Miami-born Paul Deakin studied music at the University of Miami and taught for a time before co-founding The Mavericks in 1989 with singer Raul Malo and bassist Robert Reynolds. He has been behind the kit for the band’s whole career, from the breakthrough of What a Crying Shame and the GRAMMY-winning run of the 1990s to their 2013 comeback with In Time and later records including Brand New Day and En Español. His bandmates call him “the Songwriter’s Drummer.”
After Raul Malo died in December 2025, Deakin organized the band’s tribute shows at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium and chose to keep The Mavericks going, taking them out in 2026 on a memorial tour, The Mavericks and Friends, with James Otto and Emily West sharing the vocals.