#69. Paul Beatie’s Musical Journey: Ferndale’s Old Steeple and Celebrating Community Through Music

Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, friends and neighbors, it's me, Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt, with my new best friend, Paul Beatie.

Paul Beatie: Hi.

Scott Hammond: How you doing, Paul?

Paul Beatie: I'm great. How are you?

Scott Hammond: I am awesome, man. It's good to have you. So Paul, uh, name, rank, serial number. Who are you? What do you, what do you do?

Paul Beatie: Yeah, I'm, uh-

Scott Hammond: What are you doing here?

Paul Beatie: I'm not really sure.

Paul Beatie: Who am I?

Scott Hammond: Come at me, man.

Paul Beatie: Uh, my name's Paul. I play the guitar,

Paul Beatie: and, uh, I own a music venue in Ferndale with my wife.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: It's called The Old Steeple.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And, uh, it's a lot of fun.

Scott Hammond: It's a lot of fun.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And you guys, I saw you guys play, uh, at the, uh, Folklife, right, a couple years ago?

Paul Beatie: Oh, yeah, my band.

Scott Hammond: Your band, yeah.

Paul Beatie: Um, the Starhoppers.

Scott Hammond: Starhoppers.

Paul Beatie: We're a space-themed surf band.

Scott Hammond: Yep, yep.

Paul Beatie: And, uh, it's a lot of fun.

Scott Hammond: Echoes of The Ventures and all those-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … is it Dick Dale?

Paul Beatie: Dick Dale, yep.

Scott Hammond: Surf, surf guitarist extraordinaire.

Paul Beatie: Exactly.

Scott Hammond: Is he still alive?

Paul Beatie: He is not.

Scott Hammond: He is not.

Paul Beatie: He died, uh, bef- some time before the pandemic.

Scott Hammond: Was he LA-based? 'Cause that music sort of came from that-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … surf scene, right?

Paul Beatie: He ended up in, um, 29 Palms.

Scott Hammond: As many do.

Paul Beatie: But, uh, yeah, he, he, uh, I think he was born in, on the East Coast, but then he, uh, you know, came of age-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul Beatie: … in SoCal in late '50s, early '60s.

Scott Hammond: They always say die somewhere warm. 29 Palms would definitely fit that.

Paul Beatie: I think so.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so were The Ventures also 29, or, uh, 20,

Scott Hammond: LA, LA-

Paul Beatie: LA. No, they were, uh, Tacoma or Seattle.

Scott Hammond: Oh, how about that? Okay. So tell us more about, uh, how you, uh, uh, uh, let's, let's talk about The Old Steeple and, but let's t- let's hear your story.

Paul Beatie: Sure.

Scott Hammond: Where, how'd you get here?

Paul Beatie: I grew up arou- uh, outside of Sacramento-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … in Auburn, California.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Paul Beatie: And, um, uh, music was just kinda my thing.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And I had a band called The Pyronauts in Sacramento area.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul Beatie: And, uh, uh, we're still together. We just don't play as much since I moved up here.

Scott Hammond: What kind of music?

Paul Beatie: Surf music.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: That's basically what I do.

Scott Hammond: Surf guys in Auburn, it makes perfect sense.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, and so, um, through, at the, towards the end of high school through college, I was playing with them, and then we did a lot of gigs, probably 700 gigs, and, um, up and down California. And then in 2014 we went to Europe-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul Beatie: … for a tour, and that was

Paul Beatie: tons of fun.

Scott Hammond: I bet.

Paul Beatie: We played this big festival in Italy with, like, 3 to 5000 people out there and-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul Beatie: … just basically lost our minds.

Paul Beatie: It was…

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I bet.

Paul Beatie: It was, it was really fun. Um, but-

Scott Hammond: Was it a surf music festival?

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: And they love it in Europe.

Scott Hammond: Europeans love all kinds of stuff.

Paul Beatie: They get it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: You know? And, uh, we would go into our, the venue or meet people, and they're like, "Where are you from?" "Well, we're from California." "Oh, man." You're like-

Scott Hammond: Cool

Paul Beatie: … "You guys go surfing?" And you're like-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that's me

Paul Beatie: … "What's, what's your favorite tiki bar?" And all this stuff, you know. And they're like-

Scott Hammond: Auburn

Paul Beatie: … um, yeah, we're like, "Uh, well, we live in the foothills." And y- you know.

Scott Hammond: It's four hours to the beach, dude.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. But, uh, it was, it was really, really great, and, uh… But we did, uh, with that band, we got to open for Dick Dale a number of times.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Paul Beatie: And, uh, got to know him, got to know his band.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And that was really our entry into that scene.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Um, which is pretty incredible.

Paul Beatie: Uh, and now, you know, he's gone, but there's still some other, we call it first wave surf music.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: There's still some other guys out there that we've gotten-

Scott Hammond: Really?

Paul Beatie: … to meet.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Paul Beatie: And, uh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause he's iconic. He's an iconic-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … figure in a very niche-y…

Paul Beatie: Exactly.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: What other genre could you, as an amateur-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … end up opening for the inventor-

Scott Hammond: Right

Paul Beatie: … and then getting to know him.

Scott Hammond: Who was the king of bluegrass, the guy that everybody liked? Um, was it, it wasn't Doc Watson.

Scott Hammond: It was-

Paul Beatie: Yeah, Doc and Bill Monroe.

Scott Hammond: Monroe. Mr. M- Mr. Monroe.

Paul Beatie: Right.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, the mandolin player.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: I guess it was sim- similar to that.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: And, um, so that was really my entry into putting on concerts-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … was, uh,

Paul Beatie: eventually doing some Dick Dale shows-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … in both Auburn and then in, um, Scotia.

Scott Hammond: That you produced?

Paul Beatie: That I, yeah, produced.

Scott Hammond: Wow, okay.

Paul Beatie: And, uh, so we did it twice in Scotia when we first moved up here-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … with the Pyronauts opening, uh, at the Wynema or the

Paul Beatie: Wynema-

Scott Hammond: Beautiful theater

Paul Beatie: … Theater there.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: And, um, it was so awesome.

Scott Hammond: It's a cool little venue. How many-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … does that seat?

Paul Beatie: I think a lot more than The Old Steeple. The Old Steeple's about 225.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: And that, in Scotia there, I think we had about 4 to

Paul Beatie: 500.

Scott Hammond: That's pretty good, actually. It's, it's all redwood, right? I mean, the whole… Have you been in the Wynema Theater? Oh, you gotta check it. It's-

Paul Beatie: It's so cool. The-

Scott Hammond: It's such a cool, yeah, redwood

Paul Beatie: … exterior's, like, Greek columns, but they're trunks of trees, and then inside it's all unfinished redwood-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … and it's, like,

Paul Beatie: living.

Scott Hammond: It's iconic. I've been us- wanting to use iconic all day.

Paul Beatie: And on the stage there's, like, the old school, uh, footlights-

Scott Hammond: Oh, okay

Paul Beatie: … you know, that are sunk down in the stage, and it was just, like… It was so neat.

Scott Hammond: In the redwood days, where they could manufacture stuff.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, where'd you go to school, then, after Auburn?

Paul Beatie: Oh, I went to, uh, Sac State.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah? To study music, or?

Paul Beatie: No, uh, economics, actually.

Scott Hammond: Of course.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. I w- I was, uh-

Scott Hammond: Relates to music

Paul Beatie: … I went to Sierra College, which is a junior college.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Paul Beatie: And, um, for three and a half years, and I just sort of took every class that was interesting.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: So I have a AA degree in music-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Paul Beatie: … business, general, and humanities, which is funny 'cause I never stepped foot in the humanities building. They just said, "Hey, for $40 more we'll give you another AA

Paul Beatie: degree."

Scott Hammond: Of course.

Paul Beatie: I'm like, "Okay."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: I'll take it.

Scott Hammond: The answer's yes.

Paul Beatie: And so my bachelor's degree is in economics, 'cause at that point I was like Oh, crap, I gotta figure out how to finish. And, uh, so I got the course catalog from Sac State, and it was like-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul Beatie: … economics was the easiest degree to get.

Scott Hammond: That'll be easy. Yeah. Which… Was that true?

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Well, you-

Paul Beatie: The least amount of units and the least amount of commitments.

Paul Beatie: Like-

Scott Hammond: Good

Paul Beatie: … a music degree was a lot of, uh, commitments. And then your, basically, your only career path is a music teacher.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul Beatie: So I got… Which I became a music teacher-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Paul Beatie: … anyway.

Scott Hammond: Of course.

Paul Beatie: Without the music degree. And so I taught, um, guitar lessons and rock band classes for, I don't know, about 10

Paul Beatie: years.

Scott Hammond: Down there or up here?

