Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic

Don Heffington, the beloved LA musician who died of leukemia in 2021, will be the subject of a charity album this fall featuring artists including Jackson Browne, Fiona Apple, Buddy Miller, John C. Reilly, Dave Alvin and the Watkins Family Hour. The album, “Tonight I’ll Go Down Swingin’: A Tribute to Don Heffington,” is due out Oct. 18 and will be preceded by a now-out teaser track from Browne, “Everywhere I Look” (see below).

Heffington was one of the most beloved musicians on the LA scene in recent decades, particularly among figures associated with the Largo or roots rock scene, with a fame that far surpassed his already important stint as drummer for Lone Justice in the mid-'80s. His influence as both a sideman and singer-songwriter in his own right is evident in the illustrious guest list that producers Sheldon Gomberg (Ben Harper, Rickie Lee Jones) and Sebastian Steinberg (Fiona Apple, Iron & Wine) have assembled for this project, which was already in the works when Heffington passed away three years ago.

Other artists contributing songs to the album include former Lone Justice member Marvin Etizoni, along with Peter Case, Willie Watson (of Old Crow Medicine Show fame), Inara George, Victoria Williams, Eleni Mandell, Tony Gilkyson, Momo featuring Jim Keltner, Tom Brousseau, the Boltcutters, and Sarah Kramer featuring Jorge Calderón and Van Dyke Parks. Not surprisingly, the cast includes a fair number of musicians associated with L.A.'s Largo scene, where Heffington was a frequent fixture.