Vaughan Penn | Singer/Songwriter

Topsail Insider Intro

Christa 0:02

Welcome to the top. So insider podcast where locals vacationers and those looking to relocate to the greater topsoil area can hear all about the wonderful businesses and events in our beautiful coastal Carolina towns, including Hampstead. Topsail beach surf city. North Topsail Holly Ridge and Sneads ferry.

Coming Up!

Christa 0:27

Coming up a fascinating interview with a singer songwriter who after finding a great deal of success in the music industry, now calls Tops Home. Her songs can be heard in over 165 TV shows and movies, and are still going strong. Stay till the end to hear a beautiful, acoustical version of Ready to Rise.

Intro to Vaughan & Tommy

Christa 0:53

Hello everyone. Welcome to the Topal Insider Podcast. My name is Krista and I am your host. Today I am interviewing Ms. Vaughn Penn. She's a singer, songwriter, recording artist and producer. Hi Vaughn. How are you doing?

Vaughan 1:22

I am fantastic. How are you, hun?

Christa 1:24

great. And can you introduce me to this handsome gentleman beside you?

Vaughan 1:28

I guess since people can't really see we have to describe him,

Tommy 1:31

my gosh.

Vaughan 1:31

is very handsome. I would've to say he's on my right hand. Everything, my left hand, everything, my muse, my promoter, my fiance, and he's just, helps me find my way. What can I say?

Tommy 1:43

She says that now, but in private she refers to me as her Danny DeVito and I don't even know how to take that,

Christa 1:48

that,

Tommy 1:50

but it's fun to be here. We love what you're doing this is a lot of fun.

Christa 1:54

Thank you. Thank you both for being here. I really appreciate it. I just wanna say that I feel kind of honored to sit here with someone who's had such a strong career in the music industry because breaking into the entertainment industry period is very difficult. But you have had a lot of your original music featured in a lot of TV shows and movies. Can you tell me about that?

Vaughan 2:18

First of all, we like to support you and your podcast, and we like to support all the locals and all the people that you know, have businesses here in this on this island tops. So Island Surf City, and we've been around the world and toured around the world. But here we land and this is the beautiful place to, to land if you ask me, you know? absolutely. I

Music featured on TV Shows and Films

Vaughan 2:37

have been really blessed with film and TV through the years. I've had a, I don't know quite a number of song placements, licenses, and soundtracks over

Christa 2:44

can I name a few of those?

Vaughan 2:46

Go right

Christa 2:46

So we're talking about Grey's Anatomy. Bones. Criminal mines. The Hills, Laguna Beach, the L Word, nurse Jackie. These are huge shows, how does that feel?

Vaughan 2:58

First of all, I do think God is the one who brings us our opportunities, the one who also writes the song, so we'll have to say it's all God. I got really blessed. I found one music supervisor that liked me a lot. And it was the way it branched out for me through this one music supervisor and timing, really a timing thing. I got in at the wave with film and TV before everybody really wanted to do it. I think there, Lisa Loeb had a song out, I Miss You Reality Bites. You remember that 20 years

Christa 3:26

I do. Yeah.

Vaughan 3:27

So when I heard that in title. Song. And when I heard her sing, I fell in love with her and I went to look her up and she didn't have a record out yet. She didn't have an album.

Christa 3:34

Oh wow.

Vaughan 3:35

first got this entitle deal, but then they made an album on her. But I thought, wow, I wonder if I could do something like that. So I had a little dream to, to try to break in through film and TV way back in the day instead of trying to do it the standard way with a record deal and stuff. Gotcha. So, I got

Opening for Headliners

Vaughan 3:50

lucky.

Christa 3:51

I know that you have also opened up for some pretty big musicians. Can you talk about those a little bit?

Vaughan 3:58

That was a god thing too. I was very blessed in a particular arena where they really liked me and they kept hiring me to open for their big acts. It was at the Carrie Amphitheater. This was a while back, about 12 years back. Where is that? It's outside of Raleigh. And it's an outside, it's a beautiful venue. So I got asked to open for Huey Lewis in the news I loved, they were so friendly and awesome on the big stage. And then I opened for Amy Mann voices. Carrie.

Christa 4:21

Yes.

Vaughan 4:21

That was a really big moment for me cuz I always loved her voice

Christa 4:24

Same

Vaughan 4:24

side stage on Darius Rucker and Melissa Etheridge. So I got a lot of good exposure then. And then when I did a tour with China Phillips, we opened for a lot of Christian acts like Brandon Heath and I love that. Matt and Matt Moore. We were sweet. It was good times.

