Chris Gaffney (October 3, 1950 – April 17, 2008) was an American singer and songwriter from the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sepa ...

. His career, both as a solo musician and as a member of several bands, was as eclectic as his musical tastes. Although he never achieved widespread fame, Gaffney, who died at the age of 57 from

liver cancer Liver cancer (also known as hepatic cancer, primary hepatic cancer, or primary hepatic malignancy) is cancer that starts in the liver. Liver cancer can be primary (starts in liver) or secondary (meaning cancer which has spread from elsewhere to th ...

, left his mark on country, rock, soul, and other forms of American music. In its obituary, the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

'' described Gaffney as "a peer of

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Alvin Alvin may refer to: Places Canada *Alvin, British Columbia United States *Alvin, Colorado *Alvin, Georgia *Alvin, Illinois * Alvin, Michigan *Alvin, Texas * Alvin, Wisconsin, a town *Alvin (community), Wisconsin, an unincorporated community Other ...

Los Lobos Los Lobos (, Spanish for "the Wolves") are an American rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, zydeco, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional music such as cumbia, ...

, X and the

Red Hot Chili Peppers Red Hot Chili Peppers are an American rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1983, comprising vocalist Anthony Kiedis, bassist Flea (musician), Flea, drummer Chad Smith, and guitarist John Frusciante. Their music incorporates element ...

in chronicling the life of

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

."Mike Boehm, ''Los Angeles Times''
April 18, 2008

Career

A self-described "army brat," Christopher F. Gaffney was born in

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, Austria, he then moved to

Livorno, Italy Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

and New York City as a young child. But Gaffney grew up primarily in southern California and

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

. In addition to music, Gaffney loved sports, especially boxing, and earned an LA

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

championship in 1967 and even trained with boxing hall-of-famer Jackie McCoy. As a child, he learned to play the

accordion Accordions (from 19th-century German ''Akkordeon'', from ''Akkord''—"musical chord, concord of sounds") are a family of box-shaped musical instruments of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone type (producing sound as air flows past a reed ...

and listened to norteno,

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

, and

rock & roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm an ...

. Gaffney's bio at Allmusic.com/ref> As a teenager, Gaffney played in various house band and eventually released his first solo album, ''Road to Indio'', in 1986. Produced by friend Wyman Reese, his debut album demonstrated his "genre-bending" tastes by showcasing forays into

honky tonk A honky-tonk (also called honkatonk, honkey-tonk, or tonk) is both a bar that provides country music for the entertainment of its patrons and the style of music played in such establishments. It can also refer to the type of piano ( tack piano) ...

, soul, and Bakersfield country. His next album was as Chris Gaffney & the Cold Hard Facts. Released in 1990, this album revealed Latino influences and dealt with issues of poverty and working-class life. Two years later, Gaffney released ''Mi Vida Loca'' which has been described as a "cross between

Merle Haggard Merle Ronald Haggard (April 6, 1937 – April 6, 2016) was an American country music singer, songwriter, guitarist, and fiddler. Haggard was born in Oildale, California, toward the end of the Great Depression. His childhood was troubled af ...

and

The Blasters The Blasters are an American rock band formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin (vocals and guitar) and Dave Alvin (guitar), with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman. Their self-described " American Music" i ...

." Allmusic's review of ''Mi Vida Loca''/ref> His next solo album, '' Loser's Paradise'', (1995) was produced by Gaffney's friend

Dave Alvin David Albert Alvin (born November 11, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. He is a former and founding member of the roots rock band the Blasters. Alvin has recorded and performed as a solo artist since the late 1980s a ...

and featured contributions from

Lucinda Williams Lucinda Gayle Williams (born January 26, 1953) is an American singer-songwriter and a solo guitarist. She recorded her first two albums: '' Ramblin' on My Mind'' (1979) and '' Happy Woman Blues'' (1980), in a traditional country and blues style ...

and

Jim Lauderdale James Russell Lauderdale (born April 11, 1957) is an American country, bluegrass, and Americana singer-songwriter. Since 1986, he has released 31 studio albums, including collaborations with artists such as Dr. Ralph Stanley, Buddy Miller, and ...

. In 2002, Gaffney formed the band

Hacienda Brothers The Hacienda Brothers is an American alternative country band composed of Chris Gaffney, Dave Gonzalez, Dave Berzansky, Dale Daniel, and Hank Maninger. They have been described as "the finest country rock band since the Flying Burrito Brothers ...

with guitarist and songwriter Dave Gonzalez, founding member of

The Paladins The Paladins are an American roots rock-rockabilly band from San Diego, California. Founded in the early 1980s by guitarist Dave Gonzalez and his high school friend and double bass player Thomas Yearsley, they have recorded nine studio albums an ...

. They recorded their third studio album shortly before Gaffney's death in early 2008. He died from

Newport, California Newport is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California. It is located on California State Route 1 near the Pacific OceanDeLorme ''California Atlas & Gazetteer'' (2008) Yarmouth, Maine p.47 south of Westport, at an elevation of ...

. In addition to his solo and band work, Gaffney has also toured as a member of

& the Guilty Men and contributed to albums by

, The Iguanas,

Tom Russell Thomas George Russell (born 1947/1948) is an American singer-songwriter. Although most strongly identified with the Americana music tradition, his music also incorporates elements of folk, rock, and the cowboy music of the American West. Many ...

Christy McWilson Christy McWilson is an American singer-songwriter based in the Pacific Northwest. She has performed with the Dynette Set, the Picketts, as a solo artist, and with many other artists, including Dave Alvin and The Young Fresh Fellows. Early life ...

, The Lonesome Strangers, and Billy Bacon. In 2009, a tribute album to Gaffney was released, ''A Man of Somebody's Dreams: A Tribute to the Songs of Chris Gaffney'', which included songs played by fellow Hacienda Brothers as well as others such as

and

. In 2011, Dave Alvin included a song about Gaffney, "Run Conejo Run", in his album ''Eleven Eleven''.

Discography

Solo

*1986 – ''Road to Indio'' *1989 – ''Chris Gaffney & the Cold Hard Facts'' *1992 – ''Mi Vida Loca'' *1994 – ''Man of Somebody's Dreams'' (Live, Zurich, Switzerland, April 22, 1994) *1995 – '' Loser's Paradise'' *2000 – ''Live & Then Some'' -CD set: CD 1 – live, California, March 27/28, 1999; CD 2- ''Road to Indio''

With the Hacienda Brothers

*2005 – ''Hacienda Brothers'' *2006 – ''What's Wrong with Right'' *2007 – ''Live: Music for Ranch & Town (live, Oslo, Norway, October 8, 2005)'' *2008 – ''Arizona Motel''

Tribute album

*2009 – ''Man of Somebody's Dreams: A Tribute to the Songs of Chris Gaffney''

References

External links

Hacienda Brothers' official websiteHelpGaff.comInterview
on

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Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 6 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaffney, Chris 1950 births 2008 deaths American rockabilly musicians American blues singers American country singer-songwriters American folk singers American rock guitarists American male guitarists American rock singers Singer-songwriters from California American alternative country singers American accordionists Deaths from liver cancer Deaths from cancer in California 20th-century American singers 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Arizona Guitarists from California 20th-century accordionists Country musicians from California Country musicians from Arizona 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters Singer-songwriters from Arizona