Paul Beatie: Both.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. I might s- I, I relate and r- and resonate with this story. I was a rec major at Humboldt.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Recreation means liberal arts, which means four minors, theater, rec, PE, and, and the other one, business.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And so, uh, I have a replete good education from not Cal Poly. It was Humboldt State.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But I, I, yeah. Hey, you, you do what you can do.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, it was a fun time, and I, I learned a lot.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I came up as an oceanography major way up, way above my pay grade, and so, uh, you, you, you, uh, you ascend to what you can. So you came up here, met your wife at,

Scott Hammond: at-

Paul Beatie: Oh, we, we met in, um, college.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: So she's from the Sacramento area too.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And then-

Scott Hammond: What brought you guys here?

Paul Beatie: We decided to move to Ferndale around 2012.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul Beatie: We were just, like, checking out of the Sacramento scene-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … and it's a different culture there. You know, it's like-

Scott Hammond: I do know

Paul Beatie: … driving and road rage and angry and,

Paul Beatie: like-

Scott Hammond: Did, did they have-

Paul Beatie: … not, not being neighborly to your neighbors and-

Scott Hammond: Have they had that this year in Ferndale?

Paul Beatie: Yeah. Uh, so we moved to, like, a real community

Paul Beatie: where-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul Beatie: … like, you actually are friendly to your neighbor, and you care about your neighbors and, and, um, and, like, became a part of that community pretty quick.

Scott Hammond: Which is not an easiest thing, right?

Paul Beatie: You know, I, I hear people say that. I think, um, most people in Ferndale are really friendly and welcoming.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Oh, yeah.

Paul Beatie: I think that they don't like you coming and telling them how to do what they're already doing.

Scott Hammond: Right. Right, right.

Paul Beatie: And we never did that. We just came, and we're like, "This is what we're gonna do."

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul Beatie: Like, you know, if you like it, that's cool. If you don't, whatever.

Scott Hammond: So did you initially come and then just immediately purchase the church building or-

Paul Beatie: No, we started a music store-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … and, uh, was teaching, built up a, a-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … lesson studio-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … and then we were selling music, uh, stuff

Paul Beatie: too.

Scott Hammond: Was that on right on Main Street?

Paul Beatie: Yeah, we had two locations on Main Street.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Paul Beatie: And then, um, when we had the opportunity to get the church there, uh, we moved the store into the church, and our foot traffic just kinda died off.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And the retail thing kinda was less fun.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: And so we sorta stopped that.

Scott Hammond: So productions started to get your attention.

Paul Beatie: Well, yeah, and then, and the, the, uh, putting on concerts was just, like, a lot more fun.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Tell me about the one guy.

Paul Beatie: The one guy.

Scott Hammond: That one guy. I'm trying to think of his name. He was the… He's in Nashville now. My friend Jeff Crown knew him. Christian guy who would do worship stuff on Friday nights.

Paul Beatie: Oh, right.

Scott Hammond: Uh-

Paul Beatie: Yeah, I was never-

Scott Hammond: Anthony Skinner.

Paul Beatie: Anthony Skinner. I was never there for that.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Did you… You never met him.

Paul Beatie: Nope.

Scott Hammond: So that was a separate thing where he rented out the wh- or they rented the hall.

Paul Beatie: They were, uh… The previous owner-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Paul Beatie: … he was involved with them, yeah.

Scott Hammond: And then the guys that had the killer studio up somewhere on-

Paul Beatie: Same. Same guy.

Scott Hammond: Same guy. Okay. And then they sold… So w- were they the folks that sold it to-

Paul Beatie: Right

Scott Hammond: … y'all, y'all?

Paul Beatie: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Gotcha. And then-

Paul Beatie: Yeah, and basically, uh, when we went and looked at it, we're like, "Oh, man," you know. "We know what to do."

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Paul Beatie: "But this, you know, is gonna be a stretch."

Scott Hammond: Some work.

Paul Beatie: So we started working the back channels and was like, "This is the plan," you know.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: "This is what we would do."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And I think that because of that music connection-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … that opened the door-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul Beatie: … to making a deal.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: Because otherw- otherwise, you know, if it was just about

Paul Beatie: the money-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul Beatie: … we would've been outbid.

Scott Hammond: You're just some guy.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But you were gonna, you were gonna take it to the next level.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, and I think we, uh… And talking to the previous owner after the fact, you know, it's, like, kind of completing a part of his

Paul Beatie: vision.

Scott Hammond: Nice. Are, uh, are they still in the area?

Paul Beatie: Um, not really. They still own the studio, but they're kind of

Paul Beatie: all over.

Scott Hammond: I imagine you've been to that studio up the road.

Paul Beatie: I have.

Scott Hammond: Heard it, I heard that state-of-the-art killer-

Paul Beatie: It's pretty cool

Scott Hammond: … amazing.

Paul Beatie: It's like a… It's kinda like walking into a lodge.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And, um-

Scott Hammond: I've driven by the house. It's, it's… Looks… You can see some of it from the road, right, or-

Paul Beatie: Not really.

Scott Hammond: Oh, okay.

Paul Beatie: Uh-uh.

Scott Hammond: I, I've seen the driveway.

Paul Beatie: It's, uh, it's like, uh, the, uh, control room is about twice the size of this room, four times the size of this room-

Scott Hammond: Right

Paul Beatie: … and it's floating. It's its own foundation, its own HVAC

Paul Beatie: system.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Paul Beatie: You've… There's two doors, and you cross this threshold.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul Beatie: It's not connected to the rest of the building.

Scott Hammond: It's on an island.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: And then, um-

Scott Hammond: Why's, why is that a good thing?

Paul Beatie: It's just totally isolated.

Scott Hammond: So it, it's not gonna be interfered with i- at-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … soundwise or other-

Paul Beatie: Something could be extremely noisy in the next room, and you're not gonna feel the

Paul Beatie: vibration.

Scott Hammond: You'll never hear it. Wow.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. And then there's a guitar loft with a bunch of cool old amps and a drum selection in the carport-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul Beatie: … or the garage.

Paul Beatie: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: Go pick your weapons

Paul Beatie: … big board, Neve board.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul Beatie: You know, in the day, the board was probably 100 grand or, um, a million bucks.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: And now it's worth maybe 100.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul Beatie: But, um, a piano, piano/organ room. It's basically like if, uh, Led Zeppelin showed up-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … like, with no instruments-

Scott Hammond: No problem

Paul Beatie: … they could make an album.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: And it's analog. Uh, 96 tracks of- Two-inch tape, four machines

Scott Hammond: Wow. Can they do digital now, or it is still-

Paul Beatie: And they do digital at the same time.

Scott Hammond: They- oh, so it's analog. It's both.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow. That's-

Paul Beatie: One time, I recorded on the 24-inch track, or two-inch track.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: 24 tracks. It was so much fun.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Uh, because… And then we mixed on that, too.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: So when you mix, every time you do it, you have to do it again.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: So you have to, like, write notes, and the whole band's at this board and-

Scott Hammond: And do it over and over

Paul Beatie: … and you're like, "Okay, at, at three minutes and 10 seconds, I gotta move channel nine down to this."

Scott Hammond: Rad.

Paul Beatie: "And then I gotta move it back."

Scott Hammond: So when they did Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd had to do that probably a lot.

Paul Beatie: Right.

Scott Hammond: Wow. Huh. That's… I'm fascinated by that. Before I forget, uh, Auburn has a killer record store if I remember

Scott Hammond: right.

Paul Beatie: Cherry Records?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Been in there a couple… You probably know the-

Paul Beatie: Alan

Scott Hammond: … you probably know Alan, right?

Paul Beatie: Alan's awesome.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Nice guy.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, we sell our CDs out there, for sure.

Scott Hammond: That's cool. He's got a lot of good re- good vinyl, man.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, really amazing, so. Yeah, so, uh, so you buy the place, uh, you, you cut a

Scott Hammond: deal, and-

Paul Beatie: Yep

Scott Hammond: … and you're looking, going, "Oh, my God, what have I done? What have I prayed for? 'Cause I got it."

Paul Beatie: We got the keys on May 20th.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Our son was born May 23rd.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: We moved in, basically, uh, two weeks later.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Then we moved the store that summer.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul Beatie: And then we had our first concert that fall, or that

Paul Beatie: November.

Scott Hammond: Wow. Other than that, nothing going on.

Paul Beatie: And no sleep. He's-

Scott Hammond: What… Yeah, yeah.

Paul Beatie: He- our kid did not sleep.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. We have a daughter and, and boys here right now who's, new baby, not sleeping.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that's, that's why it's… That's for young people.

Paul Beatie: And, um, yeah, I was not necessarily a young dad.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh. That's cool, though. You, you did this whole turnabout. So I, I think it's fair to say, uh, let, let's talk about Ferndale a minute, but let's talk about the building 'cause it's

Scott Hammond: got-

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … historical and crazy cool stuff to it.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Right? And then you guys have restored it.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, before we got it, it was just known around town as the old Methodist church.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: It was the first church in Ferndale.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Right by the cemetery-

Paul Beatie: In 18-

Scott Hammond: … up the hill

Paul Beatie: … right by the cemetery, 1870s, and then it was remodeled in

Paul Beatie: around 1902-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul Beatie: … the way it is now-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … with the big stained glass windows-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Gorgeous

Paul Beatie: … and the tin, pressed tin ceiling-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … and the, the steeple.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And that's where we got the name The Old Steeple.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Did you guys rename it, or was it already…?

