Hacienda Brothers
Encyclopedia
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 band of the decade." Their music blends soul, blues
, rockabilly
, and rock. They themselves call it "western Soul." The band was hailed as making a "groundbreaking blend of country, rock, blues and accordion-anchored Americana
" and by the time founder Chris Gaffney died in 2008 had made three studio albums and one live album.
. Gonzalez is a singer, songwriter, and guitar player, then mainly active with The Paladins
. After playing on stage together, they soon joined in Tucson, Arizona
, to write and record their first album.
Calling themselves the Hacienda Brothers, they were joined by Dave Berzansky (pedal steel
), Hank Maninger (bass
, also with the Aqua Velvets
), and Dale Daniel (drums). Their self-titled debut (2005) was produced by the legendary Dan Penn
, who also wrote two tracks. The album was praised widely; Vintage Guitar called it "a great CD." What's Wrong with Right, also produced by Penn
, was released the following year and garnered critical accolades. Bob Mehr, writing for Mojo Magazine, praised its "authentic sawdust-floor shuffles" and "cinematic Morricone
twang."
Their self-titled debut album appeared in 2005, and quickly the band received critical recognition for their eclectic music. Their second album, What's Wrong With Right, was chosen by the alternative country magazine No Depression as one of the top 60 albums for 2006 and by R&R
as one of the top 100 Albums of 2006. Band leaders Gaffney and Gonzalez were interviewed by Terry Gross
on NPR's Fresh Air
; and Gonzalez was voted one of the "Top 101 All-time Unsung Guitar Heroes" by Guitar Player Magazine. In 2007, they were nominated for "Group of the Year" by the American Music Association. In August 2007, they released a live album Music for Ranch & Town.
Chris Gaffney died of liver cancer on April 17, 2008, while the band was wrapping up the recording of their third studio album, Arizona Motel. The album received great critical acclaim and was called "forceful and timeless." A positive review accompanied an "in memoriam" article for Gaffney in Vintage Guitar; a later review in the same magazine said the album "kicked butt": "This album delivers more moments of greatness, more consistently, than any of their previous releases and is a fully realized work of music-craft." The band planned on touring in support of a tribute album for Gaffney and did so in 2008; on at least one occasion they were joined by Dave Alvin as a special guest. 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.
's "Home of the Blues," "Cry Like a Baby" (originally by the Box Tops
), Gamble and Huff
's "Cowboys to Girls" (recorded by the Intruders and the Commodores
), Charlie Rich
's "Rebound" and "Life's Little Ups and Downs," Penn
and Oldham
's "It Tears Me Up" (also recorded by Percy Sledge
), and "Mental Revenge" (a song written for Waylon Jennings
by Mel Tillis
).
Alternative country
Alternative country is a loosely defined sub-genre of country music, which includes acts that differ significantly in style from mainstream or pop country music...
band composed of Chris Gaffney
Chris Gaffney
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...
, 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 band of the decade." Their music blends soul, blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
, rockabilly
Rockabilly
Rockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
, and rock. They themselves call it "western Soul." The band was hailed as making a "groundbreaking blend of country, rock, blues and accordion-anchored Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
" and by the time founder Chris Gaffney died in 2008 had made three studio albums and one live album.
History
The Hacienda Brothers began in 2002 when friends Chris Gaffney and Dave Gonzalez played together during an impromptu jam session at a birthday party. Gaffney was a successful singer and songwriter who had released several albums with the band the Cold Hard Facts and had toured with Dave AlvinDave 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....
. Gonzalez is a singer, songwriter, and guitar player, then mainly active with 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...
. After playing on stage together, they soon joined in Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...
, to write and record their first album.
Calling themselves the Hacienda Brothers, they were joined by Dave Berzansky (pedal steel
Pedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
), Hank Maninger (bass
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, also with the Aqua Velvets
Aqua Velvets
Aqua Velvets are an American surf rock revival band from San Francisco, California, formed in the 1980s by guitarist Miles Corbin. Rather than simply recreate the vintage 1963 surf sound, Corbin set out to add depth and dimension with original songs that included strings, horns, keyboards, and...
), and Dale Daniel (drums). Their self-titled debut (2005) was produced by the legendary Dan Penn
Dan Penn
Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby"...
, who also wrote two tracks. The album was praised widely; Vintage Guitar called it "a great CD." What's Wrong with Right, also produced by Penn
Dan Penn
Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby"...
, was released the following year and garnered critical accolades. Bob Mehr, writing for Mojo Magazine, praised its "authentic sawdust-floor shuffles" and "cinematic Morricone
Ennio Morricone
Ennio Morricone, Grand Officer OMRI, , is an Italian composer and conductor, who wrote music to more than 500 motion pictures and television series, in a career lasting over 50 years. His scores have been included in over 20 award-winning films as well as several symphonic and choral pieces...
twang."
