Episode 83 · Elle Penner · June 15, 2025
Elle Penner joins Scott to talk about the path that brought her from Red Bluff to Humboldt, from studying international sociology and social work to working with adoption and families in Arcata. Along the way, she talks about growing up in a musical family, finding jazz with her siblings, and building a life here that makes room for both community care and performance. It’s a warm conversation about work that matters, local music, and what it means to feel at home on the North Coast.
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What this episode covers
- Elle’s childhood in Red Bluff and her long connection to Humboldt through summer trips to Sue-meg State Park.
- Her route through UC San Diego and Chico State into social work, including refugee support, child welfare, and adoption work.
- How her family’s early harmonies and teenage love of jazz shaped her musical life.
- The story of how Young and Lovely took shape in Humboldt through local connections and the wider music community.
- Her other projects, including Harmonic Howl and Humboldt Musicians for Peace.
- The Humboldt places and routines she loves, from Agate Beach and Brio to live music, books, and local spots around the county.
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Transcript
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Scott Hammond: Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, friends and neighbors of all ages, it is Scott Hammond with the 100% Humboldt podcast with my new, my amazing best friend-
Scott Hammond: … El- Elle Penner.
Elle Penner: Elle Penner.
Scott Hammond: Elle Penner.
Elle Penner: Yeah, you got it right. Good job, best friend.
Scott Hammond: I know. Well, that's what best friends do. You know what? I knew it was gonna be a musical day, so we should start with a song, but I brought my song shirt, my- my only tie-dye dress shirt.
Elle Penner: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Is that something?
Elle Penner: Oh my gosh, and it's got some teal on it, and teal is one of my brand colors.
Scott Hammond: There you go.
Elle Penner: So good job.
Scott Hammond: I've seen you wear teal. So tell us, tell us the Elle story in a couple minutes. Where do, where were you born and how, who are you? How'd you get here?
Elle Penner: Where was I born and how did I get here? Okay, couple minute version would be that I was born… Thank you for that reminder.
Elle Penner: Right.
Scott Hammond: You're okay.
Elle Penner: The microphone. I was born in Red Bluff, California, which is three and a half hours, uh, further down-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … and, uh, it's half an hour north of Redding.
Scott Hammond: Super hot.
Elle Penner: Very hot. It's very hot. It's just a gas stop off of the I-5. Or you can go 299 to 5, or you can-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … go 36, and I don't ever go 36, 299. But anyway, I was born there. I spent all of my childhood there, and, um, but I would vacation with my family up at Sue-Meg State Park-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Elle Penner: … on summers.
Scott Hammond: Yes.
Elle Penner: So my happiest summer memories are of here. Um, so then to be able to move here after getting employment here and live where I grew up vacationing feels absolutely surreal, and I never get tired of seeing the fog.
Elle Penner: I never get-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … tired of being cold. Um-
Scott Hammond: You're one of, you're one of those.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: My son Jesse loves the fog. He goes, "Is it raining?" You go, I go, "Yeah." He goes, " That's perfect." I go, "You're just weird, Son." He lives in Amsterdam, so they love it. It's crap weather all the time.
Elle Penner: Oh, fabulous. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: No, he digs it.
Elle Penner: If it's gloomy, I'm so pleased.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Elle Penner: I'm thoroughly thrilled.
Scott Hammond: 'Cause you're used to 127 in-
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm. Yeah. Like it's-
Scott Hammond: … 10 months
Elle Penner: … 117 several times during the summer just normally.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: Like, once you're in June, if you're in the 90s, you're like,
Elle Penner: "Yay."
Scott Hammond: Right.
Elle Penner: "Cool."
Scott Hammond: Right. It got down to the 90s, and it was perfect. And at night, it doesn't get c- cool over there. It doesn't really cool off.
Elle Penner: Nope. Nope. Like, my dad, I remember growing up, like, he would, you know, wake up at, like, 2:00 AM to open windows and run the whole house fan because that would be the coldest air, but then you'd have to shut it pretty soon-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … uh, 'cause you're just gonna start sweating in your sleep.
Scott Hammond: So, did you graduate Red Bluff High or whatever it would be?
Elle Penner: Yeah, Red Bluff High. We have one public high school-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … and my dad was a teacher there-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … and so was my grandpa, and so was my uncle.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Elle Penner: And, um, mostly teachers, uh,
Elle Penner: were, were in my family-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … are in my family. So yeah, graduated from Red Bluff High, and
Elle Penner: then I wanted to go to a UC.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: And I was guaranteed admission into UC Santa Barbara and UC Davis, but I wanted to, like, go as far away-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … from Red Bluff as I could.
Elle Penner: Um-
Scott Hammond: San Diego, LA?
Elle Penner: UC San Diego.
Scott Hammond: Good school.
Elle Penner: It's a great school, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Hometown.
Elle Penner: That's your hometown.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Not La Jolla.
Elle Penner: Not La Jolla. Ooh.
Scott Hammond: National City, the underbelly.
Elle Penner: Ooh.
Scott Hammond: Ooh. Lower middle class. Hippie-
Elle Penner: Ah
Scott Hammond: … hip- hippie feral child with real long hair. You can't tell now.
Scott Hammond: And, uh, like Peter Frampton now, he's all bald.
Scott Hammond: It's funny.
Elle Penner: Oh, man.
Scott Hammond: But yeah, that was sort of the days. It was the blue collar, um, but we had fun, played at the beach, and, um, it's hard to not have fun in San Diego.
Elle Penner: It is really hard to not have fun in San Diego.
Scott Hammond: So college days, I bet you were a hoot in college.
Elle Penner: I was, I was quite a creature in college.
Scott Hammond: Quite a creature. Who wasn't?
Elle Penner: Yeah. I was, you know, in my, in my late teens and early 20s, and I was an international relations student-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … and, um, very much wanting to learn about American government and international,
Elle Penner: um, phenomenons and interactions.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: I was like, "How did we get refugee camps?"
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: Like, how did that happen?
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: And how did various very long wars, what was their starting point?
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: Like, what are these untangleable messes that we have in the society of the globe?
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: Um, what are we doing right now to untangle them, and how are we failing and why?
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: Clearly we're failing. So-
Scott Hammond: The questions, the questions of the ages.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, right.
Elle Penner: Yeah. So that's what I was really interested in in-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … in my undergraduate years.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: And yeah, UC San Diego had, like, the seventh-best international studies program in the nation. So-
Scott Hammond: Killer area
Elle Penner: … and yes. Yeah. And-
Scott Hammond: Do you ever go to Black's Beach?
Elle Penner: Oh, yes.
Scott Hammond: Yeah?
Elle Penner: That's-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Elle Penner: … was a frequent stop 'cause it's-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Elle Penner: … very, very close to campus.
Scott Hammond: And very private.
Elle Penner: Or not so private. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: For those of you that know that joke.
Elle Penner: Yeah. There's, like, kind of the college kid area, and then there's the not college kid area.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Elle Penner: And, uh-
Scott Hammond: Sailors.
Elle Penner: Yeah. Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, no. It's good surfing, though.
Elle Penner: No, it really was, yeah, and I dated a surfer for a while.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Elle Penner: It was very cool to see. Like, there were periods where that algae that's bioluminescent would come.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Elle Penner: And so, like, I'd watch my boyfriend do, like, his little surfer man dude skews through the waves, and it'd, like, glow and light up
Elle Penner: around him.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.
Elle Penner: It was fun.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: And I liked to s- We would pick a part of a beach that was not popular. Tourists wouldn't go. It was, like, ugly.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: So it was always private and-
Scott Hammond: Hang out there
Elle Penner: … and nice.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: There weren't a lot of people, and I would, like, go down to the beach in my stilettos and a short skirt, and-
Scott Hammond: Stilet- It's a long walk.
Elle Penner: It's a long walk.
Scott Hammond: It's a hike.
Elle Penner: I wanted to earn my beach trip.
Elle Penner: I earned it.
Scott Hammond: That's right.
Elle Penner: So I would go down, and I'd have a journal that I would write in, or I would read a textbook, and then I'd have my iPod, and I would just do weird dancing in the waves 'cause no one was there to see me, because no one liked that ugly patch of beach.
Scott Hammond: It's the perfect place, though.
Elle Penner: It was great.
Scott Hammond: There's no people.
Elle Penner: It was great, and I'm notoriously bad at dancing and not body coordinated at all.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Elle Penner: So…
Scott Hammond: Remember Elaine on Seinfeld? You ever seen that one?
Elle Penner: Ah, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Where's that hull?
Elle Penner: Yeah, the kicks.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: The little kicks.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, that… Oh, that's classic at our house. Kids were raised on Seinfeld and The Office.
Elle Penner: Same.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, really.
Elle Penner: Same.