Paul Beatie: We named it that.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. And, uh, but in the 1960s, it is when it sort of ceased being a church-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … and the properties were sold off, the parsonage-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … which is where I live now-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Paul Beatie: … and the church.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: Um,

Paul Beatie: and, uh-

Scott Hammond: Father Paul? Just, just ki-

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Is that what your da- your kid calls you? No, I'm kidding.

Paul Beatie: No, no. That would be funny.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Dad.

Paul Beatie: Hey. Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Probably Dad.

Paul Beatie: No, he calls me things, but… Nah, never mind. We won't go there.

Scott Hammond: That's father-son stuff.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. Uh-

Scott Hammond: Cool. It's all cool.

Paul Beatie: But, uh-

Scott Hammond: My da- my son, actually, our number nine, Micah, he's 20, Hey, Micah, calls me Scott, which is so… Joni's just r- really bothered by that.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: It's like, "He's Dad. Why don't you…" You know, "He's Scott. Hey, Scott." And he'll refer to me as Scott.

Paul Beatie: Right.

Scott Hammond: Like, uh, all right, dude, I guess you could be Micah or Mike, so I don't… Kids are-

Paul Beatie: Pretty funny

Scott Hammond: … father-son stuff.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. They keep you on your toes.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. So you had a whole rebuild to, to, or a re- remodel to do

Scott Hammond: here.

Paul Beatie: Well, the, the previous guy kept it like a, you know, like a vacation home or, or, or like a, like a, like a hotel almost.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: They had weekly

Paul Beatie: cleaning-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … weekly landscaping-

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool

Paul Beatie: … maintenance.

Scott Hammond: Wow. So it didn't-

Paul Beatie: So-

Scott Hammond: … it didn't come dilapidated, then.

Scott Hammond: It was-

Paul Beatie: No, it came in great shape.

Scott Hammond: Ah.

Paul Beatie: And then, uh, we've been deferring a lot of maintenance-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … since we've taken over.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Paul Beatie: We a- we did do a, a remodel of the bathrooms when we turned it into a venue.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: We built the stage out a little bit further to accommodate

Paul Beatie: piano-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … on the middle of the stage.

Paul Beatie: And, um, we'd done some remodeling in the backstage area.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: But, uh, but, like, the bones and the,

Paul Beatie: the roof and the painting, that was all done. But now that the roof is sorta catching up with us-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … and the painting, and, like, today I was up there. We're working on the gutters up on the tower.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: They're 120-year-old gutters. These big redwood, you know, they're, like, that big.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: And, like, you know, 15 feet long.

Scott Hammond: Psh.

Paul Beatie: And they're finally rotting.

Scott Hammond: Finally.

Paul Beatie: After 120 years.

Scott Hammond: Good investment. That-

Paul Beatie: I'm the guy that gets to fix that.

Scott Hammond: Somebody has to do it.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Wow. How do you replace… Are you gonna do plastic or do something different?

Paul Beatie: We're actually doing no gutters.

Scott Hammond: No gutters? Hey, maybe you don't need them.

Paul Beatie: We figure, like-

Scott Hammond: The economic way

Paul Beatie: … they, like, all they do is catch bird poop, right?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: That's the only thing that hangs out up there.

Scott Hammond: They're not doing anything, yeah.

Paul Beatie: You know? And it's like, well, do we even need these things?

Scott Hammond: Tear them down and paint them, yeah.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul Beatie: So, and it was rotten, like, three layers deep.

Scott Hammond: Wow. So you sorta got the dream job, house, venue, records, I mean, music store, production venue, and you guys do-

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … weddings, too, right?

Paul Beatie: We do weddings.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I think it bears mentioning, just to, just to create a visual, have you ever been out in The Old Steeple? It's, it's pretty magic. It's l- it looks cool. It, it's an old… Is it reddish, if I remember right?

Paul Beatie: It's red.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Yep.

Scott Hammond: And it's at, right at the base of this, uh, it… Google it, please. It's, it's on a, uh- … it's at the base of a hillside where the cemetery is, historical cemetery,

Scott Hammond: and-

Paul Beatie: Right

Scott Hammond: … the venue's really fun. I mean, to see shows there, I mean, Huckleberry

Scott Hammond: Flint and John Hammond and, you know, I'll let you drop some-

Paul Beatie: Your cousin

Scott Hammond: Who? Cousin?

Paul Beatie: Your cousin John Hammond.

Scott Hammond: Look, I, I don't like to talk about that. He, you know, he doesn't like to talk about our great-great-great-grandfather Jedediah Hammond, Hammond Lumber.

Paul Beatie: Ah.

Scott Hammond: Hammond Trail, who invented the Hammond Bridge.

Scott Hammond: And if Joni-

Paul Beatie: Invented the bridge

Scott Hammond: … if my wife was here, she'd be just going. Joni goes nuts when I go there. So, uh, hi Joni. Love ya. Mean it.

Scott Hammond: Uh, so you got into the place.

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: It's starting to come together. Who was your first show?

Paul Beatie: Gene Parsons,

Paul Beatie: and, uh, he was from The Byrds.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: He was in The Byrds.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Wow.

Paul Beatie: And then the bass player from Van Morrison's band. I'm drawing a blank on right now.

Scott Hammond: Were they in the same band, or they were two different?

Paul Beatie: Yeah, they both live in Mendocino.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: And so they came up and did that. I don't even remember how that happened, but it was pretty magical. You know, when you first walk in that room, the stained glass window glows, and it's just like-

Scott Hammond: Stained

Paul Beatie: … there's like a reverence in that room, and it's like a-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, there's a good vibe there

Paul Beatie: … it's a spiritual place, and it's like a really positive-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Yeah

Paul Beatie: … vibe, and, and it's really fun seeing artists walk

Paul Beatie: in there, and they look up, and they're like, "Oh man, this is gonna be great."

Scott Hammond: Really?

Paul Beatie: You know?

Scott Hammond: So they, they, they know right away-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … 'cause they've done this.

Paul Beatie: Yep, and it, the, the sound, um, is, you know, it was made, it was made before sound reinforcement.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Paul Beatie: So preacher up there with a big voice-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … he can command the room.

Scott Hammond: And the tin r- the tin roof.

Paul Beatie: Tin roof, and we don't have a lot of, uh, bad flutter echo when you get parallel walls-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … ceilings. The floor is sloped.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Ceiling is really irregular.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: So it's a live room, but it doesn't have, uh, it doesn't have a lot of, like, bad frequencies-

Scott Hammond: Wow, okay

Paul Beatie: … that would feed back.

Scott Hammond: I would think a tin roof would be problematic for sound, but-

Paul Beatie: It's reflective, but it's very textured.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, and then, uh, the seats that we put in are really thick, padded seats.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Uh, and they absorb a lot.

Scott Hammond: That would help, yeah.

Paul Beatie: Like, uh, like this last wedding, we had, we had all the chairs out of there-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … for the first time in a couple of years, and, like, you clap, and the reverb

Paul Beatie: just goes.

Scott Hammond: That's cool. I like it.

Paul Beatie: And it's really, like,

Paul Beatie: loud without the chairs. But then chairs, and you get bodies in there-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … and it just gets warm and, like-

Scott Hammond: And it actually warms up a little bit, I've noticed, with the body heat.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Just kind of for the Christmas show that Huck Flint did. That was fun. So let's talk about Ferndale, and I wanna come back to some of the shows that you-

Paul Beatie: Sure

Scott Hammond: … like and remember and maybe some coming up.

Scott Hammond: Um, why do, why do you like Ferndale?

Paul Beatie: Yeah, you know, I think I said before, it's a community-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … where people care about each other.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And, you know, the fire alarm goes off, and people start running. They run down the street. The firemen run down the street to the firehouse, and,

Paul Beatie: uh, and, uh, you get to know every- everybody. You know, even if they're not the nicest person-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … you know who they are.

Scott Hammond: It's a small town.

Paul Beatie: You know? Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: And, uh, uh, it's, it's a real place-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … you know? Where-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … you know, I'm not saying we don't have problems. We do have problems-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … um, like anywhere.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: But I feel like,

Paul Beatie: um, I can affect change there.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Paul Beatie: … and in doing my own thing there over these last 12 and a half years, like, got a lot of support, made a lot of

Paul Beatie: friends,

Paul Beatie: and, uh, made, made a good life, I think.

Scott Hammond: Make a good… Yeah, absolutely.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, so, uh, primarily dairy and formerly a timber town,

Scott Hammond: arguably.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And a lot of Italian and Portuguese background, right?

Paul Beatie: Right.

Scott Hammond: Azo- Azores.

Paul Beatie: And Danish.

Scott Hammond: And Danish, yeah.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And all that history with, um, what's her name? Bill Morrill is related to her, um-

Paul Beatie: Viola Russ McBride

Scott Hammond: The Russ, the Russes and the McBrides, yeah.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. She, uh, she in the s-

Scott Hammond: She's kind of legend, right?

