Spotlight: Hacienda Brothers

"I'm a giant boxing fan," remarks 1967 L.A. Golden Gloves champion Chris Gaffney. "I had 83 fights myself and could never get away from the game."

Gaffney is still scrapping. Former band the Cold Hard Facts was an uphill climb, but his boxer's endurance and luck pay off in current project the Hacienda Brothers, the confluence of classic country and R&B (dubbed "Western soul") Gaffney co-fronts with Paladins singer-songwriter/guitarist Dave Gonzalez.

"Our manager has a place in Tucson we always used to call the Honky-Tonk Hacienda," explains Gaffney. "We named ourselves after that."

Legendary Muscle Shoals producer and songwriter Dan Penn helmed both Hacienda discs, last year's What's Wrong With Right (Proper American) landing on Top 10 lists nationwide.

"I'm definitely surprised by the reaction we're getting," Gaffney acknowledges. "We started from nothing and keep getting better as we go along."

So how does it feel to record "Cry Like a Baby," the Penn-Spooner Oldham classic recorded by the Box Tops, Petula Clark, and Cher, with its co-writer looking on? Gaffney stands his ground.

"Dan's only seven or eight years older than me, so it's really like singing for my older brother, not my dad," he demurs. "He makes me feel comfortable, and we've become pretty good friends. I prefer that soulful kind of music myself. I don't mind the Western part; I just don't like singing it all the time."