Their self-titled debut album appeared in 2005, and quickly the band received critical recognition for their eclectic music. Their second album, What's Wrong With Right, was chosen by the alternative country magazine No Depression as one of the top 60 albums for 2006 and by R&R
R&R (magazine)
R&R was a weekly music trade publication that followed the radio industry and tracked the monitoring of current songs by format, station and audience cumes...
as one of the top 100 Albums of 2006. Band leaders Gaffney and Gonzalez were interviewed by Terry Gross
Terry Gross
Terry Gross is the host and co-executive producer of Fresh Air, an interview format radio show produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia and distributed throughout the United States by National Public Radio....
on NPR's Fresh Air
Fresh Air
Fresh 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...
; and Gonzalez was voted one of the "Top 101 All-time Unsung Guitar Heroes" by Guitar Player Magazine. In 2007, they were nominated for "Group of the Year" by the American Music Association. In August 2007, they released a live album Music for Ranch & Town.
Chris Gaffney died of liver cancer on April 17, 2008, while the band was wrapping up the recording of their third studio album, Arizona Motel. The album received great critical acclaim and was called "forceful and timeless." A positive review accompanied an "in memoriam" article for Gaffney in Vintage Guitar; a later review in the same magazine said the album "kicked butt": "This album delivers more moments of greatness, more consistently, than any of their previous releases and is a fully realized work of music-craft." The band planned on touring in support of a tribute album for Gaffney and did so in 2008; on at least one occasion they were joined by Dave Alvin as a special guest. 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.
Song choice
Their range of musical taste is evident in their choice of material. In addition to many originals, they have recorded Johnny CashJohnny Cash
John R. "Johnny" Cash was an American singer-songwriter, actor, and author, who has been called one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century...
's "Home of the Blues," "Cry Like a Baby" (originally by the Box Tops
Box Tops
The Box Tops were a Memphis rock group of the second half of the 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow," "Soul Deep," "I Met Her in Church," and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period...
), Gamble and Huff
Gamble and Huff
Kenneth Gamble and Leon A. Huff are an American songwriting and record production team who have written and produced over 170 gold and platinum records. They were pioneers of Philadelphia soul and the in-house creative team for the Philadelphia International record label...
's "Cowboys to Girls" (recorded by the Intruders and the Commodores
Commodores
The Commodores are an American funk/soul band of the 1970s and 1980s. The members of the group met as mostly freshmen at Tuskegee Institute in 1968, and signed with Motown in November 1972, having first caught the public eye opening for The Jackson 5 while on tour...
), Charlie Rich
Charlie Rich
Charles Rich was an American country music singer and musician. A Grammy Award winner, his eclectic-style of music was often hard to classify in a single genre, playing in the rockabilly, jazz, blues, country, and gospel genres.In the latter part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname The Silver...
's "Rebound" and "Life's Little Ups and Downs," Penn
Dan Penn
Dan Penn is an American singer, songwriter, record producer and sometime guitar player who co-wrote many soul hits of the 1960s including "Dark End of the Street" and "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" and "Out of Left Field" & "Cry Like A Baby"...
and Oldham
Spooner Oldham
Dewey Lindon "Spooner" Oldham is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama and at FAME Studios on such hit R&B songs as "When a Man Loves a Woman" by Percy Sledge, "Mustang Sally" by Wilson Pickett and "I Never Loved a Man" by Aretha...
's "It Tears Me Up" (also recorded by Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge
Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...
), and "Mental Revenge" (a song written for Waylon Jennings
Waylon Jennings
Waylon Arnold Jennings was an American country music singer, songwriter, and musician. Jennings began playing at eight. He began performing at twelve, on KVOW radio. Jennings formed a band The Texas Longhorns. Jennings worked as a D.J on KVOW, KDAV and KLLL...
by Mel Tillis
Mel Tillis
Lonnie Melvin Tillis , known professionally as Mel Tillis, is an American country music singer. Although he recorded songs since the late 1950s, his biggest success occurred in the 1970s, with a long list of Top 10 hits....
).
Band members
- Chris GaffneyChris GaffneyChris 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...
- vocal and accordionAccordionThe 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.... - Dave Gonzalez - vocal and guitar
- Dave Berzansky - pedal steel guitarPedal steel guitarThe pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
- Dale Daniel - drums
- Hank Maninger - bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
Discography
- 2008 - Arizona Motel
- 2007 - Music for Ranch & Town (Live)
- 2006 - What's Wrong with Right
- 2005 - Hacienda Brothers