Veteran local performer returns to Cooper’s Pub with a lively show.

Stevie Heger is a fireball of energy and always has been.

“I was hyperactive,” he says of his youth in Monterey. “I started singing and the next thing you know, it sticks.”

Now that energy is showcased in his particular brand of music – a nostalgic, golden-era sound labeled “yacht rock” featured in his self-titled solo album. So it may come as no surprise that much of Heger’s musical inspiration comes from surfing. When not performing, he seeks out waves around the world. Maybe it’s a calm that was missing in his youth.

“It’s just nature and there’s no music,” Heger says.

He will be playing two nights – Friday and Saturday, Nov. 9 and 10 – with Terry Strickland at Cooper’s Pub. And though he appreciates the sound of the surf, the stage is a more familiar environment. He has been playing guitar and piano for over 50 years and even played with the Beach Boys for 24 years.

When Heger was 3, he got a drum for his birthday, which started his whole career out with a bang. He eventually started branching into other instruments. He took band classes throughout his youth in Monterey County schools.

Heger grew up surrounded by music – quite literally. His family lived next to the Monterey Fairgrounds, and he and his sisters volunteered at the Monterey Jazz Festival on many occasions; he served as a drum tech. He started playing in the Big Sur Jazz Festival and then joined a country rock band at age 12. He also had a band called Hey Stevie, which recorded six albums. It’s hard to imagine Monterey County’s music scene without him.

There is no cover for the Cooper’s Pub shows, which happen outdoors on the back patio.

STEVIE HEGER 8:30pm Friday, Nov. 9 and Saturday, Nov. 10. Cooper’s Pub, 653 Cannery Row, Monterey. No cover. 373-1353, cooperspubmonterey.com