Scott Hammond: Lot, lot to learn there, yeah, uh-
Elle Penner: So much.
Scott Hammond: Right?
Elle Penner: So much of life, uh, can… You can fit quotes from either of those shows into just about any day of life.
Scott Hammond: That's what she said.
Elle Penner: That is what she said.
Scott Hammond: That… She did say that. See what I did with that?
Elle Penner: Oh.
Scott Hammond: I knew I'd have to be sharp today, so- That wa- that might have been it. That might have been the pinnacle of how-
Elle Penner: Oh my gosh. If we could find a way to fit in the quote, "Where are the turtles?" during-
Scott Hammond: Where are the turtles?
Elle Penner: Do you remember that scene?
Scott Hammond: Is it Seinfeld?
Elle Penner: So Michael Scott-
Scott Hammond: I think it's Michael Scott
Elle Penner: … it's The Office, and they're going, and they're trying to hit, like, do gift baskets to places.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Elle Penner: To, like-
Scott Hammond: Oh, the, the, the, uh, walnut, um, the chocolate turtles.
Elle Penner: The chocolate turtles.
Scott Hammond: Where-
Elle Penner: And then they get offended at one of those business owners
Scott Hammond: 'Cause he eat, 'cause he eats some of the turtles out of the gift bag.
Elle Penner: Yeah. Where are the turtles?
Scott Hammond: The basket.
Elle Penner: Where are the turtles?
Scott Hammond: Oh, where?
Elle Penner: Where are they?
Scott Hammond: And he goes crazy.
Elle Penner: Sometimes I just yell that to my sister.
Scott Hammond: I like that.
Elle Penner: No context.
Scott Hammond: I love it. I, that… Yeah, that sometimes random is good. Is that where he crashed his car into the pond?
Elle Penner: Yes.
Scott Hammond: He freaked out so bad at the end-
Elle Penner: Yes
Scott Hammond: … of the episode.
Elle Penner: The machine knows, and he just drives straight into the lake.
Scott Hammond: He goes right on the GPS.
Elle Penner: Ah.
Scott Hammond: It's a pod. For you Office fans and Steve Carell, um-
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … it kinda lost a little bit after, um, after he left. Lost a little.
Elle Penner: It lost a whole lot.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. It, that-
Elle Penner: I, it lost a lot. I only really like watching seasons two, three, and a little bit of four, and that's even before he left, but I don't know.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: I'm, uh, my standards are-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … unique.
Scott Hammond: Says a lot about you. You know, the whole Office thing.
Elle Penner: If you're a season two through four kinda gal, says a lot about you.
Scott Hammond: You narrowed it right down. The demo- She's that. So did you get your, uh, your, uh, your master's at UC
Scott Hammond: San Diego?
Elle Penner: No, I didn't. Um, no, I didn't. I, I, uh, took… I graduated, uh, from UC San Diego with that bachelor's degree-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … in international sociology, and then I was gonna go off to the Peace Corps.
Scott Hammond: Oh, rad.
Elle Penner: Um, I had… I'd minored in French literature, and I'd also taken a year of Arabic-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … in college there.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Elle Penner: And loved it.
Scott Hammond: Is that different from Farsi?
Elle Penner: Yes, it is.
Scott Hammond: It's different.
Elle Penner: Yes, it is.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: They're both beautiful languages, but yeah, Arabic is different. Um, I had friends who spoke Farsi, but-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … the one I learned was, was Arabic. And, uh, so yeah, there was a point in time where I, I was dating someone where I was like, "You know what? I really need to not date this person, and I keep on getting back and dating them." And I think, like, they followed me to Europe when I moved away to Europe and studied in France, but if I went to the Middle East or Africa, I bet you they wouldn't follow me.
Scott Hammond: Huh.
Elle Penner: And so then I was like, "Well, Peace Corps would take care of that."
Scott Hammond: Ah.
Elle Penner: And I'd just be like, "Hey, I speak French or Arabic. You should put me in either Africa or the Middle East."
Scott Hammond: Nice. 'Cause I'm running from this boyfriend. This stalker.
Elle Penner: He's so hot, but he's pretty stalky.
Elle Penner: Um…
Scott Hammond: You gotta take the good with the bad.
Elle Penner: You gotta. You gotta, you know? You find it where you can get it. And so, um, but anyways, yeah, I, I graduated, and I had, like, this little waiting period-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … where I needed to have the approval happen.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: So I moved back home to wait it out.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Elle Penner: And then fell in love with my, uh, daughter's dad.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Elle Penner: We got married.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: And, uh, then I did not go to the Peace Corps then.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Elle Penner: But eventually, um, when it was hitting me of
Elle Penner: like, okay,
Elle Penner: I'm working editing photography stuff, um, learning how to
Elle Penner: Photoshop.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Elle Penner: I'm doing makeup, you know, makeovers for brides.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Elle Penner: I was working for a very fancy f- uh, wedding photography business.
Scott Hammond: In Red Bluff?
Elle Penner: They're located in Las Molinas, but they're-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … like one of the top sellers for, like, the San Francisco area.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Elle Penner: Um, and LA people hire them quite a bit too.
Scott Hammond: Las Molinas, that's really small.
Elle Penner: I know.
Scott Hammond: I know.
Elle Penner: But they're geniuses.
Scott Hammond: And they live in Las Molinas.
Elle Penner: And they live in Las Molinas.
Scott Hammond: It's hotter there than Red-
Elle Penner: It is, but it has better Mexican food, so we'll take it.
Scott Hammond: Killer. Oh.
Elle Penner: So…
Scott Hammond: And then there's Cottonwood.
Elle Penner: Mm.
Scott Hammond: My friend lived there. He goes, "Hell is a local prefix."
Scott Hammond: It's so hot.
Elle Penner: It's so fu-
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: I remember, like, one time in Red Bluff, I was sitting staring at our beloved minerals shop called Gommer's. It's like a stones and minerals shop.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Elle Penner: And, um, and I was just looking longingly inside. I wanted to go in, and then I see this angry man who's got this car that's like, the hood is smoking, and he's on the phone, and he's like, "I am in the armpit of hell." "My car is broken down, and I can't get out."
Scott Hammond: Oh, my. I'm going to die here.
Scott Hammond: Actually-
Elle Penner: That's Red Bluff
Scott Hammond: … he was wrong. That's Bakersfield. Or Red Bluff, okay.
Elle Penner: How many poor little towns in California can we hate on today?
Scott Hammond: Poor, poor old-
Elle Penner: Oh, poor California
Scott Hammond: … Porter- Porterville's a close third.
Elle Penner: I haven't… I don't know that I've been there.
Scott Hammond: Joni's from there. She's-
Elle Penner: Okay
Scott Hammond: … It's a good place to be from.
Elle Penner: That, my aunt says that about Red Bluff, that Red Bluff is-
Scott Hammond: It's a little like National City, which isn't quite a pit, and it's not as hot, but it's also kinda, I don't know. There's all kinds of… It's, you know what? I went, I went back and I figured it out.
Elle Penner: Okay.
Scott Hammond: It's families trying to raise families.
Elle Penner: Yes.
Scott Hammond: And doing, doing kids trying to raise adults.
Elle Penner: Yes.
Scott Hammond: And it's, it's hard.
Elle Penner: Yes.
Scott Hammond: And it's expensive.
Elle Penner: Yes.
Scott Hammond: Even in the most lower middle class parts, it's like, uh, it's, it's that struggle for not just survival, but just to, to do the mission, man.
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: You know, to take care of kids.
Elle Penner: Truly, truly it is. And I, I don't know, that's after having lived, um, spent my childhood in Red Bluff, which was pretty
Elle Penner: isolated-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … from society. We were always about 15 years behind fashion
Elle Penner: trends.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: Um, I shopped at, I mean, the place to g- get clothes was
Elle Penner: Walmart.
Scott Hammond: Sweet.
Elle Penner: There was not a mall, so.
Scott Hammond: Guess where this shirt's from.
Elle Penner: Is it from Walmart?
Scott Hammond: Fu- funny story.
Elle Penner: Oh, no, I'm scared.
Scott Hammond: It's a, uh, so whenever I go to, to Medford-
Elle Penner: Okay
Scott Hammond: … my whole family hates on me, 'cause they don't hate me when I go to Trader's.
Elle Penner: Mm.
Scott Hammond: Trader Joe's, that's okay.
Elle Penner: No, you can't hate on that.
Scott Hammond: Hey, heck, we go there all day.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I don't get hated on when I go to Costco 'cause, well, there's no sales tax in Oregon. Cool.
Elle Penner: Mm.
