Cari Veach

Until last December, Sledding With Tigers’ Dan Faughnder (left) was on the frontlines, working for free and fighting for the Ché Café.

The future of the long-threatened Ché Café now looks promising. But Soda Bar booker Cory Steirs, who booked many shows at the Ché over the years, says the on-campus club would not have made it this far without the music-loving volunteers who did the heavy lifting with no fanfare.

“Core members like Spencer Gooch, Gregory Prout, and Dan Faughnder donated their time to run the shows. They are the heart and soul of the San Diego all-ages music scene.”

Dan Faughnder tells the Reader about his three-year Ché commitment. “Until last December I helped run sound at the Ché. I burned myself out. I was 26 and I decided if I was going to do something for free I better enjoy it.”

Faughnder, a singer/songwriter/guitarist, is now devoting his time to his band Sledding With Tigers, a banjo and glockenspiel “bluegrass-punk” band that is about to release its ninth record, Come On and Slam.

Driven by Faughnder’s lyrics, Come On and Slam is based on his appreciation of the 1996 movie Spacejam, in which Michael Jordan interacts with Bugs Bunny while Jordan tries to segue from basketball to baseball.

From the opening track, “Retirement”: “Trade in my shorts for polyester pants/ Give me a bat and give me a chance/ Used to be on the NBA All-star team/ Now my team is kinda lame and so are my dreams.”

Faughnder makes no apologies for lifting some of the dialogue from the Spacejam script into Come on and Slam.

“If we do get a ‘cease and desist’ from Warner Brothers,” he says, “that would be the best possible thing that could happen.”

The Come On And Slam album-release show Saturday is at Gym Standard, which Faughnder describes as “a shoe-store/fashion hub in North Park... I just like the owner and I wanted to have a free show. I want to introduce people to cool spots around San Diego.”

And while Faughnder has moved on from the Ché, he says he still cares about the collective’s cause.

“UCSD thought they could get the Ché people to give up without a fight...”