Paul Beatie: Yeah, like, in the '70s, it was pretty much a ghost town-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Paul Beatie: … Main Street.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Paul Beatie: And everything was painted white.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Paul Beatie: But… And, uh, she started buying up these properties on Main Street, painting them up, and, and she got her artist friends to come up from the city and gave them cheap rent, and-

Scott Hammond: Really?

Paul Beatie: … started making art.

Scott Hammond: Ho-

Paul Beatie: Like Hobart Brown.

Scott Hammond: Like Hobart, yeah.

Paul Beatie: Jack Mays, who was still alive when I got to town. Got to know Jack Mays a little bit.

Scott Hammond: Who's the blacksmith? Is he still living?

Paul Beatie: Joe Coaches.

Scott Hammond: Coaches.

Paul Beatie: He, he died a few years ago.

Scott Hammond: Knew Joe a little bit.

Paul Beatie: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, all these great characters.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: And there's still s- there's still characters in town.

Scott Hammond: Let's not, let's not forget Patrick Cleary.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Pat. He, he's a character. You're looking-

Paul Beatie: Oh

Scott Hammond: … where'd he go?

Paul Beatie: Is he here?

Scott Hammond: I thought he walked in. He's- Hi, Patrick.

Scott Hammond: No. He's a character. Yeah, no, I, it, it's got great history and a great vibe. I, um, I really liked the, uh, the North Coast Journal store there with the locally made stuff.

Scott Hammond: That's-

Paul Beatie: Oh, yeah. Isn't that cool?

Scott Hammond: That's neat. Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. I figure, like, you know, it's not easy to have a store anywhere.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: But if you can make your store work in Ferndale-

Scott Hammond: They're doing something

Paul Beatie: … that's pretty good.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: It's, you know, it's hard to get to Ferndale. I think that's one of the things that's kept it, uh, preserved so well. Um-

Scott Hammond: It's not on the main drag

Paul Beatie: … it's just off the freeway, you know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: And before there was even a freeway, it wasn't on the main

Paul Beatie: road.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul Beatie: You know? So it was… It's always kinda been off in its own little pocket-

Scott Hammond: It's sort of a-

Paul Beatie: … like an island.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, 'cause it, well, it's surrounded by other islands.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Isn't it island whatever when it floods there?

Paul Beatie: Pretty much.

Scott Hammond: There's… Isn't there a road called something Island?

Scott Hammond: Um, any-

Paul Beatie: Cockro- Cockrobin Island.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, that- that's one, yeah. Yeah, no, we love going down. It, it, it's funny, I, um- Little bit of history there and going way back. I, uh, we went down for breakfast, and we met these guys riding their e-bikes at the little park there.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And now, uh, I go, "Hey, can, do you mind if I jump on?" The guy goes, "Yeah, go for it." And I, and I cruise in Main Street going 30. I go, "Man, this is the best thing ever. I, I'm not even pedaling." And just kinda that friendly, kinda nice Ferndale

Scott Hammond: story.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, totally.

Scott Hammond: And Guy Fieri, he's nice… Have you met Guy?

Paul Beatie: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: Is he a nice guy?

Paul Beatie: He, he was totally nice.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: He had, he, he, uh, bought a couple of sculptures from me, actually. I had some Jack Mays sculptures-

Scott Hammond: Oh, wow

Paul Beatie: … for sale, and he came in with his posse.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: And, uh, he had actually remembered being a kid, and he did some play on the stage at the Steeple.

Scott Hammond: How about that?

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Paul Beatie: And then I said, "Hey, do you wanna see the attic?" He's like, "Sure." So took him up to the attic.

Scott Hammond: And there's stuff up there.

Paul Beatie: You know.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul Beatie: Skeletons.

Scott Hammond: Treasures. Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Cardboard boxes.

Scott Hammond: Dead bodies.

Paul Beatie: Flies, bats, barn owls.

Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah. All of it. Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Is there a bar- I know your barn owl's part of your logo.

Scott Hammond: Is it-

Paul Beatie: Right, yeah. We, we have the-

Scott Hammond: Were there barn owls up there?

Paul Beatie: Barn owls up in the steeple.

Scott Hammond: They still are there?

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Huh. Helps with the rodents.

Paul Beatie: Oh, totally.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, they're great.

Scott Hammond: That's kind of a cool deal. Okay, I like it. So, uh, some memorable shows. Let's talk about some guys that came into town-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … and gals, and what, um, what's c- what's coming, what we've had there.

Paul Beatie: Well, we've had, uh, yeah, for the past, you know, some of my favorites, uh,

Paul Beatie: Iris DeMent.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Uh, Greg Brown.

Scott Hammond: She was just here, right, last year or so?

Paul Beatie: Uh, it's been a couple years. I need to get her back.

Scott Hammond: She's really quite good, right?

Paul Beatie: Should write that down.

Scott Hammond: What is she… Is she-

Paul Beatie: She's one of my favorites

Scott Hammond: … is she a string player?

Paul Beatie: She plays guitar and piano.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: And then, um, David Lindley.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: We had him twice.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. He's come up to Humboldt a lot over the years, right?

Paul Beatie: Yeah. That was pretty… Those were incredible shows.

Scott Hammond: He perished, right?

Paul Beatie: Yep.

Scott Hammond: And he was slide guitarist for Jackson Browne.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Running on Empty band.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, rad. Interesting guy.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I, I'm sorry I missed him. I would've liked to have seen him.

Paul Beatie: Total wild man. Not wild, but just weird.

Scott Hammond: Bay Area guy?

Paul Beatie: Uh, SoCal.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Prince of Polyester.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: He wore polyester pants, and he would play these-

Scott Hammond: On purpose?

Paul Beatie: Oh, yeah. He would play these instruments with no frets, you know, stringed instruments, weird Turkish instruments or whatever,

Paul Beatie: and, uh, everything was perfect.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul Beatie: Never a wrong note.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: And just incredible.

Scott Hammond: I think of Bruce Cockburn playing that one instrument that he-

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … used to tour with. I forget.

Paul Beatie: That's another one I need to get.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Uh-

Scott Hammond: Before, before he dies.

Paul Beatie: Yep.

Scott Hammond: He's getting quite, uh, he's got some health stuff, right?

Paul Beatie: I don't know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. He, I mean, he's been here a number of times. He played the Old Town Bar & Grill and-

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … Arcata Theatre a couple years ago. I, I bet you could pull Bruce off, absolutely.

Paul Beatie: I know a guy who knows him.

Scott Hammond: I know a guy. Okay. So did you meet a lot of… So let's just step back for a sec.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Do you meet a lot of producers around or learn your, to hone your craft around the Dick Dale sh- uh, people or shows or-

Paul Beatie: No. Well, I, I saw other people and how they did

Paul Beatie: it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And, and was like, "Uh, it's not, not cool."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: You know?

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: You think of a concert promoter in, in, in my touring,

Paul Beatie: I've-

Scott Hammond: Hmm

Paul Beatie: … dealt with different people, you know. Like, like one time we played in LA, and it's the end of the night. It's time to get paid, and they're like, "Well, the deal was you had to sell, you know, $400 worth of tickets-

Scott Hammond: The last thing you wanna do

Paul Beatie: … to get paid, and you only sold, you know, 380."

Scott Hammond: Geez.

Paul Beatie: So we're like, "Well, here's 20 bucks."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: "This is your money."

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: And they're like, "No, that's not how it works."

Scott Hammond: Whoa.

Paul Beatie: And we're like-

Scott Hammond: What?

Paul Beatie: "You suck." You know? And, uh, so there's all kinds of, of shady deals, so I've always tried to be above board and-

Scott Hammond: Nice

Paul Beatie: … professional, and it's all about relationships and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm, yeah

Paul Beatie: … and, uh, your reputation.

Scott Hammond: Isn't it all, yeah.

Paul Beatie: So, um, you know, like Iris DeMent, I had to work my way up to Iris

Paul Beatie: DeMent.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Figure out what agency she works for.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Book a couple others from them.

Scott Hammond: Where's she based?

Paul Beatie: Iowa.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Sioux City, Iowa. Hey, Iris.

Scott Hammond: What's up? Wonder what part of Iowa she's from.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul Beatie: I think… I don't know.

Scott Hammond: Could be-

Paul Beatie: I don't know

Scott Hammond: … could be anywhere, see.

Paul Beatie: I don't know if I've been to Iowa.

Scott Hammond: Anywhere. Iowa's cool. Iowa people, by the way, are just Midwest cool.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: They're just great. Um, so Iris DeMent. Uh, you caught me on another line there. I was going with, um, so some of the shows that you've had have been… Na- name some others.

Paul Beatie: Oh, you know, we had, uh, John Craigie.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: We had, uh, uh, Jerry Douglas.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul Beatie: Who is, you know, if you don't know who that is, he's the dobro player for Alison Krauss-

Scott Hammond: Sure

Paul Beatie: … Union Station.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Um, we had Molly Tuttle.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: We had-

Scott Hammond: She's great

Paul Beatie: … Sierra Hull.