Scott Hammond: However, when you go to the big Walmart-
Elle Penner: Oh, yeah
Scott Hammond: … to get your, uh, your oil and stuff-
Elle Penner: Oh, yeah
Scott Hammond: … it's like Joni goes, "You, you can't… " Uh, and she rolls her eyes, and then-
Elle Penner: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … somehow I drag everybody along and-
Elle Penner: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … all the grandkids-
Elle Penner: You do it? They go with you?
Scott Hammond: Of course. The grandkids-
Elle Penner: Do they groan in pain?
Scott Hammond: No, they squeal with joy 'cause they get a f-
Elle Penner: Why?
Scott Hammond: … a free Hot Wheel. Grandpa buying the kids off.
Elle Penner: God.
Scott Hammond: Don't worry about it. I got this.
Elle Penner: You are saving Walmart. You are
Scott Hammond: Yeah, single-handed.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: With my one, my $1 Hot Wheels.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Everybody gets one Hot Wheel, and they always wanna upgrade to, "Can I get the $7
Scott Hammond: one?" I go-
Elle Penner: Mm
Scott Hammond: … "Dude, the agreement is the $1 Hot Wheel."
Elle Penner: $1 Hot… It almost sounds like you're just gonna say hot wings. I've been watching too many Hot Wings episodes.
Scott Hammond: The Hot Wings?
Elle Penner: The Hot Wheel.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: Hot Wheel at Walmart.
Scott Hammond: They do have hot wings, yeah.
Elle Penner: Do they?
Scott Hammond: So did you, did you pursue post-grad stuff?
Elle Penner: Yeah, so okay. So then yeah, I was in, I was in Red Bluff, um, and I was working for, um, the photographers who I'd hired for my wedding-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … um, and doing Photoshopping stuff.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: I, uh, and that was after I did a year of long-term French substitute teaching at the, at the one high school-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … um, where, like, she'd been my French teacher, and then she-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Elle Penner: … had cancer, and so then she asked me to-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … come do it, so I did that. But then, yeah, after several years of doing photography editing, I was like, "I don't know how much longer I can do this. I wanna do something that means something different than this."
Scott Hammond: Were you musical then with Devin and, and Brianna?
Elle Penner: Yeah. Well, no, well, we, we weren't musical in that period-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … because my brother was off in the Marines and my sister was off at-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Elle Penner: … undergraduate college herself.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Elle Penner: Um-
Scott Hammond: Where'd she go?
Elle Penner: She also went to UC San Diego.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: In the footsteps.
Elle Penner: Yes, yes.
Scott Hammond: Oh, 'cause I just kinda envision you guys as the Von Trapp family.
Elle Penner: We're pretty Von Trappy.
Scott Hammond: The f- the hills are alive with the sound-
Elle Penner: The hills, the hil- those hills off in Red Bluff, they were alive. 'Cause yeah, when we were far younger, as, like, little babies-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … you know, my dad taught Devin and I how to harmonize, and we were in, like, a family band.
Scott Hammond: That's cool.
Elle Penner: So.
Scott Hammond: You might say The Bluffs are alive with the sound of mu-
Elle Penner: The Bluffs are
Scott Hammond: We can sing that one in a little later.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Have you heard that joke, can you sing Over the Hill and Far Away?
Elle Penner: Oh my gosh.
Scott Hammond: Get it? Like, if you can't sing or-
Elle Penner: If you
Elle Penner: can't
Scott Hammond: Could you sing that Over the Hill and Far Away?
Elle Penner: And Far Away. Could you do that?
Scott Hammond: Yeah, a little joke.
Elle Penner: Help us out.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Not you, but you could sing here pretty quick. So guess what? Um, you got a master's somewhere.
Elle Penner: I got a master's at CSU Chico when my aunt was like-
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow
Elle Penner: … "What did you like about your undergraduate degree?" And I was like, "Well, I liked that I could hear 10 languages in one day-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … working with refugees."
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: "I liked that, um, I was helping families navigate difficult times."
Scott Hammond: In San Diego.
Elle Penner: In San Diego.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: I mean, I loved it so much that even beyond doing, like, my internship for a quarter, I kept spending, um, one day a weekend with a family f- originally from Burundi, Africa, for a year.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Elle Penner: Every Saturday I would hang out-
Scott Hammond: Perspective
Elle Penner: … with their family-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … um, and just help them feel like they were connected to the area that they'd moved to that was so different from where they'd come from-
Scott Hammond: Right
Elle Penner: … and also different from the refugee camp they lived in for 10 years.
Scott Hammond: Did they make you family?
Elle Penner: They did.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Elle Penner: They really did. Yeah. Like, I would-
Scott Hammond: Of course they did
Elle Penner: … I would, like, teach the kids, um, I would help, I would teach the kids little
Elle Penner: art lessons.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: We would go to the park. We'd go to the beach. We'd all play together and run in the waves. They made me dinners.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: We would just do stuff together. Um, and then when they moved to a different, um, state, they hooked me up with another family who they wanted to be supported-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … and I did that until I graduated, so.
Scott Hammond: I love that.
Elle Penner: But anyways, my aunt was like, "Okay, well, if you, let's take away the international components-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … and what is left? Because you're stuck in Red
Elle Penner: Bluff, you're in, you know, but you haven't popped out any kids yet, so grad school, the time is now."
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: And I said-
Scott Hammond: She goes it 45 minutes away.
Elle Penner: She goes 45 minutes away.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: And so she was like, "Well, honestly, you're talking about helping families. You're talking about dealing with crisis. You're talking about, um, human relation and
Elle Penner: hardship."
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: "That is social work."
Scott Hammond: Perfect.
Elle Penner: And I was like, "Oh."
Scott Hammond: And that's what you do now.
Elle Penner: That's what I do now.
Scott Hammond: And with that thought, if you're just joining us, my new best friend, Elle Penner-
Scott Hammond: … is telling her life story, and we're getting to the music part-
Elle Penner: We are
Scott Hammond: … and the Chico State part and- There's always the partying part at Chico State we'll talk about, but, uh, I digress. So, uh, Chico State, did you live in, right in town?
Elle Penner: I didn't. I actually lived in, um, uh, he was my husband at the time. My husband and I lived in my grandparents' basement.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: And he worked, like, three jobs-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … so that I could go to school, because in that grad program, um, while it was paid for by a stipend that I agreed to do where-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … I would work for CPS or, or the state for two years after that, um, there was no way that I could work a job while being in that program.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Elle Penner: Because 9:00 to 5:00-
Scott Hammond: So intense
Elle Penner: … I was taking classes, or I was interning. I was working for free.
Scott Hammond: So you're grinding all the time.
Elle Penner: Grinding, grinding, grinding.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: So yeah, lived in a basement for, like, two years.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: And, um, went to Chico. Did not do any partying, and, uh, and I felt kind of on the older end of things 'cause-
Scott Hammond: Bummer. Bummer, dude
Elle Penner: … Bummer. Such a bummer.
Scott Hammond: It's kinda past the party arc of Chico, too, 'cause it was, like, I think in the late '90, '80s.
Elle Penner: Yeah, you know, by 2017, they'd pretty much mellowed
Elle Penner: out.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, my daughter went there.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: She graduated during COVID.
Elle Penner: Oh my gosh.
Scott Hammond: We went over and got her early. So it's Taco Tuesday in McKinleyville at Beau Pre.
Scott Hammond: Taco Friday.
Elle Penner: Okay.
Scott Hammond: We get the phone call, and Mikayla goes, "Hey, Mom. What are you doing?" "Not much. What's going on?" "Well, there's five of us left in the dorms 'cause they cleared out the campus."
Elle Penner: Oh gosh.
Scott Hammond: And you understand Mikayla's in a wheelchair, so she's, she's handicapped.
Elle Penner: Oh.
Scott Hammond: And brilliant and lovely.
Elle Penner: Oh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Majored in history.
Elle Penner: How cool.
Scott Hammond: Um, was wondering that maybe you wanted to come get me tomorrow.
Elle Penner: Tomorrow?
Scott Hammond: So-
Elle Penner: Tomorrow
Scott Hammond: … Joni goes, "Tomorrow." She got in the car and went and snagged her, and she never went back. She graduated-
Elle Penner: Okay
Scott Hammond: … at Chico State, McKinleyville.
Elle Penner: Chico State, McKinleyville.
Scott Hammond: And, uh-
Scott Hammond: … good job. Shout out to Mikayla. Hi, Mikayla.
Elle Penner: Good job, Mikayla.
Scott Hammond: Did good.
Elle Penner: Good call.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, a lot of people had to go away and graduate elsewhere.
Scott Hammond: Sad.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Weird, weird, weird time.
Elle Penner: That was a weird time.
Scott Hammond: So you got your degree in sev- 18, ni- 17?
Elle Penner: '17, yeah, and then straight out of graduating, um, I landed a job here in Arcata, and I was nervous before I landed that job-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … because where I was interning was with Shasta County CPS and the Emergency Response Unit.
