32 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY SEPTEMBER 3-9, 2026 www.montereycountynow.com FACE TO FACE Blues guitarist and vocalist Stu Heydon has been performing music for 60 years, 30 of those years in Monterey County. He has been surrounded by musical icons since childhood. Growing up in Windsor, Canada, just across the border from Detroit, Heydon learned the blues directly from Detroit musicians, including John Lee Hooker, who gave him his only formal lesson, and taught him the “one thing I needed to know.” Heydon’s work in Monterey County has continued to bring him into contact with prominent figures. But some of his greatest influence can be seen in the musicians he has taught. Weekly: How did you get your start in the blues? Heydon: My father was a big-band leader, singer and stand-up comic, and he was always having musicians at the house rehearsing. When I was 2 or 3 years old, I had the Motown front horn section in the front room. At 13 or 14, my dad brought home a bass for me and a guitar for my brother. He said, “That’s all I’m doing. The rest is up to you.” So I got myself one lesson. I’ve had one lesson in my whole life. You said that lesson offered one thing you needed to know—what was it? That the only thing that matters is the feel you produce. It doesn’t matter if you go fast or slow or up or down. What feel are you producing? How much of what you learned from John Lee Hooker are you teaching your students? I’ve been teaching for a long time, so I’ve refined it. I try to explain how to get feel out of theory, because theory without feel is lacking and feel without theory is lacking. I teach both things at once. I never teach a scale without showing you how to make music out of it. I teach them that music is the human condition. It’s your feelings, it’s your hopes, it’s your dreams. It’s been 30 years since you moved to Monterey County. What brought you here in the first place? I left my band in Montana and I just took my suitcase and guitar and walked to the train station. I sat there on Mother’s Day and whatever way the train was coming, I was getting on it. And the train happened to be going west. At Salinas, I ran out of money and I was so hungry. So I got off the train and I started looking around in Monterey at all the jam sessions. I tried to find a job and I was very discouraged. Then I went to Tyler Street Bar and Grill. They had a piece of plywood on the pool table and that was the bandstand. I was on that pool table for two years. Clint [Eastwood] came in for a beer with the Rotary guys. They were coming back from San Francisco and they asked me if I needed help. I asked them to get me off of this pool table. They made me music director at the Carmel Youth Center. Clint built me a studio in the basement. I was there six years. I taught hundreds of people there, five days a week. I recorded everybody. Who are a couple of students who stand out to you? Aron Forbes became Billie Eilish’s [music director] and co-writer. He’s been with her a dozen years. He became very successful and he didn’t let it change him. He had that gentleness when he was young and he’s still got the gentleness. It’s so nice to see someone make it who isn’t all full of himself. I make them understand that real people who have accomplished things don’t have to brag. I taught Ross Garren piano and harmonica. He did the Bob Dylan movie. He plays harmonica in it. He plays harmonica in Sinners. How would you describe the state of the blues today? The blues has seen better days around here. There are not a lot of places to play or even a lot of blues artists anymore. The pandemic hurt blues bands. I had 25 gigs before the pandemic. After the pandemic, there’s no way you could get 25 blues gigs in advance. The bars went for the singer-songwriter thing so they don’t have to pay much, eh? Unless you’re a Top 40 band or a duo, there’s not much for you anymore. But I keep teaching it. I’ve got a bunch of kids I teach blues to every day. What is your vision for the future? I’m trying to find a teacher who I can teach my method to and continue this work. To pass your legacy on? Well, it isn’t my legacy. I look at it as the legacy of the real musicians in the world. Blues State Playing and teaching for six decades, musician Stu Heydon has become an institution. By Tonia Eaton Stu Heydon was riding the train until he ran out of money in Salinas. Thirty years later, he is a fixture of the local blues scene, both as a working musician and a teacher. DANIEL DREIFUSS Golden Oldies Cat Rescue Adopt•Volunteer•Foster•Donate Older Cats New Beginnings www.gocatrescue.org 831•200•9232 Poppy Plays Hard Then Rests. This 7-year-old playful girl is friendly and curious and loves to see what’s going on with her human. Wouldn’t you love to be that human? 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