Gary Heffern | The Che Underground

Gary Heffern: “Hand of the Devil”

December 11, 2017March 19, 2011 by Mmrothenberg

In time for his visit to San Diego’s Casbah April 3 and 6 to reunite with the Penetrators and celebrate the pending release of his “Gary Heffern & Beautiful People” CD, Gary Heffern shares this new video for his song “Hand of the Devil” and describes the process of its creation.

“The video was shot at the school Rovala, which I am attending to learn the Finnish language,” Gary writes. “While there it struck me that I was one of the only English-speaking people there, and how many refugees were in my class … And there were many moments when I felt so insecure about what I was doing and why I was here.

“When I began to learn more about these people it seemed that my circumstances were smaller, and I also saw very plainly that they really have no future here in Finland, simply because of not speaking the language, or the color of their skin.

Why don’t we sing this song all together?

February 2, 2011August 12, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

For many of the participants in this blog, our involvement with San Diego music ended with our wholesale departure from San Diego. A large contingent of us decamped first to San Francisco, and we now make our homes in places like Seattle, Oregon, New York, Boston, Wisconsin and Haiti.

That means the string of Che Underground gigs we’ve hosted in San Diego (including May 2009 and January and July 2010) marked the first time in more than two decades that many of our musicians have played in front of a hometown crowd.

Town Criers, Gary Heffern at the Casbah

February 2, 2011August 8, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

One of the highlights of our Che Underground showcase at San Diego’s Casbah Jan. 30, 2010, was the 20-year reunion of the city’s pioneering alt-rockers the Town Criers.

And adding to the Penetrators theme of the festivities, Gary Heffern (frontman for that legendary band) flew in from Finland to join the band in a rare San Diego guest appearance.

Read the Town Criers’ story!

First off, here’s the Town Criers performing “My Baby Left Me,” written by Arthur “Big Boy” Crudup and performed by Elvis Presley, among others. The lineup fueling this first performance in more than two decades included Ray Brandes (vocals, guitar); Mark Zadarnowksi (bass); David Klowden (drums); and Peter Miesner (lead guitar).

Gary Heffern + the Town Criers
+ benefit raffle = Jan. 30 fun!

December 14, 2017January 25, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Attention, San Diego scenesters: To cap the run of special guests at at the Casbah’s Che Underground showcase Jan. 30, Penetrators vocalist Gary Heffern is coming in from Finland to join the festivities!

Heff will be singing with the Town Criers (while his Penetrators bandmates Chris Sullivan and Chris Davies join Manual Scan onstage). He’s also helping Che Underground: the Blog jump-start a San Diego underground retrospective exhibit and raise money on behalf of Unknowns vocalist Bruce Joyner.

“Manual Penetration” at the Casbah Jan. 30!

December 14, 2017January 24, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

Next Saturday’s Che Underground showcase at San Diego’s Casbah continues to gain star power: Manual Scan announces a Penetrators-themed show-within-a-show featuring two members of that legendary band.

Manual Scan’s Kevin Donaker-Ring explains the circumstances that brought Penetrators bassist Chris Sullivan and guitarist Chris Davies to the Casbah show, which will also feature the Unknowns, the Town Criers and the Blues Gangsters.

Gary Heffern/Al DeLoner: “Anxiety”

December 18, 2017January 18, 2010 by Mmrothenberg

A special debut on Che Underground: The Blog! A chance remark by Mikel Toombs in this forum has inspired a haunting new song by San Diego legend Gary Heffern, recorded by Scandinavian bard Al DeLoner.

The piece, “Anxiety,” is in part a meditation on the disintegration of San Diego’s late-’70s underground. Heff writes, “Consider it a present to Che … as further proof that life does go in full circles … and inspiration can be found in the kindness of a friend giving me gentle nudge.”

Angie Bowie AIDS Begone benefit
featuring Gary Heffern

December 14, 2017December 6, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

It’s appropriate that a champion of the San Diego music scene should saddle up for a righteous campaign to raise consciousness and funds for those in need.

A track from “Consolation,” a new CD from Penetrators frontman (and Che Underground regular) Gary Heffern, will be featured in AIDS Begone, a CD and cyber party organized by the legendary Angie Bowie.

Here’s what Ms. Bowie told Che Underground: The Blog about Heff’s contribution, titled “I Am Your Destroyer”: “‘I Am Your Destroyer’ is a fascinating lyric with a Jekyll-and-Hyde quality. Knowing that destruction can be both constructive and renewing. That being a destroyer may also open up an avenue for new feelings, love and emotions that could not exist with old tradition and prejudice. It’s a great song!”

Penetrators reunion, January 2010!

December 31, 2010October 15, 2009 by Mmrothenberg

Che Underground: The Blog has been immeasurably enriched by our recent interactions with the Penetrators. As Ray Brandes has chronicled here, the Penetrators have been one of the most influential and beloved forces in San Diego’s music underground from the band’s genesis in 1977 until decades after its dissolution in 1984.

Good news for all their fans: Pens frontman Gary Heffern has given us the green light to announce a run of Penetrators-related fun at San Diego’s Casbah from Jan. 27-31, 2010 — including an evening presented by the Che Underground.