Scott Hammond: Oh, wow.
Elle Penner: And that was not my cup of tea, I tell you what.
Scott Hammond: Pretty radical, kids.
Elle Penner: Um, yeah, I thought that it was gonna be something that, that was gonna be in my wheelhouse-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … 'cause I was, like, adrenaline pumping, going in there and figuring out what's going wrong and putting a stop to it.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: That sounds, you know, and, like, defending the rights of children.
Scott Hammond: Hero stuff.
Elle Penner: Um, I wanted to… I, I thought that that's what I wanted to do, but, uh, but in reality, having the pressure
Elle Penner: of seeing situations and sometimes-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … being the only one, because the law enforcement, uh, were understaffed-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Elle Penner: … so they could not go with you.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: And, you know, so, like, I'd go in a meth flop house behind-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … behind a shack that had, like, this car seat thrown on top of, like, a volleyball pole and cactuses to scare you, and I was a 5'3" young woman going into a-
Scott Hammond: Whoa
Elle Penner: … trailer alone with a-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … 6'3" man who was testing positive for meth and really didn't want his children-
Scott Hammond: Anything
Elle Penner: … to be-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Elle Penner: … taken from him.
Scott Hammond: It's kinda badass.
Elle Penner: It was something. It was something.
Scott Hammond: It was something.
Elle Penner: And I was like, "This, uh, this is not sustainable-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Elle Penner: … for me long term." I, I, I think not the emergency response part of it, maybe the, the ongoing part where I'm-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Elle Penner: … partnering with the parents on working to reunite with their children.
Scott Hammond: Well, the investigations and the other part of that, yeah.
Elle Penner: Yeah, so, uh, so I-
Scott Hammond: Yeah, the frontline would be tough.
Elle Penner: The frontline is. Um-
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: The frontline is.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: So, um, yeah, I did it for a year, and then was like… And then they were like, "Okay, well, when you graduate, we're gonna put you right in ER," and I was like-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Elle Penner: … "Wait, wait, wait. Maybe not ER. Can I do the later on part?" And they were like, "No, we trained you for ER."
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Elle Penner: "That's where you're going." So then-
Scott Hammond: At Chico whatever Memorial?
Elle Penner: Uh, no, I was at, that was with Shasta County, actually, that I-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … that I interned.
Scott Hammond: So Redding?
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: Yeah, Redding.
Scott Hammond: So working right in the ER?
Elle Penner: Um, uh, well, Emergency Response CPS.
Scott Hammond: Okay. That's different.
Elle Penner: Yes, it's different. Yeah, ER, I did have friends who did work as social workers in ER, and their stories were crazy.
Scott Hammond: I bet.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Those are pretty wild.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: But you see the tragic, the underbelly, the hard stuff.
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: The darkness that is-
Elle Penner: Yes
Scott Hammond: … us sometimes.
Elle Penner: You witness a lot.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: I witness a lot of pain, physical pain-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … emotional pain, and that's true-
Scott Hammond: Can't imagine
Elle Penner: … in the child welfare system as well.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: So, so anyways, I didn't wanna go, I didn't wanna get hired there.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: And so when there was a job that opened up in Arcata with the state, uh, those are rare-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … to open up as jobs be-
Scott Hammond: Doing what?
Elle Penner: Working, um, with adoption.
Scott Hammond: And that's what you do now, right?
Elle Penner: That is what I do now.
Scott Hammond: In Arcata?
Elle Penner: In Arc- in Arcata, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah. What, what agency?
Elle Penner: Uh, well, it's just called… It's State Adoptions essentially.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Elle Penner: But it, we work with, um, we work with all sorts of, like, smaller counties who their CPS, um, agencies are so small that it's cheaper for them to hire someone else to do the adoption piece instead of create a whole other unit for themselves to have-
Scott Hammond: Oh, cool
Elle Penner: … to manage it. So we work alongside with CPS social workers, but, um, but we technically are employed by the state.
Scott Hammond: Oh, I gotta use my prop.
Elle Penner: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Just remembered. But I don't have my pointer, so I'll use my arm.
Elle Penner: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Arcata, California-
Elle Penner: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … is located in Humboldt County-
Elle Penner: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … also in California.
Elle Penner: Also in California.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, and it's right there at the top of the bay. Do you see where the, the 101's going north?
Elle Penner: I see it.
Scott Hammond: There's the bay.
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Home of the next Bay Trail. On the 28th, it's gonna open up. Oh my gosh. Everybody's like losing their minds
Elle Penner: So thrilling. Yes
Scott Hammond: … It'd be so cool.
Elle Penner: Yes.
Scott Hammond: So we could ride from our house way up by Clam Beach all the way down to-
Elle Penner: You're by Clam Beach. Awesome
Scott Hammond: … to the nuclear power plant.
Elle Penner: Wow.
Scott Hammond: Just, just go down there and warm up.
Elle Penner: Warm up.
Scott Hammond: Turn around. We're, we're gonna head on down to the nuke plant and have a- Anyway, yeah.
Scott Hammond: It-
Elle Penner: Yeah, the 28th. That's so exciting
Scott Hammond: … it's gonna be huge. I see they're just like, that's one little stretch. When we drive in from McKinleyville, there's like one little stretch right by Jacobs, and they're just-
Elle Penner: Oh, man
Scott Hammond: … packed.
Elle Penner: Oh, you can-
Scott Hammond: Tell me
Elle Penner: … almost taste it.
Scott Hammond: Are you a bike rider?
Elle Penner: You know, I used to be, and, and now not so much. I'm really into walking. I'm, I like-
Scott Hammond: Ah.
Elle Penner: I walk, walk, walk, and especially with how gorgeous it is around here-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … um, you can walk through forest if you walk outside. If you live close enough to a forest, it's, doesn't take much to walk through one,
Elle Penner: so.
Scott Hammond: Big doings up here.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Sumeg, Arcata Forest, Prairie Creek.
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm. There's the one, the one by the, uh, zoo in, or Eureka, the Sequoia Forest.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And then there's Skywalk up above.
Elle Penner: Yeah, there's the Skywalk up in-
Scott Hammond: And Ewoks on the Skywalk.
Elle Penner: Yeah, there's all sorts. All sorts.
Scott Hammond: Have you played there?
Elle Penner: Um, yeah, uh, just outside of it. Just, uh, well, in the, in the, um, park.
Scott Hammond: The park itself.
Elle Penner: The park itself. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: We'll talk about that in a minute.
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: So you are absolutely taking care of people, taking care of kids.
Elle Penner: I'm, I'm, yep, for my, for my 9:00 to 5:00
Elle Penner: job.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: It's, it's working, it's working with children and it, but it's also working with
Elle Penner: families.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: It's, it's essentially helping families, um, figure out how to have a new addition-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … to their group and then learn how to gel together and learn how to honor-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … each other's stories before they found each other.
Scott Hammond: Wow. So my podcast coach back east, who does a lot of behind the scenes stuff-
Elle Penner: Mm
Scott Hammond: … her daddy is Tom Rector from Thomas Hope Center, who teaches adoptive parents, and I'll turn you onto him when we're done.
Elle Penner: Oh, cool.
Scott Hammond: I'll give, shoot you a link.
Elle Penner: Oh, nice.
Scott Hammond: Tom's pretty… Shout out, Tom Rector, actually probably right up there brilliant like you-
Elle Penner: Aw
Scott Hammond: … and is talking about how we're raising adults.
Elle Penner: Mm.
Scott Hammond: I just saw some clips, so I know this.
Elle Penner: Mm.
Scott Hammond: We're not raising, we're raising adults.
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And it's all about how to do that right-
Elle Penner: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … for the parent and for the kid, and there's a way to do it.
Elle Penner: There is.
Scott Hammond: There's ways to do it that are-
Elle Penner: There are-
Scott Hammond: And there's ways to not do it
Elle Penner: … there are several ways to do it, and there are plenty of ways to not do
Elle Penner: it.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: Um, and man, what a challenge. I mean, being a, being a parent myself, um, how many times have I experienced, uh, self-doubt
Elle Penner: on like-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … am I doing something… I can't, I don't think I can even really… I'm not smart enough to figure out what's-
Scott Hammond: Sure
Elle Penner: … exactly best for my specific child, but-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … how do I d- how do I do something for her that's
Elle Penner: good?
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: How do I-
Scott Hammond: Right
Elle Penner: … how do I, um, figuring out how to respect a child.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: Like-
Scott Hammond: Right
Elle Penner: … what does it look like to give respect to a two-year-old?
Scott Hammond: And listen.
Elle Penner: And listen.
Scott Hammond: To their opinions.
