Brian Haner
Brian Haner | |
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| Birth name | Brian Elwin Haner |
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| Born | April 7, 1958 California, United States |
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| Years active | 1977–present |
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Brian Elwin Haner Sr.(born April 7, 1958), also known asGuitar GuyorPapa Gates,is an American musician, comedian, and author. Haner is known for touring with fellow stand-up comedian/ventriloquistJeff Dunham,as in the 2008 holiday program,Jeff Dunham's Very Special Christmas Special.He is also a noted session musician forAvenged Sevenfold,a band in which his son, Brian Haner Jr. (a.k.a.Synyster Gates), is the lead guitarist.
Early life
[edit]Haner got his first guitar when he was five years old, after seeingThe Beatlesperform onThe Ed Sullivan Show.He joined his first band, The Plastic Mind, when he was ten years old.[1]
Career
[edit]A year before finishing high school, Haner got a summer job touring withSam the Sham and the Pharaohs,best known for their hit songs "Woolly Bully"and"Li'l Red Riding Hood".After high school, Haner did session work and played in night clubs in theLos Angelesarea while attending TheDick GroveSchool of Music, where he studied composition, Arranging, Advanced Music Theory and Film Scoring.
He spent a year as one ofMotownstarNorman Whitfield's main session guitar players, working withThe Undisputed Truth,Rose Royce&Jr. Walker.His work with Whitfield included the songs "Car Wash"and"Wishing on a Star",as well as several movie soundtracks, includingCar Wash(1976),Which Way Is Up(1977) andAnimal House(1978).
Haner signed his first record deal withPolydorunder the name of Brian West. His self-produced first album,Don't Stop Now,featuring theTower of Powerhorns, was successful in Europe, where it was certified gold in several countries. Throughout the 1980s, Haner recorded and toured mainly in Europe. In the early '90s, his composition work extended to scoring television shows and films, includingTV 101andEerie, Indiana.From 1998 to 2003, Haner produced his wife's hypnosis show as he continued as a session musician. In 2003, he signed with aNashvillemusic publisher and released two CDs:My Old GuitarandCarney Man.The latter's success led to a successful run in stand-up comedy.
In 2005, Haner's first novel,Carney Man,was published. After a year spent mostly in comedy clubs and in Las Vegas opening for comedians, includingBobby Slayton,Ralphie May,Lisa LampanelliandBrett Butler,Haner started touring and doingComedy Centraltelevision specials as "Guitar Guy" withJeff Dunham.While on tour with Dunham, Haner released two solo CDs:Cougar BaitandFistfight at the Wafflehouse.He also released a CD with Dunham,Don't Come Home for Christmas(2008), featuring Dunham's puppets singing Haner's original songs. Since leaving Jeff Dunham's show in 2011, he has released three more CDs:The Artist Formerly Known as Guitar Guy,AloneandPerfect World.
In 2012, he spent the summer in Africa, headlining the prestigious South Africa Comedy Festival. Haner also appeared onShowtime's "Red Light Comedy Special", taped in Amsterdam, and onAXS TV's "Gotham Comedy Live from NYC", performing his own music and stand-up comedy.[2]That year, he released his second book,Ginny Reb,about a young woman's experiences in theConfederatearmy.
Haner left comedy and performing in 2014, so he and his wife Suzy could take over as coordinators of theOrange County School of the Arts' Commercial Music program inOrange County, California.In the fall of 2016, he composed the music score for the two-hour premiere of the highly acclaimed television showZ Nationon theSyFy Channel.
Haner continues to do session work, and in 2018, he played sitar onThe Ventures' first album in over 15 years. 2018 also saw the launch of the Synyster Gates School of Music, a free online school created by him and his son for guitarists of all levels.
With Avenged Sevenfold
[edit]Haner made his first appearance withAvenged Sevenfoldon their third studio album,City of Evil(2005), playing acoustic and electric guitar on several tracks, including a dual guitar solo with his son on "Sidewinder". He contributed string arrangements to theirself-titled albumin 2007 and was the orchestral arranger on the track "Until the End," which would appear on the albumDiamonds in the Rough(2008). He played additional guitar on the track "So Far Away"and the guitar solo on" Tonight the World Dies "on theirNightmarealbum in 2010. He played the outro guitar solos on both "Coming Home", fromHail to the King(2013), and "Angels", fromThe Stage(2016). In October 2017, Haner made a rare live appearance with Avenged Sevenfold at their all-acoustic concert at theGrammy Museumin L.A.[3]
When with the band Haner goes by the name "Papa Gates", to go with his son going by the name Synyster Gates.
Personal life
[edit]In 1980, Haner married his first wife, Jan (Smith) Gera. The couple had two sons:Brian Haner Jr.,the aforementioned lead guitarist for metal band Avenged Sevenfold, and Brent Haner, an insurance agent at Trinity One Insurance.[4]The couple divorced in 1990.
Haner is currently married to Suzy Haner, a comedic hypnotist. They have one daughter, McKenna, born in 1997.
References
[edit]- ^"Improv Ontario, CA Comedy Club | Improv.com".Symfonee.com. October 12, 2010. Archived fromthe originalon August 28, 2008.RetrievedDecember 8,2010.
- ^"Brian 'Guitar Guy' Haner has all the luck on Jeff Dunham's tour".MLive.com. February 25, 2010.RetrievedDecember 8,2010.
- ^"Brian Haner on Facebook".Facebook.Archived fromthe originalon April 27, 2022.[user-generated source]
- ^"Brian Haner Timeline".Dipity.com. Archived fromthe originalon May 23, 2010.RetrievedDecember 8,2010.
External links
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