Resilient Paladins Bring Roots-Rock Sound Home : Music: The band’s performance at the Adams Avenue Street Fair will have the air of both a homecoming and a reunion.

The Paladins is a longtime local band that plays almost constantly. It’s ironic, then, that when the “roots-rock” trio performs at the “11th Annual Adams Avenue Street Fair and Miller Free Fall Music Festival” this Sunday, it will seem like both a homecoming and a reunion.

For one thing, the band plays most of its gigs on the road, where it remains out of the minds of all but a core of local loyalists. In addition, drummer Brian Fahey will supply the backbeat at Adams Avenue--something he hasn’t done since quitting the Paladins last October to devote more time to his family. Fahey was replaced in January by Dwight Yoakam’s drummer, Jeff Donovan, who will miss Sunday’s concert to complete a two-week tour with the popular hillbilly-music recording artist.

According to the Paladins’ guitarist, Dave Gonzales, Sunday’s show represents a rare opportunity to perform for a large San Diego audience at a location other than the Belly Up Tavern, its only local haunt. He could have added that many of the tens of thousands of people expected to attend the Adams Avenue event will be seeing and hearing the hometown band for the first time.

“For us, playing in San Diego is totally different from playing in other parts of the country,” Gonzales said by phone Wednesday morning. “When we play here, we play the Belly Up, which, after playing there 10 years, is our home. We usually play weekends there, because our friends and longtime fans have families and jobs--that’s the only time they can get away. Otherwise, we really don’t have that big of a following here.

“On the road, it’s another story,” he said. “We’re real big in the Northwest--places like Seattle, Vancouver and Portland--and in the Midwest--Minneapolis, Chicago, Kansas City, Omaha, Wichita.

“There are a lot more people in those cities who actually own our records, as opposed to people here who know about us but seem surprised that we’re still around,” Gonzales added, laughing.

Thus far, the Paladins’ career has been a study in resilience, perseverance and fidelity to a stated goal. Gonzales, 31, and stand-up bassist Tom Yearsley, 32, became high school chums in 1978 after moving to Encinitas, separately, from Los Angeles. They formed a party band that played tunes by Elvis Presley, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Carl Perkins and Jerry Lee Lewis, and, by 1980, had incorporated Buck Owens-style country and Bob Wills-influenced Western swing into their repertoire--complete with pedal-steel guitar.

Eventually, the Paladins became a streamlined trio that included Gus Griffin on drums. But, even though they wore pompadours and played ‘50s-vintage rock, Gonzales and Yearsley didn’t realize they were at the crest of a new “retro” wave.

“Ever since I was a little kid, I wanted to have a band that sounded like the early Beatles and the early Stones,” Gonzales said. “Well, through the Beatles, I found out about Carl Perkins, and through the Stones I found out about Bo Diddley. When Tom and I met, we both liked rock ‘n’ roll and blues--we wanted to sound like Buddy Holly, Elvis and Carl. Tom also was into big-band blues and jazz, and my father was into country music, so we worked all that stuff in.

“Before we knew it, everybody was saying, ‘You guys are playing rockabilly,’ but we really didn’t know it. Then the Stray Cats came out, and all hell broke loose, and everybody was playing rockabilly.”

As the early-’80s retro phase passed into pop history, the Paladins survived by clinging to the same roots that initially attracted its members. And, although the trio technically is much more accomplished today, it remains true to its original purpose.

“I like to think of us as more of a roots band that covers a lot of bases--from Buck Owens to B. B. King, from soul to Texas shuffle to straight rock ‘n’ roll,” Gonzales said. “We use older-model instruments and no fancy (sound-modifying) gadgets, and we just try to play honest music.”

The Paladins has survived the vicissitudes of the music biz to produce three critically acclaimed albums: 1986’s self-titled debut, 1988’s “Years Since Yesterday” and 1990’s “Let’s Buzz!” The band’s music has earned it top honors in the “Best Original Rock” category for both 1991 and 1992 in the San Diego Music Awards competition.

It’s also weathered some untimely personnel changes that would have scuttled a less-determined outfit.

Original drummer Griffin quit in 1983 to pursue medical studies--the day before the trio was to embark on its first tour of Texas. His replacement, Scott Campbell, quit when his wife had a baby--halfway through recording “Let’s Buzz!” Fahey, who no longer wanted to tour, for similar family-related reasons, left just after the band had done a showcase at the Roxy in Los Angeles for a huge crowd and record industry people.

Music execs and fans were buzzing about that Roxy performance, and some industry wags were predicting that Gonzales would become the next Stevie Ray Vaughan. Instead, the Paladins was forced to downshift to replace its rhythmic cog. Three months later, Donovan became the fourth Paladins drummer in 10 years.

“For a while, Brian’s quitting was a big setback,” Gonzales said. “We tried different people who didn’t work. When we first met Jeff, he was taking a break from Yoakam but couldn’t join us because he was backing Michelle Shocked. Yoakam doesn’t play live much anymore, and Donovan wanted to be in a working band, so when he got the chance, he started playing with us.

“Each time we get a new drummer, our sound changes slightly--usually for the better,” he said. “Jeff’s been a top studio-session drummer in L.A., and he has a real well-rounded approach. He likes jazz, blues and swing, and he loves rockabilly, and he interprets the rhythms in our older material in a way that’s real good for us. It took tours through Europe and Canada to get our sound tight and together, but by the time we got back, things were sounding good enough for us to record a demo of four new songs that we’re using to shop for a new (record) deal.”

Gonzales has learned to accept such drastic interruptions in the band’s momentum as part of the natural flux of things, and he understands how one’s priorities can shift with age and circumstances. He maintains a sunny outlook on both the Paladins’ past and its future.

“I’ve been at this for a long time, and we’ve had our ups and down,” he said, “but I think we’re really fortunate that we’ve come this far. We still tour all over the place, and even though our records are kind of old, we still get lots of loyal fans out there. But Tom has a son (with local performer Candye Kane), and Jeff has a 12-year-old son. I see them, and they’re beautiful families and I envy them, and I’d like to have a family someday, too. But I want to stay focused on this music thing a while longer.”

The Adams Avenue gig will serve as a tuneup for yet another road trip. On Oct. 1, the Paladins leave in its airport shuttle-type van for a tour that will take it through the Midwest, across the Great Lakes to the East Coast, down to the South and across the Southwest and back home again--just in time for Thanksgiving.

But, although the band will visit a number of Paladins hot spots on that trek, its members are not looking past the immediate task at hand. After performing its own hourlong set on Sunday afternoon, the Paladins will back blues vocalist-mouth harpist Charlie Musselwhite for a special 30-minute set.

“We’ve known Charlie for a long time,” Gonzales said. “After (local talent agent) Kevin Morrow brought him out of near-retirement about 10 years ago, he opened for us on a tour of the South and Midwest. We brought him up to play with us every night, and he was unbelievable. Since then, he’s really taken off, and his last album is one of the all-time best-sellers for the Alligator label. We can’t wait to play with him here.”

* T he “11th Annual Adams Avenue Street Fair and Miller Free Fall Music Festival” will take place Saturday and Sunday on a seven-block stretch between 33rd and 35th streets, and includes a mid-size carnival, the local Fern Street Circus, two beer gardens, five outdoor dining areas and more than 300 food and merchandise vendors. The music will be juggled between two stages. Admission is free. The Paladins will perform Sunday at 5 p.m. and again at 6 p.m. with Charlie Musselwhite. For more information, call the Adams Avenue Business Assn. at 282- 7329.