Elle Penner: And what does it look like to give respect to a six-month-old?
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Elle Penner: Like, you know, like every human deserves respect-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … even if they're under 18.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: You know? And so like, what does that look like? How do you do it?
Scott Hammond: It's good.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Some, some of us actually wrote a book about that.
Elle Penner: Everyday Dad.
Scott Hammond: Everyday Dad, written by that guy when he had a little bit more hair. So, so I, I called, I, I told Pastor Joe today at lunch, I go, "So it was the therapy book. It was just getting it all out."
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Ama- Amazon, if I had to live on it, I would s- be dead by now.
Elle Penner: Would you?
Scott Hammond: The whole family would be dead. But you're right. There's ways to do things and, and to not do things.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. I love the fact that you take care of families and kids.
Elle Penner: Mm.
Scott Hammond: So you love Tom Rector 'cause he speaks, he goes all the way around the country,
Scott Hammond: talks to-
Elle Penner: How cool
Scott Hammond: … adoptive, um, gi- giant, um, I was gonna call it congregations, conventions.
Elle Penner: Oh, nice.
Scott Hammond: He's that dude.
Elle Penner: Nice.
Scott Hammond: One of those dudes. Um, so day job, Clark Kent, taking care of people in Arcata and families.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And let's talk about the night job, so-
Elle Penner: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … Superwoman. Clark… I'm trying to think of a female Clark Kent.
Scott Hammond: I, anyway.
Elle Penner: What a-
Scott Hammond: So-
Elle Penner: Yeah, what would that-
Scott Hammond: So then the, the glasses come off, and, and the suit comes off, and here you, you have a cape.
Elle Penner: Yeah, sometimes. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Do you wear a cape when you s- perform?
Elle Penner: Well, I mean, sometimes we find things that are very cape-like, especially if we're doing kind of like the drag jazz thing or during Amber Soul days, you know?
Elle Penner: Like-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … Brianna has like that moth wingy, capey sort of thing-
Scott Hammond: It's kinda wingy
Elle Penner: … that we did, we used, uh, for one of the Eureka Friday night markets when it
Elle Penner: was-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … the theme was Animal Kingdom. So there's some stuff that's kind of-
Scott Hammond: It's a good idea
Elle Penner: … cape-like.
Scott Hammond: So hey, um, before we talk band and, and music-
Elle Penner: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … could you sing a little song?
Scott Hammond: Maybe-
Elle Penner: Could I sing a little song?
Scott Hammond: Anything that you have in mind. Bethany thought the doxology would be amazing.
Elle Penner: Okay. Oh, yeah.
Scott Hammond: You wanna do that one?
Elle Penner: I know that one.
Scott Hammond: This one goes out to Bethany Shea.
Elle Penner: This one's for you, Bethany.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: B.
Elle Penner: Okay. Yeah, just gotta like remember being in the Penner family
Elle Penner: gatherings.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: We're right about to have dinner-
Scott Hammond: Mm. Mm. Mm
Elle Penner: … and we're all gonna sing it.
Elle Penner: Okay. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures
Elle Penner: here below. Praise him above ye heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son,
Elle Penner: and Holy
Elle Penner: Ghost.
Elle Penner: Amen.
Scott Hammond: Very-
Elle Penner: Aw. Now I miss my nana
Scott Hammond: … very nice. Where's Nana now?
Elle Penner: Nana.
Scott Hammond: You know what? Uh, so, so AI has some things to say about you.
Scott Hammond: And I-
Elle Penner: Oh
Scott Hammond: … I rarely quote my like little cheat notes here, but this is pretty cool.
Elle Penner: Okay
Scott Hammond: Elle Penner's voice is a tapestry of rich tones and heartfelt expression, weaving together elements of indie folk, pop-
Scott Hammond: … gospel-
Elle Penner: Mm
Scott Hammond: … in a way that feels both timeless and contemporary.
Scott Hammond: Really?
Elle Penner: AI, what?
Scott Hammond: We didn't… AI, AI digs you, man. Whether she's belting out anthems that demand attention or crooning soft, introspective ballads-
Elle Penner: Oh
Scott Hammond: … Elle's vocal range and emotional depth shine through.
Scott Hammond: What-
Elle Penner: Oh my gosh
Scott Hammond: … I like that. I l- actually, I like this.
Scott Hammond: This is-
Elle Penner: I don't want a robot to make me cry.
Scott Hammond: I know.
Elle Penner: No.
Scott Hammond: Stop it. Stop it, AI.
Elle Penner: I'm supposed to, I'm supposed to hate you.
Elle Penner: No.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. You're supposed to hate AI, didn't you? Fans often describe her performance as mesmerizing.
Elle Penner: Aw.
Scott Hammond: Her ability to connect listeners through her music is the hallmark of her artistry. Wow, that's pretty bomb.
Elle Penner: Oh my goodness.
Scott Hammond: I like that. And I've watched people come up, as I have, to say, "Hey, wow, thanks. I'm just a McKinleyville person-
Scott Hammond: … that lives in a trailer-
Elle Penner: Mm
Scott Hammond: … and you performed at, at the park, and-
Elle Penner: Mm
Scott Hammond: … my sister and I, we love you, and you're ama- and you're always gracious."
Elle Penner: Mm.
Scott Hammond: So.
Elle Penner: Mm. I tr- I want, I want to be-
Scott Hammond: Also a different skill set. And l- and l- and lovely.
Elle Penner: Oh, thank you.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Yeah.
Elle Penner: Lovely.
Scott Hammond: So yeah.
Elle Penner: Well, thank you.
Scott Hammond: There you go.
Elle Penner: And thank you, AI-
Scott Hammond: Thank you
Elle Penner: … for all of those-
Scott Hammond: Thank you
Elle Penner: … words.
Scott Hammond: Thank you for the words. Yeah, no, it's, it… Every once in a while, AI just really nails some stuff, so-
Elle Penner: Mm
Scott Hammond: … it's worth reading.
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: So, uh, Young and Lovely is your primary musical outlet?
Elle Penner: The primary one these days, yes it is.
Scott Hammond: Give us the arc. Give us the story arc on, on y'all.
Scott Hammond: What do you-
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … what's that, what's that about?
Elle Penner: Yeah. Well, that- … that started, um, here in Humboldt. That became a, a thing out of an offspring of us doing other musical things when really my sister and I were badly, and my brother, were badly, badly wanting to get back to jazz.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: Um, my brother and I had found jazz when we were little babies in high school.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Elle Penner: And we used to, like, go play at, um, retirement homes and sing-
Scott Hammond: Cool
Elle Penner: … for folks there.
Scott Hammond: Jazz?
Elle Penner: Jazz.
Scott Hammond: Of course.
Elle Penner: Only jazz.
Scott Hammond: On-
Elle Penner: That's-
Scott Hammond: Like Mi- Miles Davis?
Elle Penner: Yes.
Scott Hammond: Stuff.
Elle Penner: Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … Sarah Vaughan.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Elle Penner: Uh, Billie Holiday. It was-
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: We, we found jazz when I was, I think, 15 or 16, and Devin was, was 14.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Elle Penner: And, um, so anyways, and, and, and th- that changed Devin's life-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … finding jazz music. 'Cause from there, then he just fully focused, um, on that and ended up getting recruited into the Marine Corps All-Stars Jazz Band-
Scott Hammond: Wonderful
Elle Penner: … which is where he was at for seven years.
Scott Hammond: Quite a pianist.
Elle Penner: He is-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … incredible.
Scott Hammond: Where's he now?
Elle Penner: Um, he's now in Chico area.
Scott Hammond: Gotcha.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Cool. Shout out to Devin, eh?
Elle Penner: Hey, Dev.
Scott Hammond: I bet Devin will watch this.
Elle Penner: He might.
Scott Hammond: He might.
Elle Penner: It's long. I don't know if he has that much time.
Scott Hammond: I know. He has to drive somewhere. He could do it in the car.
Elle Penner: Yeah. Yeah, you could listen. You could listen, Dev. You don't have to watch your sister. Just, just listen to her.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Whoa.
Scott Hammond: Hey, hey-o.
Elle Penner: Big sister moment. Um, anyways, but yeah. So we had, we had found it and loved it in our teen years.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: Um, and then while Devin did it for his career, it just kind of
Elle Penner: hibernated-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … for me and my sister, and was just something we listened to mostly-
Scott Hammond: Right
Elle Penner: … out after that. Um-
Scott Hammond: Who else… During that time, everybody else was listening to, I don't know, um-
Elle Penner: Pop
Scott Hammond: … AC/DC. I-
Elle Penner: Yeah, yeah, and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
Scott Hammond: Van, Van Halen.
Elle Penner: Yeah. We'd be hearing Back in Black playing, uh, the-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Elle Penner: … you know, like, uh, while we're about to watch a football game.
