovering and downloading it via the Internet. He continued to tour Europe in 2011 in support of his next album, Just Be You. Unlike his previous albums, Yates wrote every song by himself. "On My Way (The Norway Song)" was the album's lead single. His last independent album was 2015's These Old Walls, which like its predecessors was supported through extensive touring in Europe.

In an interview with Country Music News International, Yates cited Keith Whitley, Webb Pierce, Lefty Frizzell, and Buck Owens among his main musical influences. He also stated that he preferred to record on his own label instead of on a major label, because of the amount of control he is able to maintain over his own music in terms of songwriting and production. They have one son named Grayson, who was ten years old when he provided guest vocals on Just Be You.