Paul Beatie: Uh-

Scott Hammond: Saw Molly last summer up at The Brit.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: She's quite good.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: She played in two bands. She played with the first guys, the in- and then the Incredible String Dusters.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, she's something.

Paul Beatie: Uh, missed Billy Strings tournament.

Scott Hammond: Doggone it.

Paul Beatie: And-

Scott Hammond: Was, was he available at some point earlier?

Paul Beatie: I think so. Dude, now he's like, he's like-

Scott Hammond: He's stadium guy now

Paul Beatie: … he's like outer space now, man.

Scott Hammond: So my, shout-out to my friend David Turner, who has an, an, an uncanny ability to call out the shows.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: You know, at, at the Arcata Playhouse or your place or, you know, wherever, and he knows the troubadours.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: He, he knows the tr- Iris, John Craigie real well.

Paul Beatie: Uh, Particle Kid is one of my favorites.

Paul Beatie: Um, he's-

Scott Hammond: That's Willie Nelson's-

Paul Beatie: … youngest son.

Scott Hammond: Right on.

Paul Beatie: And now he's in Neil Young's band.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool. Does he-

Paul Beatie: No big deal

Scott Hammond: … does he do, yeah, that, whatever. Does he do the duet with his dad? They do the song? Or is that another son?

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Uh, what's the one… What's it called?

Scott Hammond: Um

Paul Beatie: Be Halfway to Heaven if I-

Scott Hammond: Something like that.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. My wife really likes that song.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. It's really good. Uh-

Scott Hammond: Does he, does he do that song for his show?

Paul Beatie: No.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: He does the Particle Kid stuff, which is more like rock and roll-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … psychedelic.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: I love it. It's great.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, fun.

Paul Beatie: And he's just a sweet dude.

Scott Hammond: Nice guy. Cool.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, I really like the artists that are nice, that are just normal, sweet people.

Scott Hammond: Who, who, who stands out of that besides those guys?

Paul Beatie: Yeah, Al- Alister Frazier.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Um…

Scott Hammond: How was John Hammond, Uncle- My Uncle John?

Paul Beatie: Oh, he was so cool.

Scott Hammond: Was he cool?

Paul Beatie: He was so cool.

Scott Hammond: He was great.

Paul Beatie: He was like-

Scott Hammond: He was a great show.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, he's like kind of like a gruff kinda voice, you know.

Scott Hammond: He's old school, dude.

Paul Beatie: He smoked a lot, you know.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: But he's got stories about hanging out with Tom Waits, he's got stories hanging Neil Young, and what I loved about him and what he did on the stage was he's just like, "I can't even believe this story, but I got to play with, you know, so and so." And-

Scott Hammond: Didn't he have Hendrix and, and-

Paul Beatie: Like-

Scott Hammond: … Eric Clapton in the same show or-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … studio?

Paul Beatie: And it wasn't, uh, it wasn't like, "Yeah, I did this. Uh, uh, you know-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul Beatie: … I'm so cool." It was like, "I can't even believe how cool this is."

Scott Hammond: I was so thankful to be a part of it.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. Like, "I was there. I got to do this." It was incredible.

Scott Hammond: Different, different attitude.

Paul Beatie: Totally.

Scott Hammond: That's cool. Oh, I like that.

Paul Beatie: Where if it was Dick Dale, you know, Dick Dale would, you know, Dick Dale would say things like, "Well, I taught Jimi Hendrix how to play."

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Of course he did.

Paul Beatie: You know?

Scott Hammond: Is that even true?

Paul Beatie: "I taught The Beach Boys everything," you know?

Scott Hammond: Is that even true?

Paul Beatie: They just hap- both happen to be left-handed.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, right.

Paul Beatie: You know?

Scott Hammond: We're all lefties over here. Don't worry about it.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, other than the produced shows, you guys do wedding venue there?

Paul Beatie: Yep.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Paul Beatie: Yep. Uh, we do weddings and, um… You know, the other thing we should talk about is the TV show-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, let's do that

Paul Beatie: … that we produced, uh, with PBS-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … with KEET, which is our local affiliate.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: We did, um-

Scott Hammond: One of the longest running local affiliates, by the way, for public television-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … in America. I understand they're pretty-

Paul Beatie: And you know, we're the third smallest PBS

Paul Beatie: market.

Scott Hammond: That I believe.

Paul Beatie: The other two are, are both in Alaska.

Scott Hammond: Talkeetna.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. So, um, I pitched this idea to do a show, and we made the pilot with Laurie Lewis-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … who's a Bay Area bluegrass-

Scott Hammond: She's great. Yeah

Paul Beatie: … and, you know, it turned out really good, and we're like, "Okay, let's make a, let's make

Paul Beatie: a season."

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And so that first season we did 12.

Scott Hammond: These are shows that were scheduled to come to the venue.

Paul Beatie: Yep, and so we… I talked them into being taped and recorded and, you know, uh, they, KEET brought the, their van with all the equipment, cables coming in the door with all these

Paul Beatie: cameras and-

Scott Hammond: Sweet

Paul Beatie: … and, um, you know, uh, John Craigie's on that first season-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … Alistair and Natalie. And, uh, so we made that season, and then the, the idea wa- we got some local underwriters and the idea was, well, we're gonna package the season. We're gonna put it out there-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … for free for other PBS affiliates to pick up.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: And so that first season, uh, was, in my mind, very successful.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And it, it, uh, aired to viewable over half of the, the country.

Paul Beatie: So-

Scott Hammond: That's really good

Paul Beatie: … it aired in LA, San Francisco, New York-

Scott Hammond: Boston

Paul Beatie: … Vegas, Philadelphia. I don't know about Boston.

Scott Hammond: Boston's a big-

Paul Beatie: Uh

Scott Hammond: … big PBS market, but-

Paul Beatie: Um-

Scott Hammond: That's cool

Paul Beatie: … we mi- we didn't get in Texas.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Didn't get the Aus-

Paul Beatie: Didn't get Hawaii

Scott Hammond: … the Austrian affiliate.

Paul Beatie: But we got, we got a lot of other cool places. We also got some really, some local places too, like Medford, San Francisco, um, Chico-

Scott Hammond: That's a good one

Paul Beatie: … Redding. So, which is cool because, uh, a lot of our underwriting is tourist-based.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul Beatie: So in the second season, um, it was all tourist-based, and that is going out. That's out there right now.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And it's aired in LA and San Francisco and, and in New York, and it moved to the main PBS station in New York, which is really cool.

Scott Hammond: That's really cool.

Paul Beatie: So in Manhattan.

Scott Hammond: Wow. So they're st- kind of on some sort of a cycle where they run?

Paul Beatie: Yeah, they get distributed, um… I can't remember the name of the company that distributes them, but basically they're in a catalog, and the program director can choose these free-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul Beatie: … to fill in their schedules. So it might, might've been on at, like, 3:00 AM-

Scott Hammond: Still

Paul Beatie: … in New York City, but it's still there, and it's still in the schedule, and then the, the members of their station, they're gonna see it.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: You know, so it's been on in Michigan lately.

Scott Hammond: Hm.

Paul Beatie: And, um-

Scott Hammond: So folks can actually download, uh, as… So, so the local-

Paul Beatie: They can stream it

Scott Hammond: … affiliate would stream in some way from-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … from our KEET station or, uh, from the cloud somewhere.

Paul Beatie: F- Yeah. It's through this distribution.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: But, um, it is on, uh, the PBS

Paul Beatie: website.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Like, if you search Live from the Old Steeple on PBS-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … dot org.

Scott Hammond: You could find all that.

Paul Beatie: It'll be there, and all 25 episodes are-

Scott Hammond: So as a member, I could just go on my computer and pull it up and start-

Paul Beatie: Yep

Scott Hammond: … playing it-

Paul Beatie: Yep

Scott Hammond: … on my TV for that matter.

Paul Beatie: Absolutely.

Scott Hammond: If I was a tech guy, I could figure that out.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, I think, like, if you have Roku or whatever, you could do it on Roku.

Scott Hammond: Roku's pretty easy, yeah. Yeah. So who was second season? Who, who played?

Paul Beatie: Yeah. Well, the big show, uh, Mark and Maggie O'Connor.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: That was a good one. And then, um, Trey Burt, who, uh, he's a singer-songwriter from Sacramento, but he got signed to John Prine's label-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul Beatie: … in Nashville.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: Um, Sunny War.

Paul Beatie: Uh, uh, and then the big show was, um, Mark Cohn, uh, Sarah Jarosz,

Paul Beatie: and-

Scott Hammond: The other one.

Paul Beatie: The other one.

Scott Hammond: And my friend Dave tried to get me to go to that show.

Paul Beatie: The big one. Oh, my God.

Scott Hammond: I'm sure these are all sold out in-

Scott Hammond: … record time. You, what's cool about your venue is that it's pretty affordable.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, that one was a bit, that one was a bit pricey.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: And I lost my butt on that one.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's-

Paul Beatie: But there was a cool, you know, there was tour bus, Shawn Colvin.