Scott Hammond: Not Bruno Mars. That's a little later.
Elle Penner: "Thunderstruck."
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: Yeah. Well, you know. I think in- Bruno Mars, by the time I was in undergraduate college, he was, he was there.
Scott Hammond: He was around.
Elle Penner: He was doing his thing.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. So they're trip- tripping on the usual, and you guys are tripping on-
Elle Penner: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … jazz, which-
Elle Penner: Just obsessed. Obsessed with jazz.
Scott Hammond: I like that. It's pretty cool.
Elle Penner: It was, it was, it was fun. It was good. So, so anyways, but then in Humboldt, when Devin moved here-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … and he was like, he m- we moved here to go to grad school but could not abide not playing music, and so went and tried to, like, tell the various restaurant owners here, like, "Hey, I used… I played at fancy high-end restaurants in San Diego-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … jazz music on the side. Here's my website. Here's how I sound."
Scott Hammond: You, you did or Devin?
Elle Penner: Devin did.
Scott Hammond: In the military?
Elle Penner: No, Devin, when he moved here to Humboldt, he tried.
Scott Hammond: But he, but he played in San Diego?
Elle Penner: Yeah, he did. He played in San Diego.
Scott Hammond: 'Cause he was in the Marine Corps at Pendleton?
Elle Penner: Yes, for a while.
Scott Hammond: Guess whose dad sold insurance on Camp Pendleton?
Elle Penner: Oh my gosh.
Scott Hammond: Bob-
Elle Penner: Look at this world.
Scott Hammond: Bob Hammond.
Elle Penner: Whoa.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm. And one of my first girlfriends in Chula Vista was Dawn Annis, A-N-N-I-S.
Elle Penner: Oh my gosh.
Scott Hammond: Weird. Greek.
Elle Penner: Crazy.
Scott Hammond: She was 16. Her da- her daddy was 81.
Elle Penner: Whoa.
Scott Hammond: Real digression, but carry on.
Scott Hammond: I'm…
Elle Penner: So yeah, so when Devin moved here to Humboldt to go to grad school, couldn't bear not to play. Tried to, like, get restaurants, and they're like, "Nope, we have our people. We have our musicians."
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: "There are musicians here, and we already have them."
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: And so then, um-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … Devin c- was just like, "Ugh, what do I do?" And one day, my mom was visiting and hanging out in, um, a gym, and Zach Zwerdling's wife was in the gym and talking-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … about how his band needed a sub pianist.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Elle Penner: And so then the mommies talked to each other,
Elle Penner: wives-
Scott Hammond: Zach
Elle Penner: … it was like a momager moment, and then yeah. Once Zach found Devin, eventually-
Scott Hammond: The mom network
Elle Penner: … the moms. The moms.
Scott Hammond: So he, she introduced you guys to Zach?
Elle Penner: Yeah. She introduced, uh… She got Zach and Devin
Elle Penner: meeting up.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: He, like, did a substitute keyboard thing for the Ghost Train at the time.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Elle Penner: And then, uh-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Elle Penner: … Nate was like, "No, this needs to be the main pianist."
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Elle Penner: And then he was.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: And so yeah. Anyways, a bunch of different musical projects came out of-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … Devin getting to know the Zwerdling family, and, uh, Young and Lovely is honestly my favorite one of all of the-
Scott Hammond: So there's several different bands that y'all-
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … you've played still.
Elle Penner: Yeah, we did Amber Soul, um, which-
Scott Hammond: That's right
Elle Penner: … was, like, that pop, glam pop, rockish kind of band.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: Um, and that did stuff for a couple years, and then Young and Lovely and Amber Soul existed at the same time. And then once my brother had to move-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … uh, the Amber Soul could not survive. What Devon was doing of playing two different keyboards with four different
Elle Penner: patches-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … like, nobody wanted to sign up to do that crap.
Scott Hammond: How do you do that? Yeah.
Elle Penner: Um, but there are plenty of folks who are accomplished in jazz
Elle Penner: here who-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … could help carry Young and Lovely. So we're really thrilled, um, that the musicians of Humboldt, like, stuck by our jazz band so we could-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … Brianna and I could keep singing.
Scott Hammond: Somebody said the hardest working band in town. You guys play a lot.
Elle Penner: Aw.
Scott Hammond: Quite a lot.
Elle Penner: Oh, quite a lot.
Scott Hammond: It's good.
Elle Penner: We do. We're, we do play a lot. We're, we're thrilled that people want us to.
Scott Hammond: Spe- Speakeasy, or p- pla- pla- played there?
Elle Penner: You know, we haven't. I go there a lot to hear the Opera Alley Cats
Elle Penner: play.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Elle Penner: Like, when I have free time-
Scott Hammond: It's, it's Tim, it's Tim in that, the guy with the-
Elle Penner: Tim, Tim Randles is in that one-
Scott Hammond: He's really good
Elle Penner: … on, uh, on Fri- on Tuesdays, and Matt's on Fridays.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: What's Matt's last name?
Elle Penner: Matt Senno.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Elle Penner: Matt Senno.
Scott Hammond: Heard about him.
Elle Penner: He's an angel.
Scott Hammond: He's an angel. Oh, good.
Elle Penner: He is.
Scott Hammond: Well, there's some left.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Matt Senno. Okay, is he a keyboardist, too?
Elle Penner: He's, yeah, he plays piano.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, shout out to Zach. Zach's like Bill Graham and, you know, discovering bands,
Scott Hammond: and-
Elle Penner: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … who was the guy with the big beard that produced, um, Johnny Cash at the end?
Elle Penner: Oh, a, uh-
Scott Hammond: Famous producer
Elle Penner: … Colonel what's his name?
Scott Hammond: Um, big beard. Rick, Rick Rubin.
Elle Penner: Oh, Rick Rubin.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: No, then not Colonel what's-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Elle Penner: … so Rick Rubin.
Scott Hammond: Rick did, like, um, the whatchama call it, Beastie Boys.
Elle Penner: Oh my gosh.
Scott Hammond: Rick was bad A.
Elle Penner: Wow.
Scott Hammond: Kinda like Zach.
Elle Penner: Kinda like Zach.
Scott Hammond: But a different community. This is the Zach show. So we'll see how AI does with my transcript. Zach Zwerdling.
Elle Penner: Zach Zwerdling, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: But no, truly, um, it's really, it truly is because Zach saw talent-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … and wanted to nurture it and wanted to gather other folks around it-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … that any Penner related music happened here at all. Because yeah, Devon was knocking on doors and just being, getting like, "Nope, nope, nope, nope."
Scott Hammond: Weird, huh? Who you know?
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: That's cool. So he's, yeah, he's promoter, mentor.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: That's cool. I love that.
Elle Penner: He's a looker-outer for the musicians.
Scott Hammond: A looker-outer. I get, I think I get what that is.
Scott Hammond: So couple of stories from the band. Couple of memorable moments-
Elle Penner: Okay
Scott Hammond: … during, before, during, or after, like, something crazy happened. How about a story?
Elle Penner: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Like, you were in Old Town, it was Thurs- Friday night market, and
Scott Hammond: there's Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin.
Elle Penner: Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin.
Scott Hammond: He was looker-outer.
Elle Penner: Oh, man, if only we had that. Uh, well, you know, w- okay, it's not, it wasn't a Young and Lovely story, but, um, there was for Harmonic Howl, just recently we were playing, um, at a, at a protest. We were up top. We were singing Brianna's original
Elle Penner: song.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: Which we only started writing original music 'cause Zach kept
Elle Penner: pushing us-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … to be like, "Put out your own stuff."
Scott Hammond: Sure.
Elle Penner: So anyways, she was, she, she and I and Ruby Ruth George were in Harmonic Howl singing to, like, a bunch of protesters, um, original The Aisle, which you can find on, um, Spotify and iTunes and YouTube, anywhere, The Aisle by Harmonic Howl. And walking by us was Sarah
Elle Penner: Bareilles.
Scott Hammond: Cool.
Elle Penner: Just walking on by.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: And I was like, "How freaking cool?"
Scott Hammond: That's cool. She was just in the area?
Elle Penner: She was in the area, and she was among the people-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … like, who were having their freedom of assembly, freedom of speech moment.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Elle Penner: There she was, and I was like-
Scott Hammond: Hanging out
Elle Penner: … all I could do to not be like, "Everybody look right there, it's Sarah Bareilles. Get her out here." Like, I was like, "No,
Elle Penner: no, no, no."
Scott Hammond: Stay-
Elle Penner: "Let her live her life."
Scott Hammond: Yep, let her be cool.
