Chris Gaffney

I'm sad to report the death of a great musician and very good friend, Chris Gaffney. Chris died in his sleep the morning of Thursday, April 17th after being hospitalized after a fall at home. For those who were not fortunate enough to see any of the bands Chris was in, there are some clips of him on the Hacienda Brothers website. I first saw Chris playing with the Phantom Herd at the long-gone Café Metro in Newport Beach, back in early 1979. In that band, also, were Gary Brandin and Wyman Reese, both long-time members of Chris' bands. Chris' latest ensemble was with LA's legendary guitarist and gearhead Dave Gonzales (the Paladins) in the Hacienda Brothers.

Chris was an amazing person: an ex-high school football player and Golden Gloves (champion) boxer, who could get teary -eyed on stage singing some old country weeper. He could be a man of few words, just nodding in conversation or showing a small, elfin smile, or (like the last time I got to talk to him, backstage at a bar in Denver) talking almost non-stop for around two hours, about boxing, music, cars, guitars and the funny things you see touring the country in a crowded band-van.

Years ago, at a Sunday afternoon gathering at the home of former Phantom Herd bass player "Bunk" Bentley, I mentioned to Chris, off-handedly, some comment about Chris being a great artist. He was hung over from the previous night's gig, but was sipping a beer anyway. "I'm no artist!", he said, grumpily. He took a long pull from the bottle, then said, quietly, "I'm a Country singer." He was, and and a lot more.

Spring in Denver

A typical Spring sequence here in Denver, folks: yesterday it almost reached 80º F and today it's snowing! Luckily, since the trees are starting to leaf out, it's a light snow and not sticking, so no worries about limbs breaking.

For those interested in a Fall road trip, our friends Halden Wofford and the High Beams will be playing in Cimarron, NM on September 20th, at the annual Shortgrass Music Festival. I'm not sure where the three featured bands play, but I'm guessing that at least the High Beams will be playing at the Colfax Tavern, aka "Cold Beer". This is the bar in the background of my "profile" photo in this blog. Go to www.cimarronnm.com/shorgrass.htm for more info. If you've never seen Cimarron, it is quite a town. Our favorite place to stay is the St. James Hotel, built, and run for years, by President Lincoln's White House chef, Henri Lambert. More info on that at www.stjamescimarron.com. There are more "modern" rooms alongside the original building if you're not into the "bathroom-down-the-hall" experience, and there are motels in town, too. The restaurant is really good (it was originally the bar, with bullet-holes in the tin ceiling to prove it!), the bar is full of interesting locals, and you can look into restored rooms. Beautiful area, and full of history. We're tentatively going, depending on my time off available.

Thought I should add to today's entry that those who want to find out about how to leave a message for Gaff, or to contribute to the fund to assist the family with medical bills, go to: www.helpgaff.com or to the Hacienda Brothers website.

Doug

Chris Gaffney

To all of Chris Gaffney's friends and fans across the US and the world, thanks for your contributions to help out our friend in his fight against liver cancer! Tammy and I (and many of Chris' new "Hacienda Brothers" fans here in Denver) look forward to seeing Chris here in Denver again very soon.

Doug Johnson