Scott Hammond: Okay, yeah.

Paul Beatie: There was a tour bus in the driveway, and it was just kind of, like, like I had to have security, and like-

Scott Hammond: Whoa

Paul Beatie: … there was like, there was like this memo that went out,

Paul Beatie: you know, with mugshots basically. Like, "Have your security team keep an eye out for these people."

Scott Hammond: Who are they? Folks that-

Paul Beatie: Oh, crap.

Scott Hammond: Are they folks that follow these guys?

Paul Beatie: Like stalkers or whatever.

Scott Hammond: Really? Creepy-

Paul Beatie: No, like-

Scott Hammond: … weirdos?

Paul Beatie: This is heavy duty, man. This is heavy.

Scott Hammond: This is big.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: I mean-

Scott Hammond: This is not, this is Jethro Tull stuff.

Paul Beatie: We didn't have any problems, so.

Scott Hammond: That's good. Hey.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You know, and, and I think about, um, going to the wine country or to The Brit or to Redding, and you got money for gas-

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … and food and lodging, and it's like, oh, Ferndale's a long ways. It's 50 whole minutes from McKinleyville.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's a long commute.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: But I think that's worth every penny, especially to see guys like that.

Paul Beatie: Um, well, yeah, that was my rationale was, you know, and if I had sold that show out, I would've broken even, but-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … we didn't quite get there.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: But my rationale was, well, like, if you're gonna see the show-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … you're gonna have to leave the area.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: You can go to Sacramento or Bay Area.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul Beatie: And ticket price will be cheaper.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, but you got gas, you got food, you got lodging.

Scott Hammond: Crazy.

Paul Beatie: And so-

Scott Hammond: And, and a whole weekend to go do it all.

Paul Beatie: I convinced, I convinced a fair number of people of that rationale, but-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … not enough.

Scott Hammond: So d- you've known other promoters. Did you know Roy up at Humboldt when he was doing shows?

Paul Beatie: A little bit, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Nice guy.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Um, I, I would… So what's your secret to making it work for the musicians and the bands and the roadies?

Scott Hammond: Just-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … y- I mean, top three takeaways, you said-

Paul Beatie: Hospitality.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: You know? Like, it needs to be comfortable for

Paul Beatie: them.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: 'Cause basically, their job is driving.

Scott Hammond: They drive all the time.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: They're truck drivers.

Paul Beatie: They're driving, and they, they get to where they're going. They, they wanna relax. They want to sound good.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And they wanna have a good show.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: So you just take care of them.

Scott Hammond: Maybe go work out, move-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … move around, take a walk.

Paul Beatie: Maybe do their laundry.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Got washed.

Scott Hammond: Imagine, imagine that.

Paul Beatie: Put a washer, good washer and dryer there for them, you know?

Scott Hammond: That's a pretty good idea.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I like it. That's very practical. So y- you're here to serve them and get them into the best head space-

Paul Beatie: Exactly

Scott Hammond: … possible.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I love it. So, uh, let's, let's talk about stuff you like in Humboldt. Hey, it's time for the show.

Paul Beatie: Okay.

Scott Hammond: The part of the show where you, uh, can-

Paul Beatie: That was the intro.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, the f- that was it. Welcome to the show, everybody. Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt with Paul.

Scott Hammond: Um, this is the part of the show where you can kinda tell us what you like about

Scott Hammond: Humboldt.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: And I haven't even been able to use my prop yet. Um, Humboldt County, located in Northern California.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: The size of Rhode Island, about 130,000 people, give or take, and, uh, it rains a lot. Y- you don't wanna live here, but you can come visit. Spend, spend money. Just kidding.

Paul Beatie: Right.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. We-

Paul Beatie: We get a lot of tourists because of that TV show.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: We get a lot of people coming-

Scott Hammond: Just roll through?

Paul Beatie: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Traveling to our shows to see shows here.

Scott Hammond: Nice. And I, I'd assume people that didn't time it well for a show but just came to Ferndale-

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … or wherever. Yeah. No, it's, um… So what do you like about living in Humboldt?

Paul Beatie: I love the-

Scott Hammond: Not Ferndale.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: You, you don't live in, in Auburn anymore.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So you came here, so-

Paul Beatie: Well-

Scott Hammond: … what are some of the things you like?

Paul Beatie: You know, Auburn is at about 1,200 feet.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And-

Scott Hammond: Which is a-

Paul Beatie: … it is really beautiful

Scott Hammond: … it's a cool town.

Paul Beatie: Like, it's really hot in summer.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Really cold in the winter.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And in the summertime, when the Delta breezes kick up-

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh

Paul Beatie: … it cools off Sacramento, but it pushes the smog right up against the hill.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's interesting.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul Beatie: And so here, number one, it's clean air.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: And then the, the green.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Just I love the trees, and,

Paul Beatie: um, but it's a different pace of life-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … a different culture, and I dig it. When I first got here, like, s- just kinda stuck in that moving too fast.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: I'm still moved too fast.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: But-

Scott Hammond: You seem pretty relaxed today

Paul Beatie: … I'm working on-

Scott Hammond: Deep breaths

Paul Beatie: … slowing it down.

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul Beatie: … you know?

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I was gonna ask-

Paul Beatie: And, uh-

Scott Hammond: … was that transition tough for you that, to, to dial it in, slow it down, take the deep breaths and-

Paul Beatie: Yeah, but I'd known I was ready for it.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. I imagine you're a pretty mellow guy even then, but-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … I don't know.

Paul Beatie: When, right after we made the decision to move, I was teaching at this music store in, near Auburn, and my commute was, I don't know, 15 miles up

Paul Beatie: Highway 49.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And 49 is, like, this monster road that connects to 80, which is this beast, this serpent

Paul Beatie: of, ah-

Scott Hammond: Lot of, lot of traffic

Paul Beatie: … you know, rage.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: And-

Scott Hammond: That's a beast

Paul Beatie: … so I'm in the, I'm in the fast lane, driving to work, going 75 in a 65, and this, like, old lady passes me on the right, looks over, and flips me off.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: 'Cause I'm going too slow. I'm in her way.

Scott Hammond: 75.

Paul Beatie: And, like, you know how you've, you, the adrenaline just kicks, and you feel hot, and you're just like-

Scott Hammond: I don't know that. I don't know what you're speaking of.

Scott Hammond: Did you-

Paul Beatie: So I started, I started, like, accelerating.

Scott Hammond: Oh, no.

Paul Beatie: Right? And I go, "Whoa, lady."

Scott Hammond: The rage.

Paul Beatie: "Wait a minute. This is not me. I can't do this anymore," you know?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul Beatie: And that was, like, that was, like, the moment in my mind where I go-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul Beatie: … you know, this is, I have to go.

Scott Hammond: Everybody has to hit bottom.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. Like, this is so stupid.

Scott Hammond: I almost caught her, too. I was gonna give her the signal.

Paul Beatie: Like, that's somebody's grandma, dude.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Like, what?

Scott Hammond: That's somebody's unhappy-

Paul Beatie: So weird.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. You get rid of your number one

Paul Beatie: And so every time I go back, visit family and friends and stuff, like get on that, I get on the freeway and get on that road and just like, "This sucks."

Scott Hammond: Oh, man.

Paul Beatie: I can't do this.

Scott Hammond: We have to turn on the mellow music and just-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … I, I do the driving usually in the cities. It's just, it's y- it's a whole di- different ballgame.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause I have one stoplight on the way out to McKinleyville-

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … it's at the end of Eureka, and there's a cheater lane, and you can go. It's amazing. Not my story, but the,

Scott Hammond: the rush and the, the head space that you have to enter into a San Diego or a San Francisco

Scott Hammond: or-

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … Sacramento, LA freeway is a whole different head space, and you c- you've got to be able to drive.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: I mean, not even fast, just to be, just to hang, bro. You're not gonna… You could be-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … really a, a problem. We saw a guy cut us off in Burbank, another story. Uh, hey, question number two.

Paul Beatie: Okay.

Scott Hammond: You get to eat out with your wife tonight, anywhere in Humboldt.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And I, I really… It's harder 'cause you're in Ferndale, 'cause you're gonna say-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … something in Fer-

Paul Beatie: No, I'm not

Scott Hammond: … I'm gonna go to the Ivanhoe. They just opened.

Scott Hammond: Um-

Paul Beatie: Not yet.

Scott Hammond: Are they s- they're coming open though, right?

Paul Beatie: Yeah. They're still remodeling.

Scott Hammond: Where w- where would, where would you go for dinner?

Paul Beatie: Brick and Fire.

Scott Hammond: Brick and Fire, cool. They're delicious.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. They were started by the couple that had The Beach, uh, The Beach Shop in Arcata, if

Scott Hammond: I recall.

Paul Beatie: Okay. Yeah, that's our favorite.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. They're, they're delicious. Um, okay. How many kids, by the way?

Paul Beatie: One.

Scott Hammond: One. Only child.

Paul Beatie: Two dogs.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Paul Beatie: Five chickens.