Elle Penner: Let her live. Like, like, I get to do that when I'm not in my wig, and I look very, and I don't have makeup on, I look very different.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: Nobody stops me. Nobody thinks anything of me. I get to just-
Scott Hammond: Kathleen says you're-
Elle Penner: … live my life
Scott Hammond: … also young and lovely.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So I, I'm asking for Sarah Bareilles or Guy Fieri to be my number 100th guest.
Elle Penner: Oh my gosh, yes.
Scott Hammond: I got an email for, out to one already.
Elle Penner: Good.
Scott Hammond: We'll see.
Elle Penner: We shall see.
Scott Hammond: Eh, they're from Humboldt.
Elle Penner: Yeah, uh-
Scott Hammond: They're both 100% Humboldt.
Elle Penner: They are 100, they're 100%.
Scott Hammond: Jeez.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I mean, that would just be great.
Elle Penner: Honestly, I'm shocked that I got invited since I'm like, "I've only been here for eight years."
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: I've, like, barely put, barely put time in. Thank you for having me.
Scott Hammond: Hey, come on. You're lo- you're now local. Hey, speaking of which, if you're just joining us, it's Elle Penner from the Young and Lovely and from, um, Taking Care of Families.
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: And it's time of, for the sh- the time of the show where we do the,
Scott Hammond: the quiz.
Elle Penner: Ooh.
Scott Hammond: Oh, what, but wait. Oh my gosh, a Dick Taylor craft chocolate black fig bar.
Elle Penner: Black fig. Ooh.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: Gotta love Dick Taylor chocolate.
Scott Hammond: Do you wanna, do you wanna do an improv on the black fig bar real quick while you
Scott Hammond: hold it and-
Elle Penner: Yeah. What-
Scott Hammond: See it? You can't have it yet 'cause you gotta do the quiz.
Elle Penner: Okay.
Scott Hammond: But I'm gonna let you hold it-
Elle Penner: Okay
Scott Hammond: … and, and sing about it.
Elle Penner: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Could you do an improv like a-
Elle Penner: Yeah
Scott Hammond: … da, like a da da da da da da.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Okay, Adam and Dustin, this is your, this is your whole sponsorship right now.
Elle Penner: All right.
Scott Hammond: Deanna.
Elle Penner: When you're walking along and things are going wrong, know what you gotta do, get some Dick Taylor.
Scott Hammond: Oh, yeah.
Elle Penner: Get some Dick Taylor in your hands. Found, find a place to get to a band and sing some jazz and eat it in your hand. It's Dick Taylor. Dick Taylor, Taylor, Taylor.
Scott Hammond: Woo.
Elle Penner: Dick Taylor, Taylor, Taylor. Nothing wrong, sing a song and eat some Dick
Elle Penner: Taylor.
Elle Penner: There it is.
Scott Hammond: Beautiful, b- Gorgeous. That was lo- First time you've ever heard that song.
Scott Hammond: Okay. That was good.
Elle Penner: Nothing wrong. Sing a song, what the crap, Elle?
Scott Hammond: With a bar in your hand, and you're going downtown. I forgot how that went. We'll play it back.
Elle Penner: We'll play it back.
Scott Hammond: So d- Thank you. That's pretty good. Uh, 72% dark.
Elle Penner: Ooh, 72.
Scott Hammond: And, um-
Elle Penner: That's a good number
Scott Hammond: … yeah. So, so many come before you, like Bethany and Adam Dick spun on.
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm. Nice.
Scott Hammond: Who should have brought… I, I think he brought it, and I just didn't have… I wasn't that smart. He didn't have… He, I think he brought his mandolin. And he could have just jammed.
Elle Penner: Oh, he could have jammed.
Scott Hammond: But you know what? The day is early.
Elle Penner: The day is early.
Scott Hammond: We're gonna have a few more episodes before number 100, so we'll see.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So question number one.
Elle Penner: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Elle, you get the day off, unlimited resources, do whatever the heck you
Scott Hammond: wanna do.
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Whomever.
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Day off, paid day off.
Elle Penner: Ooh.
Scott Hammond: Unlimited budget. Where, what do you do in Humboldt?
Elle Penner: In Humboldt.
Scott Hammond: 9:00 AM, 9:00 PM. Go.
Elle Penner: 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM. Okay, first thing that I do, because it feeds my soul the very most, is to go to Sumeg State Park-
Scott Hammond: Mm
Elle Penner: … and, um, go down to Agate Beach. Agate Beach is my happy place, so I will sit there and look through the rocks for agates and listen to Nat King Cole's version of Stardust.
Scott Hammond: Ooh.
Elle Penner: Um, so that's how I'll start my day. That's gonna be, what? At least an hour and a half.
Scott Hammond: Easy.
Elle Penner: Maybe two hours.
Scott Hammond: Plus drive time.
Elle Penner: Yeah, plus the drive time.
Scott Hammond: Mm.
Elle Penner: Um, so that's my first stop, and then after that, I think I'm gonna end up going to Brio, uh, Cafe.
Scott Hammond: Mm, in Arcata.
Elle Penner: In Arcata. I really love their, um, that, the coffee beans that they get from the Sebastopol place, the Flying Goat.
Scott Hammond: Is that what it is?
Elle Penner: Flying Goat. Those beans, I mean, I'm stuck, man.
Scott Hammond: Really?
Elle Penner: That's, like, all-
Scott Hammond: Killer
Elle Penner: … I can handle having now is… And I've got an espresso machine at my house, and I-
Scott Hammond: Do you buy their beans?
Elle Penner: I buy those beans. It's so good.
Scott Hammond: Do you buy them from them, or do you buy them-
Elle Penner: From-
Scott Hammond: … from Sebastopol?
Elle Penner: I, well, no, I buy them from Brio.
Elle Penner: Well-
Scott Hammond: What brand is it again? Flying Goat.
Elle Penner: Flying Goat. They have a picture of a goat on their bag, which I'm sad about. They used to just have a brown paper bag, and it looked kinda cute. But now there's art on it, which yay, art, but it's, it's
Elle Penner: a goat.
Scott Hammond: It's-
Elle Penner: So there it is.
Scott Hammond: It's a goat. You ever had Phil's Coffee in the Bay Area?
Scott Hammond: P-H-I-L-Z.
Elle Penner: I've heard. I-
Scott Hammond: Oh my God
Elle Penner: … actually, no, actually I did just the other day. Tyson made me some coffee one morning, and he said, "Hey-
Scott Hammond: Oh
Elle Penner: … Blake went to San Francisco, and he brought back some Phil's." And I was like, "Oh, I like this coffee."
Scott Hammond: Is it okay?
Elle Penner: Yeah, it was good.
Scott Hammond: Oh, the experience is cool. They only have, like, 20 stores, and they're psh, outstanding. Hey, question number two.
Elle Penner: Yep.
Scott Hammond: You get to go on a… Well, did you finish question number one? So you, you, you went to Brio.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I'm sorry. I'm already-
Elle Penner: Okay
Scott Hammond: … moving on here.
Elle Penner: Agate Beach, Brio. Um, I'd probably buy a book from somewhere in Eureka, maybe Eureka Books.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: I would get a book.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: Um, and then I would, uh, I would probably eat dinner at The Venetian, 'cause they have a chicken piccata, and I'm a sucker for chicken piccata.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Elle Penner: So I would go there for that. They also have fun drinks, and then I would try to finish out the day, except I can't remember how late s-
Scott Hammond: N-
Elle Penner: … Jersey Scoops is open.
Scott Hammond: Oh, good question.
Elle Penner: 'Cause their ice cream-
Scott Hammond: It's killer
Elle Penner: … is so good.
Scott Hammond: Pretty good. Joni's a big fan.
Elle Penner: Oh my gosh.
Scott Hammond: I had Thomas on a couple episodes ago.
Scott Hammond: Lucky-
Elle Penner: I saw
Scott Hammond: … guess who got a spare pint of ice cream?
Elle Penner: You did?
Scott Hammond: That's what I'm talking about.
Elle Penner: Nice.
Scott Hammond: But he got a Dick Taylor's bar, so what am I… Hey, he's did pretty well.
Elle Penner: There you go.
Scott Hammond: Question number three.
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Two. Where am I? Two.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: I was gonna ask the trail question. What do you love about your life right now?
Elle Penner: Ooh.
Elle Penner: Hmm. About my life right now, I, um, love that, um, I get to work hard at things that I feel good about.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Elle Penner: Like, whether it's with my work or with music or with community organizing, I feel good about everything that I'm doing.
Scott Hammond: Wow.
Elle Penner: And that's not how I've always felt in my life, you know?
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: You don't always get to feel happy about-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Elle Penner: … what you have going on.
Scott Hammond: I love that answer. It's good. So it's not work?
Elle Penner: It's not really work.
Scott Hammond: Yeah, find what you love, and you'll never have to work another day of your life.
