Dave Gonzalez (born April 24, 1961) is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter from Southern California and, with Thomas Yearsley, founding member of the

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern roc ...

rockabilly Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music. It dates back to the early 1950s in the United States, especially the Southern United States, South. As a genre it blends the sound of Western music (North America), Western music ...

band

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 ...

in the early 1980s, and then co-founder with Chris Gaffney of the

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 Brothe ...

. A guitar player with a signature

Fender Fender may refer to: Transport * Fender (boating), a bumper used to keep boats from banging into docks or each other * Fender (vehicle) or wing, a part of a motor vehicle that frames a wheel well * Fender, a "cow catcher" on a tram, see Pilot (lo ...

to his credit and praised by his fellow guitar players and guitar magazines, his playing is regularly compared to

Stevie Ray Vaughan Stephen Ray Vaughan (October 3, 1954 – August 27, 1990) was an American musician, best known as the guitarist and frontman of the blues rock trio Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble. Although his mainstream career spanned only seven years ...

's.

Career

The Paladins

The Paladins were founded in the early 1980s and are still active, though sporadically so. They put out a number of studio albums, but made their reputation on the road, touring constantly in the US and abroad.

The Hacienda Brothers

In 2003 Dave Gonzalez and fellow veteran musician Chris Gaffney founded the western soul band The

. The band received critical recognition for their self-titled debut album and were nominated in 2007 for "Group of the Year" by the

Americana Music Association The Americana Music Association is a not-for-profit trade organization advocating for American Roots Music around the world. It is a network for Americana artists, radio stations, record labels, publishers, and others with the goal of develo ...

. Their third and last album was wrapped up early 2008, but Chris Gaffney died on April 17, 2008, of liver disease. Dave Gonzalaz oversaw the final production and release of the album, ''Arizona Motel''. In the summer of 2008, Gonzalez organized "a kind of Hacienda Brothers farewell tour as a tribute to Gaffney," with

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 ...

as a featured guest for a show in San Francisco. Dave Gonzalez

Guitar accolades

Gonzalez made the list of the "101 Forgotten Greats & Unsung Heroes" selected by ''

Guitar Player ''Guitar Player'' is an American popular magazine for guitarists, founded in 1967 in San Jose, California San Jose, officially San José (; ; ), is a major city in the U.S. state of California that is the cultural, financial, and political ...

'':

Equipment

Gonzalez plays guitars that reflect his love for the 1950s: a 1953 Gibson and a 1953 Gretsch, and formerly a late-1950s Silvertone. He is endorsed by

, which made a Signature Model and as a nod to Gonzalez called it the Guild Paladin (X-550). It was modeled from an original 1957 Guild that Gonzalez played while with the Paladins; it had been refretted so often that, Gonzalez says, the frets "just wouldn't stay in anymore." His amplifiers with the Paladins were a

Fender Bassman The Fender Bassman is a bass amplifier series introduced by Fender during 1952. Initially intended to amplify bass guitars, the 5B6 Bassman was used by musicians for other instrument amplification, including the electric guitar, harmonica, and pe ...

(with four 10" speakers) and a

Fender Super Reverb The Fender Super Reverb is a guitar amplifier made by Fender. It was originally introduced in 1963 and was discontinued in 1982. The Super Reverb was a Fender Super amplifier with built-in reverb and "vibrato" (actually tremolo). The origi ...

, and he used an

Echoplex The Echoplex is a tape delay effect, first made in 1959. Designed by Mike Battle, the Echoplex set a standard for the effect in the 1960s—it is still regarded as "the standard by which everything else is measured." It was used by some of th ...

. After he started playing (with Chris Gaffney) in a more

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, whil ...

-oriented style, he switched guitars, adopting a number of

Fender Telecaster The Fender Telecaster, colloquially known as the Tele , is an electric guitar produced by Fender. Together with its sister model the Esquire, it is the world's first mass-produced, commercially successfulLes Paul had built a prototype solid body ...

s, including a "killer gold-sparkle

Buck Owens Alvis Edgar Owens Jr. (August 12, 1929 – March 25, 2006), known professionally as Buck Owens, was an American musician, singer, songwriter, and band leader. He was the lead singer for Buck Owens and the Buckaroos, which had 21 No. 1 hits on t ...

Tele." He also plays a

baritone guitar The baritone guitar is a guitar with a longer scale length, typically a larger body, and heavier internal bracing, so it can be tuned to a lower pitch. Gretsch, Fender, Gibson, Ibanez, ESP Guitars, PRS Guitars, Music Man, Danelectro, Sch ...

, a

Fender Jazzmaster The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in th ...

with a

Fender Bass VI The Fender Bass VI, originally known as the Fender VI, is a six-string electric bass guitar made by Fender. Design concept and history The Fender VI was released in 1961 and followed the concept of the Danelectro six-string bass released in 195 ...

neck made at the Fender Custom Shop. The guitar has thick strings, from 0.14 to 0.70, and is tuned to A. He also changed amplifiers, since he played too loud for the Hacienda Brothers, and switched to a Fender Vibrolux.

The Paladins discography

*1986 - ''The Paladins'' *1988 - ''Years Since Yesterday'' *1990 - ''Let's Buzz'' *1994 - ''Ticket Home'' *1996 - ''Million Mile Club'' *1999 - ''ReJiveinated'' *1999 - ''Slippin In'' *2001 - ''Palvoline No. 7'' *2003 - ''El Matador'' *2007 - ''Power Shake Live in Holland'' (live DVD) *2008 - ''Hollywood Fats & The Paladins - Live 1985'' (Recorded live at the Greenville Bar & Grill, Dallas Texas, December 1985) *2017 - ''New World''

Hacienda Brothers's discography

*2005 - ''Hacienda Brothers'' *2006 - ''What's Wrong with Right'' *2007 - ''Music for Ranch & Town (Live)'' *2008 - ''Arizona Motel''

References

External links

Hacienda Brothers' websitePaladins Biography on Enotes.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gonzalez, Dave 1961 births Living people American country guitarists American male guitarists American country singer-songwriters American rockabilly musicians American rock guitarists Singer-songwriters from California American alternative country singers Guitarists from California 20th-century American guitarists Country musicians from California 20th-century American male musicians American male singer-songwriters