After controversy surrounding the death of a Madison man who was shot and killed by a police officer last November, his family and friends are organizing a music festival in his honor.
The festival, called “Paulie Fest,” aims to avoid the controversy that embroiled Paul Heenan’s death, focusing instead on celebrating his life, according to organizers of the event.
In November, MPD officer Stephen Heimsness responded to a burglary report after Heenan entered a neighbor’s home while intoxicated. After confronting Heenan, Heimsness fired his gun three times after Heenan reportedly reached for the officer’s weapon, resulting in Heenan’s death. MPD determined Heimsness acted in accordance with department policies and his use of deadly force was warranted.
Since then, several of Heenan’s friends have questioned the objectivity of MPD’s internal review. They circulated a petition, which received more than 107,000 signatures nationwide, urging Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne to authorize a prosecutor with no ties to MPD to conduct an inquest. On Monday, the petition was called the “most compelling” campaign of the week by the non-profit Change.org.
Kevin Pellerin, one of Paulie Fest’s organizers, said a group of Heenan’s friends and family decided to organize the music festival in the weeks following Heenan’s death. Because Heenan worked with a number of musicians in Madison, the group decided an annual music festival was the best way to memorialize his life.
According to Pellerin, the contention surrounding Heenan’s death was not a motivation for planning the festival.
“We’re definitely hoping it’s much more about celebration … There’s been so much press involved and negativity due to the nature of the way Paulie died,” he said. “So this festival really needs to take it away from that and have no connection to that whatsoever. We don’t even want to mention what happened. We’re not angrily talking about the case at all. Just the life.”
Paulie Fest will begin at 7 p.m. on Friday, May 31 and go until Saturday, June 1 at High Noon Saloon. It will feature a lineup of musicians who worked with Heenan. One act features the Oregon High School Concert Band, the band where Heenan began his career as a performer.
Before his death, Heenan played with the bands Monovox and Solid Gold, and the latter will headline Saturday’s show. Cliff Hammer, former bass guitarist of the now-disbanded Monovox, said he will be playing on Saturday as part of a set dedicated to Heenan.
“[Paul] was a natural musician. He was the kind of guy [who] could have been a drummer, he could have been a bass, he could have played any instrument. He just understood music,” Hammer said.
Event organizers will give proceeds raised from the event to the Fender Music Foundation, a nonprofit organization that donates instruments to music education programs throughout the country.
Hammer said Heenan attributed his success as a performer to the musical education he received at school in his hometown of Oregon. He said taking proceeds from the event and giving them to a charity that helps local music programs is the best way for Heenan’s friends and family to honor him.
Tickets to Paulie Fest are available for advance purchase at the High Noon Saloon and online at www.high-noon.com for $10 and will be available at the door for $15 the nights of the performances.
