Legendary drummer and songwriter Don Heffington receives a fitting tribute from the cream of Americana artists.
When drummer and songwriter Don Heffington passed away in March 2021 he left a remarkable musical legacy. A founding member of alt-country-rockers Lone Justice, Heffington also played drums with a veritable A-Z of Americana artists, including Bob Dylan, Emmylou Harris, Lowell George, Tom Waits, Van Dyke Parks, Jackson Browne, Victoria Williams, Dave Alvin, Peter Case, Ronee Blakley, Lucinda Williams, Chuck E. Weiss, the Wallflowers, the Jayhawks, Joanna Newsom, Dwight Yoakam, Adam Sandler, and many others.
The tribute collection comprises no less than twenty tracks, opening with a delightful rendition of ‘Kiss the Moon Goodbye’ performed by the Watkins Family Hour with whom he performed in his later years, along with his own Don Heffington Group with whom many of the songs on this collection were performed, playing acoustic rhythm guitar in the latter, singing lead, writing many of the songs and leading the band.
Playing drums from the age of six, and with musical influences ranging from hard-core jazz to the Sex Pistols, New York Dolls, bluegrass, and Van Morrison, it is no surprise that the tribute collection is equally eclectic. Dave Alvin delivers a very spooky and unsettling version of ‘Avenue C.’, with spoken delivery and psychedelic overtones, while Jackson Browne delivers a classic version of ‘Everywhere I Look’.
The Boltcutters deliver a very Tom Waits-esque rendition of ‘Crablice and Quaaludes’, while in contrast Fiona Apple’s version of ‘Lately’ has a stripped-back late jazz vibe, shared with Eleni Mandell’s ‘Generator’.
Most tracks are Heffington originals, including co-writes with Tom Waits (‘Seeds On A Hard Ground’) and Allen Ginsberg (‘Put A Kiss And A Tear In A Letter’). Covers include Don and Laura Heffington’s duet on Van Morrison’s ‘Irish Heartbeat’ and Heffington’s rendition of Porter Wagoner’s ‘Tonight I’ll Go Down Swingin’.’
With his top-notch drumming just part of his musical legacy, bassist Sebastian Steinberg, who produced several of the tracks heard here reflected that “He had such a wide and comprehensive curiosity about song form…he paid attention so deeply to the lyrics, but without fussing over them. I played with him for years before I knew what a great song storyteller he was.”
Willie Watson delivers a classic old-school country version of ‘Time to Drink Whiskey’, on acoustic guitar and harmonica, and in a similar vein Buddy Miller offers a full band arrangement with pedal steel and twang guitar of ‘Fired Again’.
Other contributors of tracks include John C. Reilly, Marvin Etzioni–with a Beefheart-esque version of ‘Flying Over Flagstaff’–and Inara George, Lowell Georges’ daughter, only four years old when he passed away.
A fine and varied collection makes a worthy tribute to Heffington and his musical legacy.
