Dave Gonzalez (guitarist)

Dave Gonzalez
Dave Gonzalez - Live in Concert
Background information
Genres	Roots rock, alt-country, rock & roll, rockabilly, blues-rock, Americana
Associated acts	The Paladins, Hacienda Brothers

Dave Gonzalez (April 24, 1961) is a guitarist, singer, and songwriter from Southern California and, with Thomas Yearsley, founding member of the roots rock/rockabilly band The Paladins in the early 1980s, and then co-founder with Chris Gaffney of the Hacienda Brothers.

A guitar player with a signature Fender to his credit and praised by his fellow guitar players and guitar magazines, his playing is regularly compared to Stevie Ray Vaughan's.

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.

In 2003 Dave Gonzalez and fellow veteran musician Chris Gaffney founded the western soul band The Hacienda Brothers. 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. 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 as a featured guest for a show in San Francisco.

Gonzalez made the list of the "101 Forgotten Greats & Unsung Heroes" selected by Guitar Player:

A certified badass from the Southern California blues scene, Gonzales fronted the Paladins—a roots rock/rockabilly trio that gave him plenty of room to showcase his industrial-strength chops on a Guild X-550 archtop—for more than 20 years. A disciple of legendary West Coast blues guitarist Hollywood Fats—and a big fan of vintage country—Gonzales' no B.S. style reeks of everything that's cool about classic American guitar music.