8
community
march8
2011
Bad Penny Two: Local Musicians Return with a New Line-up
and a New Sound
In May of 2009, Vernonia’s
Voice met with a family of local mu-
sicians and helped introduce them to
Vernonia. Father and bassist, Craig
Headley, along with his two adult chil-
dren, Aaron Headley on lead guitar and
Heather Graham on keyboards and lead
vocals, had formed a power trio band
called “Bad Penny,” and had recorded a
CD of four songs, including rock covers
of Journey and Pink Floyd. The CD was
available for sale around town and cre-
ated a bit of a stir with its loud sound
and excellent production. That summer,
the band performed live at the commu-
nity 4th of July celebration and played a
raucous farewell show at the Lyons Den
as Aaron shipped off and joined the U.S.
Navy.
That was the last I heard from
“Bad Penny,” except for occasionally
bumping into Craig or Heather around
town. Just recently, Heather contacted
me to tell about the new project Bad
Penny had completed. Heather, a moth-
er of four young children, has a busy
schedule, as you can imagine, and so she
sent me the story of what she and her fa-
ther, Craig, had been up to since Aaron
left. I’m going to let Heather tell their
story of the past year in her own words:
“As you know, Aaron (Son/
Brother/Lead Guitar) left for the Navy
(of which we are very proud), so with
that chapter closing, my father (Craig
Headley) and I were forced to reevaluate
what we aspired to do as artists. What’s
next? We were faced with the question
of what would we be able to do, just the
two of us? We went forward with: BAD
PENNY TWO. BAD PENNY TWO is an
album comprised of all original songs
that we had intended on recording with
Aaron. In the wake of his absence, you
could say a new path was laid and a
fresh artistic direction emerged for the
“TWO” of us, away from the power trio
rock band sound.
The process of creating this all
original album was full of personal/pro-
fessional growth, exploration of our ar-
tistic originality, lots of trial and error,
joys and quiet satisfactions. What does
it take to make an album in a year, with
only two people, dis-
covering a brand new
sound? Fanatical ob-
session is what it takes;
let me tell you, it’s
been all about enthu-
siastic perseverance.
I mean, we’re talking
late night sessions,
weekend sacrifices, and
time crunches, as well
as plenty of laughter
and even a joyful tear
or two. Making studio
time happen between
our work schedules,
four very young chil-
dren, better halves,
hunting seasons) and
our lives in general, wouldn’t be easy for
even the most seasoned of artists/moth-
ers; how then? You sneak time when you
can, because every hour counts. You get
babysitters so you can record, instead of
going out on the town with your honey.
You sing with a fussy baby on your hip be-
cause, dog-gone-it, he just wants Mama.
You spend the morning editing instead of
eating breakfast; just headphones and a
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cup of coffee (a beautiful thing). It’s our
belief that when you’re passionate about
something, you owe it to yourself to see
it through-- make it happen. That’s just
what we did, we made it happen.
The album, BAD PENNY TWO,
is really a testament to never giving
up, being able to overcome adversity,
creative exploration while staying true
to your art, and ultimately trusting the
Lord’s direction in your life. We owe a
debt of gratitude to our family, friends,
supporters, and our Lord and Savior
tial project together. It feels amazing to
have had new life breathed into us, and
for that we are blessed. We hope the
music we create can be an inspiration
to others and an elevating force in peo-
ple’s lives. It’s all relative in the ways of
grace. I believe God gives us all a little
light, it’s up to us to find what that light
is and to let it shine; we’re ready for
our light to shine and for it to be seen.
Someday, we hope that these works of
ours will by some means enable us to
better serve those in need. Time will tell
where this takes us.
~We would like to thank
Aaron and all those who
serve in the United States
military for keeping us free
and for allowing us to con-
tinue doing what we love.
Our prayers are always with
you. We give all the glory to
God~”
Heather sent me a copy
of the CD. The sound is defi-
nitely different-- it’s heavier
on the synthesizer and con-
tains no familiar rock covers.
Noticeably absent is Aaron’s
amazing guitar playing and
solos. But Heather is in fine
voice and her vocals really soar. Craig
has done masterful work on the produc-
tion-- the sound is clean and crisp, and
he certainly still has it on the bass! The
whole sound is very 80’s, but modern,
which has always been “Bad Penny’s”
thing-- whether it was that recorded cov-
er of “Comfortably Numb,” or their live
performance of Michael Jackson’s “Bil-
lie Jean.” They said it themselves in our
first interview two years ago-- they all
love 80’s music-- and this new CD has
that sound all over it.
Craig and Heather’s dedication
to their craft and passion for their music
and message is obvious, in both the way
Heather explains it in words and in the
way it speaks through their music. They
are talented musicians who have a burn-
ing desire to be heard. It will be interest-
ing to see where they go from here.
Vernonia’s Voice would like to
extend our congratulations to Craig and
Heather on the completion of their new
project and wish them luck as they con-
tinue on their journey.
Jesus Christ for their unconditional pa-
tience, for believing in us, and seeing us
nutty musicians through. If you’re an
artist, you understand that artistic drive
never ever sleeps, never tires, continu-
ally evolves and demands perpetual mo-
tion. It’s all those elements at work that
make art and music honest, believable
and so incredibly rewarding.
The result of our year’s long
struggle was an extraordinary sound
which has truly held up to our creative
standards. Thanks to my father’s pro-
duction skills and masterful arrange-
ments, all the above elements, plus a tre-
mendous love for what we do; we think
our album definitely “thumps steady”
and constitutes what makes great music.
We’re very proud of what we’ve been
able to do together as a father~daughter
duo. I can’t even begin to tell you what
an absolute joy it’s been working so
closely with my father on this; I can tell
you that I’ll cherish this experience for
the rest of my life. We’ve been getting
outstanding reviews and needless to say,
we are very excited about our future and
what the Lord has in store for our lives
BAD PENNY TWO will be avail-
and for BAD PENNY TWO.
able in local stores and shops around
We are hard at work on our next Vernonia.
album, which is proving to be even more
distinctive and energizing than our ini-
Branches, March 16-19
800-773-3236
Clatskanie
waunafcu.org
St. Helens Scappoose Vernonia
Warrenton
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