The Paladins Return to Rock Routes : The Trio Is on the Road Again and as Dedicated to Its Back-to-Basics Music as Ever

For the better part of a decade, the Paladins labored in tireless pursuit of the heart of American rock ‘n’ roll, revving it up two hours a night, hundreds of nights a year, in smoky, sweaty joints across the continent.

But the blue-collar, roots-rock trio from San Diego hit a fork in the road a year or so ago. All three members say they’re as obsessed as ever with the music and the electricity of live performance. But two of them have families now.

Stand-up bassist and singer Thomas Yearsley, 31, and drummer Brian Fahey, 32, each are married with two children. The Paladins’ gigs today pay a lot better than they used to, but life on the road is hardly compatible with fatherhood.

“It’s hard for the guys to be away from their families so much,” said the only single Paladin, 30-year-old guitarist-singer Dave Gonzales. “Any time we’re out on the road for more than three weeks now, it’s really tough on them.”

Domestic priorities have slowed the band’s promotion of its most recent album, “Let’s Buzz!,” released a year ago. Just as the album came out, Gonzales noted, babies were being born, so a tour was out of the question.

Now, though, with bills to pay and a growing itch to get back to the bars and clubs, the Paladins are on the road again. Just back from seven weeks as Dave Alvin’s backup band, the group is sharing a bill tonight at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano with Alvin’s former band, the Blasters. On Tuesday, the Paladins leave for another two months of shows with Alvin across the country.

Even with the demands of family life, the Paladins expect to play nearly 200 dates this year, said Gonzales, noting that “there are still a lot of places we haven’t gone since ‘Let’s Buzz!’ came out.”

And one thing that hasn’t changed, he continued, is the band’s passion for ‘50s rock, R&B;, blues and country. Gonzales, who founded the band with high school chum Yearsley, still speaks vigorously about the importance of honesty, integrity and energy in music.

“When we started playing 10 years ago,” he recalled, “we told everybody, ‘This is what we really believe in. We’re not compromising. We’re not gonna sell out.’ And here we are, we have three records out and we’re still playing with the same rootsy sound, still using our old equipment, and we still feel the same way about music.”

For Gonzales, the fascination with roots rock started during his youth, when he would listen to his father and uncle play old country numbers. Then, from cover songs on early Beatles and Stones albums he found in his mother’s collection, he discovered Carl Perkins, Bo Diddley and Gene Vincent.

“And I kept searching more and more where this music came from,” Gonzales said. “I loved all these old records. I always dug the older stuff.”

Classmate Yearsley’s musical interests centered on big-band swing and jazz. Toss in some heavy blues influences and immersion in the L.A. punk scene of the early ‘80s, and the Paladins’ sound was forged.

Gonzales credits such fellow roots rockers as the Blasters, Los Lobos, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and especially the late guitarist Stevie Ray Vaughan for continuing to inspire the Paladins, helping them develop and spreading their name around. Vaughan, for whom the Paladins opened dozens of shows, “changed everything,” Gonzales said. “He was the heaviest dude to come around in a long time. I sure miss him.”

The group’s albums combine covers of old favorites with Gonzales/Yearsley originals that pay homage to their early idols. The emphasis has always been on authenticity: “I’ve always liked the sound of my guitar straight through the amp, with no effects, no pedals, nothing,” Gonzales said. “And when Tom started playing that stand-up bass, I didn’t want him on that electric anymore.”

However refreshing this uncompromising approach may be in an era of lip-synching, sampling and synthesizers, it has placed the band at odds with radio programmers, MTV and even its own label, Gonzales said.

The Paladins have been given little airplay, MTV rejected its first video as “not alternative enough,” and the band is still stewing over the production of “Let’s Buzz!” On its debut album and 1988’s “Years Since Yesterday,” Gonzales said, the band had control over every facet of production. But on the latest release, Alligator Records “took all that away from us.”

Gonzales said the label made them overdub about half the tracks and then, after the sessions, remixed the songs and rearranged their order. “When we got back, we listened to it, and everybody said this doesn’t sound right. But they said it was too late. That’s not the right way to make a record.”

Still, Gonzales said, rather than harbor bitterness over the experience, he’d rather count the band’s blessings. The Paladins may play their entire careers in cramped bars and dark, stuffy clubs, but that’s fine with him.

“We all feel so lucky to be doing what we’re doing,” he said. “Sure, we want to make money, but we’re proud to have even come this far with it, to be able to support our families and still be playing music.

“It’s like Brian was saying to me awhile back. He said, ‘I can’t believe I’m 32, have a family, own a house, and I’m still playing the drums. This is great.’ ”

The Paladins open for the Blasters tonight at 9 at the Coach House, 33157 Camino Capistrano, San Juan Capistrano. Tickets: $17.50. Information: (714) 496-8930.