Scott Hammond: Oh, you're chicken people. Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. No, that's smart to hear that now 'cause they're 14 bucks a dozen.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Are you guys getting chickens right now?

Paul Beatie: Are we getting chicks? No.

Scott Hammond: No, chicken, eggs.

Paul Beatie: Oh, eggs? Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Totally.

Scott Hammond: Are you getting chickens now? Yes, you have chickens. Um, yeah, we just started laying again in McKinleyville.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Beautiful eggs, and they're… I think she priced… Our son was at the store the other day, and they were like 10 bucks a dozen at Grocery Outlet.

Scott Hammond: I'm going-

Paul Beatie: Right

Scott Hammond: … "What?"

Paul Beatie: That's the discount.

Scott Hammond: Cr- That's the cheap ones.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That tastes crappy.

Paul Beatie: Wow.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, they're, they're not nearly as good.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Question three. You and your sweetheart get the day off, go anywhere… Oh, here comes the prop. Nick, zoom into the prop.

Paul Beatie: Hmm.

Scott Hammond: Anywhere on the map there, you get a day, a day to go play, what, what do y- what would y'all do?

Paul Beatie: Oh, you know, probably go to Arcata, um, get some coffee.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: Go to the Minor Theater.

Paul Beatie: Um, but, like, for outside stuff, man, we haven't been to The Cove in a long time.

Scott Hammond: It's supposed to be fun.

Paul Beatie: I wanna g- I want, I, you know, wanna get back there. Uh, haven't been to Gippo yet. That's how long I haven't been to The Cove.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: And, um-

Scott Hammond: It's sh-

Paul Beatie: … you know, our kid gets carsick, so, like, kind of-

Scott Hammond: That's a curvy road

Paul Beatie: … the Petrolia, the Petrolia

Paul Beatie: Circle.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: I really enjoy doing that.

Scott Hammond: I'm trying to see if The Cove is on my map. I better… I think it has to be.

Paul Beatie: It's gotta be.

Scott Hammond: It's She- it's, it's Shelter Cove.

Scott Hammond: It's just-

Paul Beatie: It's just kind of rolled up on the bottom there.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. First time I ever saw the, um, the Milky Way-

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … I was on the cliffs above Black Sands above Shelter Cove, and I looked up, and there's no ambient light, and I go, "Are you kidding me?"

Paul Beatie: Oh, that's what it looks like.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's, oh, that's what- … all the pictures were in school. And I'm looking up going, "Oh, my God. This is amazing."

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: "Thank you."

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: It's just this, this show of lights, and then standing up over Black Sands, you're, I d- maybe you're 1,000 feet up in this sheer cliff.

Paul Beatie: Isn't that crazy?

Scott Hammond: And you can look offshore, and there's ships in the night.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And it was just kind of ma- So yes, we're gonna go back to The Cove too. I think it's a good call. And Arcata, that's fun. So did you ever know Brooks Otis at Wildwood Music?

Paul Beatie: I do.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Cool. Nice guy. Sold me my guitar.

Paul Beatie: Cool.

Scott Hammond: So Brooks was our neighbor when I was in college, and we raised rabbits, and he, he got curious 'cause his wife was doing, um, um, um, it's not knitting. It's, uh, so they, so they raised rabbits 'cause she was really into her craft, which I'll think of the name of in just a second. And she would do these Angora rabbits where you could-

Paul Beatie: Hmm

Scott Hammond: … wind their fur and do, that word that I'm lo- losing.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: You, you know it, so help me out. Anyway, so the, um, so he sold me this beautiful jumbo, uh, older school Yamaha, big jumbo body.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: And it's funny, and, and maybe you would echo this and explain how this works. Why is this, why is l- landscape seasons, wine can really season, but a guitar, a, a wooden instrument can also season?

Paul Beatie: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: I mean, old Stradivarius, right?

Paul Beatie: Well, just like an old building too, like, the, the older it is, the older the wood was, the better quality those trees were.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Paul Beatie: You know?

Scott Hammond: Just that alone.

Paul Beatie: And also craftsmanship. So, you know, nowadays you got computers, CNC machines-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … making them exactly the same, you know?

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul Beatie: But when they're done by hand with that quality wood, a master

Paul Beatie: craftsman-

Scott Hammond: Right

Paul Beatie: … they're gonna be different,

Paul Beatie: but there's some really, really good ones.

Scott Hammond: But over time, some instruments actually sound, their sound becomes-

Paul Beatie: Yeah, and the more you play 'em-

Scott Hammond: … richer, better

Paul Beatie: … the more you play 'em too.

Scott Hammond: So that's, that's the sound coming through the wood and, and-

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … it's, it must change in some way.

Paul Beatie: Some- something magical.

Scott Hammond: Something… Yeah, it's magic.

Paul Beatie: I've heard of guys putting-

Scott Hammond: That explains it. It's magic.

Paul Beatie: I've heard of guys putting a guitar in a closet-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … like with a machine, like a drill-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … with a pick that just keeps picking it.

Scott Hammond: No way.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. To try to season it.

Scott Hammond: To season

Paul Beatie: And they'll do things like they'll, they'll, like, bake the wood.

Scott Hammond: Really?

Paul Beatie: Cook it.

Scott Hammond: And, any of it work?

Paul Beatie: Yeah, I guess. I don't know.

Scott Hammond: How do you, how do you… It's pretty subjective to-

Paul Beatie: It's kinda cheating, I think.

Scott Hammond: That's a, that's a cheat. That's a hack. How dare they hack that thing?

Paul Beatie: But I've got two, I have two really nice acoustic guitars that I got from Wildwood Music.

Scott Hammond: Nice.

Paul Beatie: And, uh, it's dangerous for me to go in a music store.

Scott Hammond: 'Cause you buy stuff?

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm. But both of those guitars I found there, and they just, like- Talked to me, and it was one of those things where once you're holding it, you're like, "I'm not gonna let this go."

Scott Hammond: So you know Mantova's probably, you know Anthony.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, in Old Town.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, I got some really, uh, bitching old amps there.

Scott Hammond: Oh, I bet.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Tube amps?

Paul Beatie: Uh-huh.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: Yep. Yeah, s- the Starhopper's set up, I have one amp from there that I use, and it's awesome.

Scott Hammond: Are you guys, uh, gonna play anytime soon?

Scott Hammond: Any dates?

Paul Beatie: We're, we're actually gonna do a little tour. We're playing in Ukiah.

Scott Hammond: Oh, sweet.

Paul Beatie: No, I've never played in Ukiah before.

Scott Hammond: Ukiah's a cool little town.

Paul Beatie: Ukiah Brewing on, uh, February 28th, and then we're gonna play at HenHouse in Petaluma-

Scott Hammond: Heard of that

Paul Beatie: … on, uh, March 1st, and then we're playing at Faction Brewing in Alameda on the 2nd.

Scott Hammond: I've been there.

Paul Beatie: And it's, uh-

Scott Hammond: Yeah, it's on the waterfront. It's beautiful

Paul Beatie: … and we're, it's for this thing called a Rock 'n' Roll Flea Market.

Scott Hammond: Huh.

Paul Beatie: And so there's like six surf bands and, uh, vinyl vendors and I don't know.

Scott Hammond: At Faction?

Paul Beatie: At Faction.

Scott Hammond: It's kind of a cool venue actually. It's in an old, kind of a warehouse. You probably know it.

Paul Beatie: I've never been there, but I've been to The Hornet, the aircraft carrier.

Scott Hammond: Is that… That's right over there, yeah.

Paul Beatie: Right.

Scott Hammond: So the, the killer tiki bar in the world in, I'm telling you something you don't-

Paul Beatie: Forbidden Island.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. You been there?

Paul Beatie: I played there.

Scott Hammond: You played there?

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool.

Paul Beatie: We were way too loud for there, but we played there, yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's funny.

Paul Beatie: Not Starhoppers. Pyronuts.

Scott Hammond: Perfect venue though.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Do you ever play the, the hotel downtown? The, is it The Fairmont where the, the, uh, the other famous tiki

Scott Hammond: bar is?

Paul Beatie: Oh, no. I, I've never been there, but I know what you're talking about.

Scott Hammond: What is it called? It's called the, um… I'll think of it in a minute.

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm.

Scott Hammond: People probably know what that is. Um, kinda one of the originals I think.

Scott Hammond: It's-

Paul Beatie: I don't know if it was Trader Vic's or not, but-

Scott Hammond: It's, it's, yeah, it's associated with that.

Scott Hammond: It's, um-

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … the something lounge.

Paul Beatie: No, the Trader Vic's is in Emeryville.

Scott Hammond: Correct, yeah. Anyway, so yeah, I've settled in Alameda, been to Forbidden Island.

Paul Beatie: Cool.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, not too shabby. Um, wow, on tour. So who's coming up, uh, at the

Scott Hammond: Old Steeple?

Paul Beatie: Yeah, this, uh, Wednesday, February 5th-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … is Steve Poltz.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And he's a new one for us, and he's like a, he's kind of a troubadour-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … singer-songwriter, wild man.

