Chris Gaffney
Encyclopedia
Chris Gaffney was an American
singer and songwriter
from the Southwest
. 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
, left his mark on country, rock, soul, and other forms of American music. In its obituary, the LA Times described Gaffney as "a peer of [Dave] Alvin
, Los Lobos
, X and the Red Hot Chili Peppers
in chronicling the life of Southern California
."
as a young child. But Gaffney grew up primarily in southern California
and Arizona
. In addition to music, Gaffney loved sports, especially boxing, and earned an LA
Golden Gloves
championship in 1967 and even trained with boxing hall-of-famer Jackie McCoy.
As a child, he learned to play the accordion
and listened to norteno
, country
,
and rock & roll. 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
, 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
and The Blasters
." His next solo album, Loser's Paradise, (2003) was produced by Gaffney's friend Dave Alvin
and featured contributions from Lucinda Williams
and Jim Lauderdale
.
In 2002, Gaffney formed the band Hacienda Brothers
with guitarist and songwriter Dave Gonzalez, founding member of The Paladins
. They recorded their third studio album shortly before Gaffney's death in early 2008. He died from liver cancer
in Newport, California
.
In addition to his solo and band work, Gaffney has also toured as a member of Dave Alvin
& the Guilty Men and contributed to albums by Lucinda Williams
, The Iguanas, Tom Russell
, Christy McWilson, 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 Dave Alvin
and Los Lobos
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
from the Southwest
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
. His career, both as a solo musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
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
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...
, left his mark on country, rock, soul, and other forms of American music. In its obituary, the LA Times described Gaffney as "a peer of [Dave] Alvin
Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin , is a guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has been one of the leading proponents of 'roots' or 'American' music, bringing together elements of rock-and-roll, blues, rural and tejano music....
, Los Lobos
Los Lobos
Los Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
, X and the Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Red Hot Chili Peppers is an American rock band, formed in Los Angeles in 1983. The group's musical style primarily consists of rock with an emphasis on funk, as well as elements from other genres such as punk, hip hop and psychedelic rock...
in chronicling the life of Southern California
Southern California
Southern California is a megaregion, or megapolitan area, in the southern area of the U.S. state of California. Large urban areas include Greater Los Angeles and Greater San Diego. The urban area stretches along the coast from Ventura through the Southland and Inland Empire to San Diego...
."
Career
A self-described "army brat," Christopher F. Gaffney was born in Vienna, Austria, he then moved to Livorno, Italy and New YorkNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
as a young child. But Gaffney grew up primarily in southern California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
. In addition to music, Gaffney loved sports, especially boxing, and earned an LA
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
Golden Gloves
Golden Gloves
The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States. The Golden Gloves is often the term used to refer to the National Golden Gloves competition, but it also can represent several other amateur tournaments, including regional golden gloves...
championship in 1967 and even trained with boxing hall-of-famer Jackie McCoy.
As a child, he learned to play the accordion
Accordion
The accordion is a box-shaped musical instrument of the bellows-driven free-reed aerophone family, sometimes referred to as a squeezebox. A person who plays the accordion is called an accordionist....
and listened to norteno
Norteño (music)
Norteño , also norteña or conjunto, is a genre of Mexican music. The accordion and the bajo sexto are norteño's most characteristic instruments. The norteño genre is popular in both Mexico and the United States, especially among the Mexican community...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
,
and rock & roll. 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
Honky tonk
A honky-tonk is a type of bar that provides musical entertainment to its patrons...
, soul, and Bakersfield country
Bakersfield sound
The Bakersfield sound was a genre of country music developed in the mid- to late 1950s in and around Bakersfield, California. The many hit singles were largely produced by Capitol Records country music head, Ken Nelson. Bakersfield country was a reaction against the slickly produced, string...
.
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 Haggard
Merle Ronald Haggard is an American country music singer, guitarist, fiddler, instrumentalist, and songwriter. Along with Buck Owens, Haggard and his band The Strangers helped create the Bakersfield sound, which is characterized by the unique twang of Fender Telecaster guitars, vocal harmonies,...
and The Blasters
The Blasters
The Blasters are a rock and roll music group formed in 1979 in Downey, California, by brothers Phil Alvin and Dave Alvin , with bass guitarist John Bazz and drummer Bill Bateman. Phil Alvin explained the origin of the band's name: "I thought Joe Turner’s backup band on Atlantic records – I had...
." His next solo album, Loser's Paradise, (2003) was produced by Gaffney's friend Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin , is a guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has been one of the leading proponents of 'roots' or 'American' music, bringing together elements of rock-and-roll, blues, rural and tejano music....
and featured contributions from Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams is an American rock, folk, blues and country music singer and songwriter. She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media, or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album,...
and Jim Lauderdale
Jim Lauderdale
Jim Lauderdale is a musician & singer-songwriter who performs bluegrass and country music. He has recorded since 1986 and has released nineteen studio albums. Artists who have recorded his material include George Strait and Patty Loveless.-Biography:...
.
In 2002, Gaffney formed the band Hacienda Brothers
Hacienda Brothers
The Hacienda Brothers is the name of an 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 in their prime," and were called "the best country...
with guitarist and songwriter Dave Gonzalez, founding member of The Paladins
The Paladins
The Paladins are a 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 and built a reputation as one of America's hardest-working live...
. They recorded their third studio album shortly before Gaffney's death in early 2008. He died from liver cancer
Liver cancer
Liver tumors or hepatic tumors are tumors or growths on or in the liver . Several distinct types of tumors can develop in the liver because the liver is made up of various cell types. These growths can be benign or malignant...
in Newport, California
Newport, California
Newport is an unincorporated community in Mendocino County, California. It is located on the Pacific Ocean south of Westport, at an elevation of 135 feet .Newport shipped lumber in prior times....
.
In addition to his solo and band work, Gaffney has also toured as a member of Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin , is a guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has been one of the leading proponents of 'roots' or 'American' music, bringing together elements of rock-and-roll, blues, rural and tejano music....
& the Guilty Men and contributed to albums by Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams
Lucinda Williams is an American rock, folk, blues and country music singer and songwriter. She recorded her first albums in 1978 and 1980 in a traditional country and blues style and received very little attention from radio, the media, or the public. In 1988, she released her self-titled album,...
, The Iguanas, Tom Russell
Tom Russell
Thomas George "Tom" Russell is an American singer-songwriter. Although most strongly identified with the Texas Country music tradition, his music also incorporates elements of folk, Tex-Mex, and the cowboy music of the American West. Many of his songs have been recorded by other artists, including...
, Christy McWilson, 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 Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin
Dave Alvin , is a guitarist, singer and songwriter. He has been one of the leading proponents of 'roots' or 'American' music, bringing together elements of rock-and-roll, blues, rural and tejano music....
and Los Lobos
Los Lobos
Los Lobos are a multiple Grammy Award–winning American Chicano rock band from East Los Angeles, California. Their music is influenced by rock and roll, Tex-Mex, country, folk, R&B, blues, brown-eyed soul, and traditional Spanish and Mexican music such as cumbia, boleros and norteños.-History:The...
.
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 [2 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
External links
- Hacienda Brothers' official website
- HelpGaff.com
- Interview on NPRNPRNPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's Fresh AirFresh AirFresh Air is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States. The show is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its longtime host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 450 stations and claimed 4.5 million listeners. The show...