Elle Penner: Yeah, yeah.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. That's a good one. Well, question number three.
Elle Penner: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Ready?
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: This is for all the marbles here.
Elle Penner: Oh.
Scott Hammond: And you know that I make this crap up as I go.
Elle Penner: I know you. Okay.
Scott Hammond: This is just-
Elle Penner: Okay, Scott
Scott Hammond: … this is just transparent BS going down here.
Scott Hammond: Um, I'm gonna ask you, I guess, favorite restaurant, couple of restaurants you'd love to go to. Unlimited budget.
Elle Penner: In Humboldt?
Scott Hammond: In Humboldt.
Elle Penner: Or outside of Humboldt?
Scott Hammond: No, in Humboldt.
Elle Penner: In Humboldt. Oh, man. Um,
Elle Penner: I love… Oh, you know what? The freaking fries. I've gone back to this place, and they're not open, and I want them so bad. The fries that are at the, the
Elle Penner: Carter-
Scott Hammond: Carter House
Elle Penner: … House.
Scott Hammond: Yeah.
Elle Penner: Yeah. So one time I was like-
Scott Hammond: That's right, they're killer
Elle Penner: … they're so good. I was sitting, like, in their lobby of the, of the
Elle Penner: inn-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … and then in front of the fireplace, and-
Scott Hammond: Big, big fan
Elle Penner: … and they, like, ca- gave me a drink, and then they're like, "Oh, by the way, you could order some food right now." And the f- the Parmesan was so dagnab fresh-
Scott Hammond: Hmm
Elle Penner: … on those fries, and the consistency, it was like I felt like I was in San Francisco.
Scott Hammond: Sweet. The Bolognese fries are killer.
Scott Hammond: Bolognese
Elle Penner: Bolognese
Scott Hammond: Bolo- bolognese
Elle Penner: Bolognese
Scott Hammond: Bolognese
Elle Penner: Oui. Mm-hmm.
Scott Hammond: Repeat that for a while. Well, hey, listen, congratulations.
Elle Penner: Oh, did I win?
Scott Hammond: Because you're a winner.
Elle Penner: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Winner, winner, chicken dinner.
Elle Penner: Oh my God.
Scott Hammond: 72% Tanzania.
Elle Penner: Wow.
Scott Hammond: Dark chocolate black fig. Do you know that these are… The whole bar,
Scott Hammond: swear,
Scott Hammond: this…
Scott Hammond: Oh, 240 calories for an entire bar.
Scott Hammond: I mean-
Elle Penner: 240 calories
Scott Hammond: … if you ate this in one sitting, it wouldn't, it probably wouldn't feel good.
Elle Penner: No.
Scott Hammond: But half of a bar- … tastes amazing.
Scott Hammond: So-
Elle Penner: The lobby's spot
Scott Hammond: … I present you with your new Dick Taylor bar.
Elle Penner: Dick Taylor.
Elle Penner: Thank you.
Scott Hammond: Thank you. Um- S- so your turn. Call, call out all the band and all the stuff, uh, shout-outs. Where, where do you find, where do we find your music?
Elle Penner: Okay.
Scott Hammond: How do we book you?
Elle Penner: How do you-
Scott Hammond: How do we get autographs? Do you sell-
Elle Penner: Mm-hmm
Scott Hammond: … swag?
Elle Penner: Oh.
Scott Hammond: Photo ops? Is, what do, what, what, how do we connect with y- y'all and the bands?
Elle Penner: Yeah, with all my stuff. Okay. So, um, Young and Lovely, you can find us by going to Facebook and searching Young and Lovely, or Instagram and searching Young and Lovely. Um, at Facebook, we really try to let you know through Facebook Events when things are happening.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: We give you at least a few weeks' notice, um, of what's gonna be going down. Um, we have a lot going on in June, and we have a lot generally going on in the summer.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Elle Penner: Um, the weather is nice. There's outdoor things. Um, so yeah, we're gonna be at Fieldbrook Winery this month. We're going to be at-
Scott Hammond: Nice
Elle Penner: … the Botanical Gardens this month. We're going to be at the Jersey Scoops Loleta Block Party this month.
Scott Hammond: Oh.
Elle Penner: Um-
Scott Hammond: What, what is that? End of the month?
Elle Penner: That is on the 21st. That's one more week away from the day that we're filming
Elle Penner: this.
Scott Hammond: Right.
Elle Penner: June 21st.
Scott Hammond: So you know Thomas and Cody, obviously.
Elle Penner: Yes, I do-
Scott Hammond: Yeah
Elle Penner: … know Thomas and Cody. Yeah.
Scott Hammond: Very cool.
Elle Penner: They had us for the first year they did it last year, and they're bringing us back again.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Elle Penner: So we're coming on back. It was… It's a fun one. So anyways, yeah, you can find Young and Lovely on Instagram or
Elle Penner: Facebook.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: And then also I'm in Harmonic Howl, which is kind of a newer group, and we are, it's like social activism, original music, but also we do covers of, like, woman-empowered ballads and also just, like, anthems throughout the decades with a folksy twist.
Scott Hammond: Ah. W-
Elle Penner: And-
Scott Hammond: Na- name a song or two, or an artist.
Elle Penner: Oh my gosh. We're gonna, we're, we do a version of Jolene by Dolly
Elle Penner: Parton.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Elle Penner: We do a version of Falling by Alicia Keys.
Scott Hammond: Ooh.
Elle Penner: We do Britney Spears' Toxic.
Scott Hammond: Hmm.
Elle Penner: We do, um,
Elle Penner: we do, ugh. Oh, what's, what's up? What's going? Hey, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Elle Penner: Anyway.
Scott Hammond: Great song. Good stuff.
Elle Penner: All sorts of fun ones. There… We picked a bunch of songs where we thought, "If you're just sitting down and relaxed and-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … ha- maybe sipping on a glass of wine, and you wanna have the most emotionally satisfying singalong-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … those songs are for you."
Scott Hammond: Cool. Love it.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: So we can find you on Facebook-
Elle Penner: You can find-
Scott Hammond: … Events
Elle Penner: … us on Instagram.
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm.
Elle Penner: That band, Harmonic Howl.
Scott Hammond: Okay.
Elle Penner: And then, um, trying to think if there's any other projects that I have going on. Well, I'm, uh, I'm also a part of, of, um, Humboldt Musicians for Peace-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … which is now, like, a coalition of a bunch of different musicians who are-
Scott Hammond: Wow
Elle Penner: … wanting to provide community activist support so that if you have something where you would like uplifting, empowering music, then you can get it.
Scott Hammond: Oh, call y'all.
Elle Penner: Call them. Hit us up.
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Elle Penner: There's an email address. I think probably just Google Humboldt Musicians for Peace. Humboldtmusiciansforpeace@gmail.com. No, that's what it is.
Scott Hammond: There it is. Last, easy, last question.
Elle Penner: Okay.
Scott Hammond: What do you wanna be remembered for? What are we, what are we saying at your cere-
Elle Penner: Oh
Scott Hammond: … your celebration of life?
Elle Penner: Oh my goodness. Okay. Hmm.
Elle Penner: I think what I hope they say at my celebration of life is that,
Elle Penner: um, "Elle got us thinking about how we treat anyone we meet."
Scott Hammond: Nice.
Elle Penner: That's what I'd like.
Scott Hammond: That's good.
Elle Penner: Maybe think, thinking a little differently-
Scott Hammond: Mm-hmm
Elle Penner: … than j- than you thought before you met me about how you treat the people you meet.
Scott Hammond: I love that, and it rhymes good.
Elle Penner: Ah. It does.
Scott Hammond: Thanks for being here.
Elle Penner: Thank you for having me.
Scott Hammond: Yeah. Enjoy that chocolate. It's really good.
Elle Penner: I am so excited.
Scott Hammond: I know.
Elle Penner: Now I'm gonna have to have my sister come up with better Dick Taylor jingles because, uh, yeah, we need to improve.
Scott Hammond: We'll see. We'll see that next time you're back.
Scott Hammond: Ooh.
Elle Penner: Okay.
Scott Hammond: Well, that, that concludes it for tonight, folks. Uh, thanks for joining us. 100% Humboldt with Scott Hammond. Hey, vote for us, uh, this month on the North Coast Journal Best of Humboldt-
Elle Penner: Vote
Scott Hammond: … in the bonus section. Uh, vote often. You can do it daily. Uh, like us, love us, tell us what you feel on, uh, all the, uh, socials, and catch us on any podcast, YouTube, and on Access Humboldt, the cool guys down there at
Scott Hammond: CR.
Elle Penner: Yeah.
Scott Hammond: And, uh, we'll be back next time. Scott Hammond, 100% Humboldt with my friend Elle Penner signing off.