Paul Beatie: Uh-

Scott Hammond: Poltz

Paul Beatie: … he co-wrote some of Jewel's hits-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … back in the '90s.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And, uh, he's a Nashville guy now, and he, uh, co-writes with Billy Strings and Molly Tuttle and-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … all kinds of people.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: And then, uh, Valentine's Day we've got John Reichman and the

Paul Beatie: Jaybirds.

Scott Hammond: Nice. What kind of music's that?

Paul Beatie: That's bluegrass.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: They appeared on the Live From Old Steeple.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And then at the end of the month, on the 26th, it's a Wednesday, we have Alash.

Scott Hammond: Hmm.

Paul Beatie: And they're a Tuvan throat singing group.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And Tuva is next to Mongolia. It's technically part of Russia.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: But it used to be its own country.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And it's its own culture.

Scott Hammond: Wow.

Paul Beatie: And, uh, so, uh, they're, they're basically

Paul Beatie: Asian.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: And, um, uh, throat singing is like a, a technique of singing two notes at the

Paul Beatie: same time.

Scott Hammond: Whoa.

Paul Beatie: And it's pretty wild.

Scott Hammond: They could have instruments too?

Paul Beatie: And they have instruments too, and like-

Scott Hammond: Wow

Paul Beatie: … a drum and these weird non-fretted-

Scott Hammond: Sweet

Paul Beatie: … uh, Tuvan instruments, and, uh, they, they wear traditional Tuvan clothing and-

Scott Hammond: So it's a whole cultural thing.

Paul Beatie: Oh, it's great.

Scott Hammond: All the things.

Paul Beatie: So great. And like, basically, what it boils down to, the, there's, their songs, they'll say like, "This song's about horses."

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Paul Beatie: "This song's about girls," or whatever, you know?

Paul Beatie: It's like-

Scott Hammond: Good intro

Paul Beatie: … it's basically like they're like a rock and roll band, you know, from this very rural place, and it's like-

Scott Hammond: Huh

Paul Beatie: … their songs are… They're not ro- It's not rock and roll. It's traditional music.

Scott Hammond: Right.

Paul Beatie: But it's, the, what they're about-

Scott Hammond: It's got context

Paul Beatie: … it's like guys singing about girls and horses. It'd be like singing about girls and cars here.

Scott Hammond: Sure.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: That's cool. I like it.

Paul Beatie: They're like, uh, traditionally they're a nomadic people.

Scott Hammond: Uh-huh.

Paul Beatie: You know, and, uh, um, they have their own shorter breed of horses.

Scott Hammond: That'll be fun.

Paul Beatie: It's so cool.

Scott Hammond: So, uh, anybody else you wanna mention, or is there anybody, like, that you can't

Scott Hammond: mention?

Paul Beatie: Uh, yeah. No, there's not, not, nobody I can't mention.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Is there s-

Paul Beatie: Uh, for, um, St. Patrick's Day we've got Hanukkah Cassol, who her CD

Paul Beatie: is here.

Scott Hammond: Oh.

Paul Beatie: Not sure why.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's cool.

Paul Beatie: Maybe she was on a show here too. I don't know.

Paul Beatie: Yeah. And then, uh-

Scott Hammond: So her?

Paul Beatie: Her.

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's right. I saw th-i saw this on the, uh, website.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: And then later-

Scott Hammond: She looks like she's amazing.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay. Cool.

Paul Beatie: Later in the month, Early James, and he's kind of like a, a bluesy singer-songwriter guy, and he'll be new to us.

Scott Hammond: And he's playing with a, a h- couple other people, right?

Paul Beatie: Yeah, Tristan Claridge-

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm

Paul Beatie: … is actually from here.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: And he lives out in the, out in the hills-

Scott Hammond: He's a hill person

Paul Beatie: … in the north. They described, when I talked to him last time he came down, he described where they lived and, like, I was like, "Dude."

Scott Hammond: Like-

Paul Beatie: "And you're driving home now?" I was like-

Scott Hammond: What, is this, like, up on two-

Paul Beatie: … like, a four-hour drive home

Scott Hammond: … 299 somewhere?

Paul Beatie: Within the c- within the county. I think they have to leave the county and then back.

Scott Hammond: And come back?

Paul Beatie: I don't know.

Scott Hammond: It's very possible where we live.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah.

Paul Beatie: Totally wild. Yeah. And then that's kinda it for our, for this season. Just kinda taking it a little easier. It's a little Humboldt style. It's just, like, mellow.

Scott Hammond: See what happens.

Paul Beatie: And-

Scott Hammond: So will there be other shows over summer, fall, winter?

Paul Beatie: In the fall, yeah.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: We'll start back up again in the fall.

Scott Hammond: Okay.

Paul Beatie: Yep. Usually we don't do shows in the summer because it's light till 9:30, 10:00.

Scott Hammond: Right, right.

Paul Beatie: People are mowing their lawns at 9:00 or on vacation.

Scott Hammond: So are shows le- less attended then in the summer 'cause of the long days?

Paul Beatie: Yeah, and there's festivals. People are-

Scott Hammond: Oh, that's right

Paul Beatie: … traveling to their-

Paul Beatie: You know-

Scott Hammond: Yeah

Paul Beatie: … like you used to have the Kate Wolf and stuff and-

Scott Hammond: Perfect sense, yeah.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I like it. Um, how do we get ahold of you? How do we get to the venue? Uh-

Paul Beatie: Yeah

Scott Hammond: … this is your, your shout-out time.

Scott Hammond: Uh-

Paul Beatie: Just check out theoldsteeple.com.

Scott Hammond: That's how you find it.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: So YouTube,

Scott Hammond: Facebook.

Paul Beatie: Yep.

Scott Hammond: Instagram.

Paul Beatie: Yep.

Scott Hammond: TikTok?

Paul Beatie: Nope, I'm too old for that.

Scott Hammond: What's- Go with some other ones. Um-

Paul Beatie: I'm too lazy too, so…

Scott Hammond: That's okay. Plenty of, plenty of ways to get tickets and find out-

Paul Beatie: Yeah, I'll take-

Scott Hammond: … and connect with y'all

Paul Beatie: … tickets or through our website, theoldsteeple.com.

Scott Hammond: Okay, and they're easy to get.

Paul Beatie: Hopefully.

Scott Hammond: D- well, it probably depends on the show, right? I mean, it could sell out, some of these stu- things sell out quick, right?

Paul Beatie: Yeah, that's true, like Huckleberry Flint.

Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.

Paul Beatie: That show's sold out.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah, we had fun, Christmas show, really good.

Paul Beatie: You should get those guys in here.

Scott Hammond: Yeah. How did Adam… Yeah, Adam-

Paul Beatie: Oh, good

Scott Hammond: … did, he was great. Um, I, I don't know. D- Dustin's kind of shy for some reason.

Paul Beatie: Hmm.

Scott Hammond: Hey, Dustin. What's up?

Scott Hammond: Um, he'll be here. Um, I wanna get him to wear his cowboy hat. That'd be fun.

Paul Beatie: Oh, yeah.

Scott Hammond: The cool thing about that show is they picked all these alternative Christmas songs, I don't know how, give them another word-

Paul Beatie: Hmm

Scott Hammond: … that I've never heard, like I'm Spending Christmas in the Airport or, you know,

Scott Hammond: that-

Paul Beatie: Yeah, it was a neat show.

Scott Hammond: There was just interesting song selection and, and of course they covered them, um, as only they can do. Um, anyway, hey, what a delight. Thanks for coming, Paul.

Paul Beatie: Yeah, thanks for having me.

Scott Hammond: Any parting shots? Anything, um, you'd like to say

Scott Hammond: to the kids out there?

Paul Beatie: No.

Scott Hammond: How about this?

Paul Beatie: Nothing I can think of.

Scott Hammond: I can't, I can't let you off the hook, so on your gravestone-

Paul Beatie: Mm-hmm

Scott Hammond: … at your, at your ceremony, at your-

Paul Beatie: In the Ferndale Cemetery.

Scott Hammond: At the s- at, or in, in, in the old steeple and then in the cemetery.

Paul Beatie: Yeah.

Scott Hammond: What are we gonna say about you? What would you like, uh, what would you like to be remembered for?

Paul Beatie: I don't know. I just wanna be remembered as a good dude and, like, trying to make a difference.

Scott Hammond: That's cool.

Paul Beatie: Positive.

Scott Hammond: Yeah, I like that. Like it a lot. Well, thanks for being here.

Paul Beatie: Thanks.

Scott Hammond: Here's where I do the sign-off. Hey. Hey, everybody. I'm closing the show. Uh, thanks for listening and being here and watching and, um, look for us on, uh, all the podcast platforms, of course. Uh, our new website, which I'll announce, uh, at some point. Um, r- you know, repost, share, subscribe, uh, make only good comments, and, um, or whatever you wanna say, it's fine. And thanks for Dick Taylor Chocolates, uh, for being part of our world, and, um, come on back next week. I'm gonna say thanks again, Paul, and appreciate you, and, and sign off. Thanks for listening.