Fare Is Hot and Spicy When Guitarist Cooks at Belly Up

Usually, when you say that a musician “cooks,” it’s a commentary on the intensity of his playing. But when Paladins guitarist Dave Gonzales appears at the Belly Up Tavern every Sunday afternoon, he cooks . Things like Cajun rice, red beans and rice with smoked sausage, collard greens, meats simmered in his own homemade barbecue sauce.

When he’s finished in the kitchen, Gonzales spends the better chunk of four hours providing a different kind of licks in an ad hoc blues band called the Joint Chiefs. The eat-and-beat double-header has become a tradition at the Solana Beach club that is a favorite hangout of two of the three Paladins--Gonzales and bassist Tom Yearsley--when they’re not on the road.

“Our drummer, Brian Fahey, lives in Phoenix, so a couple of years ago, Tom and I started jamming on Sundays at the Belly Up with whoever happened to be in town that weekend,” explained Gonzales last week. “Over the years, I’d also occasionally hosted outdoor barbecues at my place for 30 or 40 people. I’ve always liked the idea of providing cheap soul food, so at some point I just decided to combine the cookouts and the jam sessions.”

Usually, Gonzales feeds about 70 people at the afternoon Belly Up feast. Most items on the menu du jour are only $1 or $2. The exception is “Real Louisiana Style File Gumbo,” a dish Gonzales concocts only occasionally, because of its labor-intensive preparation.

Because the Paladins are preparing to go back on the road, the featured entree this past Sunday was gumbo with shrimp, oysters, fish, and extra-dark roux (a slow-cooked mixture of oil, flour and other ingredients that New Orleans’ famed chef Paul Prudhomme calls “Cajun napalm”). The price per serving: $3.50.

“I usually start cooking gumbo on Saturday night because it’s like spaghetti sauce--it needs to cook slowly and then sit for a while for the flavors to be just right,” said the seasoned cook. “This time, I ordered a whole case of shrimp with the heads still on, because that makes the best gumbo stock.”

Cooking is both an inherited and an acquired skill for the acclaimed guitarist, who credits his mother and several cooks around the country for hipping him to down-home cuisine. If it’s a form of recreation he enjoys while on hiatus from touring, it also keeps him connected with the road.

“The Paladins have been playing throughout the South for years now,” Gonzales said, “and whenever we get to a city, we ask directions to the cool soul food joint. Sometimes, people will say, ‘Oh, you don’t want to go to that part of town,’ and we’ll say, ‘Yes we do!’ ”

Like all savvy kitcheners, Gonzales relies on instinct.

“People are always asking me for my recipes, and I tell them I don’t have any. I just have a sense of how to make each dish. But it works. People are always telling me they can’t believe they ate collard greens or red beans and rice like this in Southern California,” Gonzales said, laughing. “And then they tell me I ought to open my own restaurant. I’ve thought about it, but that’s a tough business. It’s tough enough being a musician.”

At last Sunday’s 5 p.m. “blues party,” the guest star was Al Duncan, a former session drummer at Chess Records whose credits include a stint in Little Walter’s band (the Aces) and a 15-year stretch as house drummer at the Regal Theatre--Chicago’s answer to Harlem’s famous Apollo Theatre.

Joining Duncan, Gonzales and Yearsley in the Joint Chiefs’ lineup was guitarist Eric Lieberman of the Rhumboogies, vocalist/mouth harpist Al Blake of the Hollywood Fats band, and keyboardist Tom Mann from Earl Thomas and the Blues Ambassadors.

They cooked.

What could become the best country music (summer) season in years is taking shape early.

Kris Kristofferson will perform at the Raintree Grill & Bar, 755 Raintree Drive, Carlsbad, on Friday night. The 7 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. shows are open to all ages, and in deference to the artist, no smoking will be allowed in the room during either performance. For ticket info, call 931-1122.

At North Island on April 6, only members of the military, Defense Department employees, and their families will be allowed to attend a “Frontier Days” show featuring Juice Newton.

Another hoedown brings Lee Greenwood and Jann Brown to San Diego Stadium on April 12, for a “Helping Hands” concert to benefit the USO.

Gary Morris plays the Bacchanal April 7 in a fund-raiser for the Alpha Project. The Nashville Bluegrass Band and Old Train team for a show at the Pomerado Club in Poway April 11. The Desert Rose Band will spread their appearances at the Belly Up Tavern over two nights. On April 17, Desert Rose will be joined by Chris Gaffney and the Cold Hard Facts; on April 18, Scary Mary and the Noose opens for the band that features ex-Byrd and ex-Flying Burrito Brother Chris Hillman.

Leo’s Little Bit o’ Country has a string of shows on the horizon, including one April 21 that brings Holly Dunn and Char Carroll and the Durango Band to the San Marcos venue. They’ll be followed by Roy Clark, re-scheduled for May 13; the Sweethearts of the Rodeo June 2; and Michael Martin Murphey July 28.

Hank Williams Jr. and the Desert Rose Band headline a show May 12 at the Cajon Speedway. Tickets are $18.50 and $22.50; admission to a special “Hank’s Rowdy Friends” section can be purchased for $50. Tickets go on sale at all Ticketmaster outlets April 6.

As always, the Del Mar Fair has its share of country concerts in store. Already booked for the Grandstand Stage are Charley Pride, on June 19; Tanya Tucker on June 25; and Restless Heart on July 5.

Reba McEntire, eight members of whose band died March 16 in a plane crash on Otay Mountain after a performance here, will return sometime in early August for a show at the San Diego Convention Center. Emmylou Harris returns to Humphrey’s for two shows Aug. 11.

In September, KSON radio will sponsor a series of four “listening parties” at Theatre East in El Cajon’s East County Performing Arts Center. Admission to the series, which will feature top-name country artists to be announced at a later date, will be free and available only to those who listen to the station for ticket giveaways. The series will be crowned by a paid-admission concert featuring K.T. Oslin on Sept. 16.

GRACE NOTES: Bill Silva Presents has signed Roger McGuinn and Dave Alvin for a double-bill April 29 at the Spreckels Theatre. Tickets go on sale Thursday at 10 a.m. . . .

Avalon has come up with a novel recession-fighter: a series of “Low Dough Shows” featuring name acts at reduced prices. The idea worked well earlier this month when Avalon brought Iron Maiden to Irvine Meadows only a month and a half after the band had played the same venue. The first San Diego “Low Dough Show” brings Deep Purple and Winger to the Sports Arena May 12. Tickets, which are “only” $12.50, go on sale Saturday. . . .

Tickets are still on sale for the Godfathers’ Sunday concert at Park Place on Fletcher Parkway in El Cajon.