Chynna Phillips & Vaughan

Christa 4:37

speaking of China Phillips, you were also on Good Morning America, correct?

Vaughan 4:41

Yes, Yes. We had a band called China En Vaughn. We met through her stepfather who wanted a song for his movie he was directing. And he thought we should meet. So I went out to LA and I met China over lunch and we instantly bonded like girlfriends and, you know, we had an instant connection and, She said, you've gotta come stay in my guest house and let's see if we can write. So we started writing together and before we knew it, we had organically put a record together and she wanted me to take her in the studio. So I did and we cut this record. Then we got this record deal with prominent reunion

Music Sample: Livin' on Island Time

Vaughan 5:11

records. Went out on tour and with Bree and new song, and then Sean and I did Good Morning America, and it was like a three year run.

How Tommy & Vaughan Met

Christa 5:38

Okay Tommy, so let's talk for a minute about how the two of you met.

Vaughan 5:42

Sure. You wanna tell the story? He had a chocolate store.

Tommy 5:45

I had a chocolate business. I lived pretty much my whole life in Ann Arbor, Michigan. And grew up in the candy business. And when we sold the business, I had always had this kind of dream of having my own. Chocolate item. And it was before Shark Tank every, it's one of these things where, so I developed a thing called Chocolate Notes or Sweet Distinction, which was basically a chocolate greeting card. And it did well for a while. And at one point we're working on a licensing deal with Kathy Ireland the former swimsuit

Christa 6:15

Oh, yeah. Who

Tommy 6:15

is now just, she's right up there with Martha Stewart. And I had this little chocolate shop I would use the space as a flex space for the arts council. So quite often we'd have musicians or art exhibits or different kind of functions. And I had a friend that, that came through and said that there's this young lady, Vaughn Penn, who is doing a radio tour and she's gonna be coming through Toledo. Would I want to do a fundraiser in my shop with this Vaughn Penn? But Vaughn Penn walked into my store with a promoter from the radio station and I heard her play a little bit and we very quickly put together this fundraiser over coffee. And from that point forward, I was desperately trying to find a way to get out of my business because I had met my soulmate and I was gonna go where. She went. So that's how we got together and it's just been a wild, marvelous ride ever since that goes back almost nine years, eight. Okay,

Vaughan 7:14

Okay. But who's counting?

Christa 7:15

Yeah.

Tommy 7:15

Yeah. So that's how it all came to be. I'm creative on the visual art side of things. I got involved with helping or promote uh, you know, designing our CD covers and album covers and doing our social media. So that's how we. Teamed up.

Vaughan 7:30

But we fell in love and we came to visit here. And it was just supposed to be for a visit to Surf City Uhhuh, and we couldn't leave. We just kept coming back. And for the last seven years we've just call it home, it's like I finally found my tribe. I finally, after going all around the world, it came back to here.

Vaughan’s History

Christa 7:46

Okay, so let's talk about your history. Vaughn, where were you born and raised?

Vaughan 7:51

Let's see. I was born and Radford, Virginia, and we went to New York and lived till I was six years old. And then we moved to Madison, North Carolina. Tiny town outside of Greensboro, and I was raised there before I grew up and hit the road and went to college and Appalachian. But then started singing and touring and all that at a kind of young age. Okay.

Christa 8:10

So how old were you when you started singing?

Vaughan 8:12

Oh, probably 12. As far as my first gig, it was with the sugar shacks.

Christa 8:18

The Sugar Shacks. Tell me about that.

Vaughan 8:19

the name of the band, it was my Uncle Randy's band. He was my first influence on guitar and

Christa 8:23

So you come from a musical family. My father's

Vaughan 8:26

great jazz singer and Okay. My father's a great sax player. They met when they were teenagers.

Christa 8:30

Oh, really? He

Vaughan 8:31

a classic beautiful time period. Voice just sounds exactly like the fifties. Oh,

Christa 8:37

I'd love to hear that.

Vaughan 8:38

they're, I have recordings I can send you.

Christa 8:40

I would love to hear that.

Vaughan 8:41

They're amazing. And then all my sisters sing, so we grew up, doing that. It

Christa 8:44

was all your sisters. How many do you have? Three. Three sisters and all four of you sing? Yeah. Wow. Yeah. It's a musical family. All right. You

Vaughan 8:53

to do it. For me, it wasn't any other choice, but music, I didn't really have any other, it was just like music. As soon as I got my guitar

Musical Instruments and Channeling

Vaughan 8:59

and I could write

Christa 9:01

do you all play musical instruments?

