Eddie Perez (guitarist)

Edward Anthony Perez (born June 26, 1968 in Los Angeles, California) is an American guitarist and singer. He currently tours and records with The Mavericks after a long time of being on tour with Dwight Yoakam. Perez joined the Grammy award-winning, multi-platinum band The Mavericks as a member in 2003. He has also played with other notable artists such as James Intveld, Connie Smith, Jim Lauderdale, Miranda Lambert, Lee Ann Womack, Gary Allan and Kim Richey. In addition to his work with The Mavericks, he has worked with Mavericks' lead singer, Raul Malo, on his solo projects, including the Peter Asher-produced record, You're Only Lonely.

He can be seen on the DVDs The Mavericks - Live in Austin, Texas, as well as the DVD Return to Sin City: A Tribute to Gram Parsons. He also appears in CMT's 100 Greatest Love Songs and CMT's 100 Greatest Duets.

Born in Los Angeles, Perez grew up listening to rock guitarists of the 1970s and 1980s. “My heroes were Jimmy Page, Jeff Beck, Van Halen and Ace Frehley,” Perez told the Pittsburgh City Paper in June 2016. “Everything a big-eyed boy would find fascinating about rock ’n’ roll, that was me. I was 12 years old and my father took me to see ZZ Top and it blew my mind. I was never the same after that.”

Perez began playing in bands at the age of 13 and discovered Honky Tonk music when he first heard "Guitars and Cadillacs" by Dwight Yoakam, with whom he would later perform. “Hearing that really turned me around and it gave me a focus. From then on I started to learn everything I could about that music. But then I also had that rock ’n’ roll background, too.” In 2003, Perez replaced Nick Kane in the Mavericks, just a short time before the band broke up. A consummate showman, Perez is known for his flair on stage both in his dress and in his stage movements. "You wouldn’t think that an influence of Jimmy Page or Angus Young of AC/DC would fit into the Mavericks, but somehow it does,” Perez says of his stage presence. “When I’m on stage, I show up to give a performance because that’s what I would want to see. You dig what I’m saying? I’m not so much thinking it as much as I’m feeling it. I try to get to the most real, honest place that I can within each song. What I’m doing on stage is a visual to what that sound feels like to me.”

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