For 30 years, Michael Shawn Gonzales has been crafting his art as a multi-genre blues guitarist/vocalist.

 

He has performed with the legendary reggae band The Wailers, and recorded with 6-time Grammy award winning blues pioneer John Lee Hooker.

His talent has carried him to stages all over the world, and has influenced a catalog of hundreds of original songs.

After several tours of Europe and living the bay area of northern California for 17 years, he then relocated to the New Jersey/New York area in 2012. Following over 20 years of live performance, he turned his attentions to the development of singing/ song writing and music production.  Then after nearly 10 years, he decided to go back home . 

 

Originally from northwest Ohio, he began playing in 1988 at the age of 14. With a strong interest in Jimi Hendrix, he worked with several teachers in the first few years. At the age of 18, he found himself the winner of a local guitar contest.

That same year he met bass player Calvin "Fuzzy" Samuel (formally of Crosby Stills Nash & Young) and developed under his mentorship as they played every weekend over the next four years. Performing a wide array of multiple styles

(blues, folk, funk, jazz and reggae), aided in his early exposure to composing original music.

 

In May of 1995, Fuzzy Samuel introduced the 21 year old Gonzales to Bob Marley’s former band “The Wailer’s”.  It was their performance at The Majestic Theatre in Detroit, where he was asked by lead singer/guitarist Junior Marvin, to perform the song “Exodus” with the band. Inspired by the opportunity, Gonzales moved three months later to northern California, continuing to pursue a career with music.

 

Within the first few months of landing in the bay area, he was soon introduced to and developed a close friendship with blues legend John Lee Hooker. After a few years of performing with his own solo group, (as well as local reggae and blues bands), Gonzales joined forces with the nephew and personal care taker of John Lee Hooker/ local blues singer Archie Lee Hooker. Together they performed increasingly larger shows and soon began to record Gonzales’ first album, "Far From Home".

 

After seeing the production nearly complete, John Lee Hooker asked Gonzales if they could record a song to be placed on the upcoming record. He was asked to accompany him on what would end up being his final recording. The song, titled, “I Can’t Hold On,” was recorded in Hookers home in Redwood City. On November 20, 1998, with Gonzales on the acoustic slide guitar and John Lee Hooker singing and playing electric guitar, they performed his last recorded blues.

After John Lee Hooker's sudden passing in 2001, Gonzales continued to develop and perform new blues and reggae arrangements.  In 2003, he met a Danish band called the "No Shoes Blues". This meeting opened a door that lead to continued performances in Scandinavia over the next several years.
 

The first tour in 2004 , Gonzales arranged to bring longtime friend and mentor Fuzzy Samuel to perform bass. Together with band leader Nils Poulin, the “No Shoes Blues” band completed a total of 36 gigs in 6 weeks across Denmark.

First performing at The Kloften Festival and then a 10-day tour of Bornholm Island, this was then followed by a live performance on Danish TV2, The Samso Festival, and several local Danish nightclubs.

Returning stateside in 2004, Gonzales produced, hosted and performed at the Black Repertory Theater in Berkeley, Ca. He called the evening: “The Berkeley Theater Jam”, bringing together 10 independent artists. Backed by his former reggae band “The Dreaded Truth”, and with a packed 250-seat theater, it was the perfect backdrop for the locally televised event. Later that year it was released on a limited basis in California and Denmark.

Gonzales continued touring Denmark and performed with several local California bands and recording a number of independent releases including “To The Floor”, “Dubwave”, “Urban Reggae,” and “Down The Path.” These albums showcase the unique breath of his talents with influences stemming from experimental delta blues, to caribbean and reggae sounds.

He was then booked to perform reggae music fulltime in 2010. The Fyah Squad was a backing unit, often hired to learn  30 songs with a few days notice. One practice/ one performance only for artists across northern California. They backed 28 artists in 2 years such as: Winstrong, Jr. Toots, Irae Divine, Rocker T, Black Lung, Arc Angel and several others.

In his last days prior to leaving California, Gonzales performed two days in a row with two different reggae bands at the 28th annual Reggae On The River 2012.

 

Immediately upon moving to New Jersey, Gonzales began to meet a new group of touring blues musicians.  

After assembling a few quick performances, he took a break from performing live to began work on new original compositions. In 2014 he was hired to return to California briefly to produce a record for singer/songwriter Sidewalk Frank. “Hear And Now” was released summer of 2015, and he soon began his work on his first attempt at singing and song writing original material for his upcoming record “The Devils Music”.

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In 2020, he returned to his home state of Ohio to continue to develop his music career.

 

Produced by Fuzzy Samuel, and utilizing several studios in New Jersey, Gonzales assembled sessions with an impressive group of musicians:

 

John Ginty- Hammond B3 Organ & Piano, Richie Monica- Drums, Myron Dove- Bass,

“The Guiding Lights” gospel group- backing vocals, and Ben Stivers on Fender Rhodes & Piano.

 

“The Devils Music” is due to be released in Winter of 2020. This will be followed soon after with an instrumental release “The iLL EFX” in spring 2021.