Brian Elwin Haner Sr. (born April 7, 1958), also known as Guitar Guy or Papa Gates, is an American musician, comedian, and author.
[1] A year before finishing high school, Haner got a summer job touring with Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs, best known for their hit songs "Woolly Bully" and "Li'l Red Riding Hood".
He spent a year as one of Motown star Norman Whitfield's main session guitar players, working with The Undisputed Truth, Rose Royce & Jr. Walker.
His self-produced first album, Don't Stop Now, featuring the Tower of Power horns, was successful in Europe, where it was certified gold in several countries.
In the early '90s, his composition work extended to scoring television shows and films, including TV 101 and Eerie, Indiana.
Since leaving Jeff Dunham's show in 2011, he has released three more CDs: The Artist Formerly Known as Guitar Guy, Alone and Perfect World.
In the fall of 2016, he composed the music score for the two-hour premiere of the highly acclaimed television show Z Nation on the SyFy Channel.