Billy Wayne Yates (born March 13, 1963) is an American country music artist. He has released ten studio albums and has charted four singles on the Billboard country charts, including "Flowers" which reached number 36 in 1997. Yates also co-wrote George Jones' singles "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair" and "Choices", which were released in 1993 and 1999 respectively. Other artists who have recorded Yates' work include Ricochet, Ricky Van Shelton, and Kenny Chesney. In addition to his work as a singer and songwriter, Yates is the owner of the songwriting and publishing company Smokin' Grapes, which was founded in 2006. Yates' musical style is defined by neotraditional country and honky-tonk influences, and has been favorably compared to artists such as Gene Watson. Biography 1963–1992: Early life Billy Wayne Yates was born on March 13, 1963, in Doniphan, Missouri. He was raised on his family's farm, where he took inspiration from the various country music artists to which his family listened, such as Jim Reeves and Ernest Tubb. His father was a barber and would often pay his son to shine customers' shoes at his barber shop. Yates and his father would also sing every Sunday on a local radio show hosted by the town's radio station, KDFN. He did not otherwise perform publicly until he gave an impromptu performance of "Crying My Heart Out Over You" at a local show in Wappapello, Missouri, as a teen. He continued to perform at this show for three years until his father encouraged him to also get a barber's license. After doing so, Yates began working at a barber in Doniphan during the daytime while also working as a nighttime disc jockey at KDFN. 1993–1999: "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair" and Billy Yates 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. Upon returning to Nashville in the early 1990s, he got his first songwriter publishing contract with Hori Pro Entertainment, which led to George Jones recording two of his songs for his 1992 album Walls Can Fall. "I Don't Need Your Rockin' Chair", one of the two songs recorded by Jones, was released as a single that year and was nominated