Vaughan 9:03

I play a little piano, a little bit of this, a little bit of that, little bit of bass, but mostly guitar and yes, a little saxophone.

Tommy 9:09

When you ask, does she play musical instruments? For instance, there's a couple songs that she wanted in the background accordion, I. We don't know any accordion players. She found a Craigslist accordion bought it, and within 20 minutes had learned the parts for the song.

Christa 9:25

Oh my gosh.

Tommy 9:26

the same. It's hilarious. So one of the real joys for me, because I love music, but I don't know how to create it, is she's always said the songs come from God. She is the channel. I've witnessed this. Countless times. And my responsibility is to get out of the way but when she sits down at the piano, she doesn't know what note she's playing. It's really like a channeling type thing. It's

Christa 9:49

a gift,

Tommy 9:50

yeah. So it doesn't matter if it's a saxophone, a clarinet, a piano, or an accordion. She doesn't know what she's doing. I don't, but somehow, It happens, and so it's going,

Vaughan 9:59

to, it's a channel thing, and just gotta, it's crazy. Get in the right space that comes through. I think all creativity's like that, for the most part. The better stuff for me is that way if I make it happen, it's not gonna have that same goosebump thing.

Christa 10:11

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. So, but if you can pick up an accordion and play it within 20 minutes,

Vaughan 10:16

Well, I mean,

Christa 10:17

God has given you a wonderful gift and it's beautiful that you're using it. Yeah. It was very heavy. Is that what you said? Yes. Mm-hmm.

Tommy 10:24

One of her songs that I don't know if you're playing it today, but she wrote and recorded down here called Carolina Island Girl. She wanted steel drums. We don't know any steel drum players was it birthday or Christmas? I bought like the cheapest steel drum She goes down in the studio back in Dallas, North Carolina, within 15 minutes is playing the part for her own song on a steel drum. She's never even

Vaughan 10:43

that's not hard though.

Tommy 10:44

She says that, but I've, when she's not around, gone down and tried to do this, it's not

Vaughan 10:49

Just a little bit of different instruments to write on. I like to play harp, but I would never call myself a really. Great harmonica, but I do like to play it and I like to, write on it. It's just every instrument has a soul and you just gotta line up your soul with it and

Christa 11:04

That's so cool. Really cool.

Process of Writing Lyrics

Christa 11:06

Something like that. you write your own music, you write your own song, so tell me about the process of writing the lyrics and where that inspiration comes from.

Vaughan 11:14

Okay. A lot of times my words will come from conversations. We'll go out to hang out with our friends and hear people talking. And

Christa 11:22

and

Vaughan 11:22

you don't mind if I take that one line and put it in this first verse it might be a standard line, but it inspires me enough. So everything is like one word at a time, one line at a time. One note at a time until the rush comes. So like it'll come for me in like little triplets or something might pop in my head a couple of a title maybe, and I'll write it down. A melody will come to me in a just a. Single little dribble, and I'll put it on my voice memo. My voice memo is filled with just things that other people wouldn't understand. And then one day you look at like the 20 pieces that you just put down and all of a sudden the puzzle makes sense and then it comes together, and then it's a song. So it's like little pieces usually, and then it comes through.

Christa 12:02

That's great. Something like that. Yeah.

Vaughan 12:04

it's not a lot of intellect for me behind it, it's more like a lot of feeling. And then the intellect comes through the feeling instead of the other way around.

From Madison, NC to Los Angeles

Christa 12:12

Okay. So you were back in Madison, North Carolina. What led you out to Los Angeles?

Vaughan 12:19

I was working with David Z from Paisley Park, who worked with Prince a lot and went up there and did some recording a famous studio that Prince, it's Prince's studio. And the manager of those people also was working with me. And I got some interest at Modern Records, which was Stevie Nicks' solo label. Mm-hmm. Distributed through Atlantic. And so the guy that ran that label got behind my career uh, for a bit and flew me and, moved me out to LA and so we started recording and with that label at first. So that's what got me going.

Christa 12:49

Now how did you like Los Angeles?

Vaughan 12:51

I liked it when I had something. Already planned to do like that. Small record deal that kind of got me out there, paid

George Clooney and Grey’s Anatomy

Vaughan 12:58

for it cuz it's expensive. But while we were waiting to finish the record, my neighbor was working on some acting things, like some sets, and I thought that sounded cool.

Christa 13:06

exciting. Yeah.

Vaughan 13:07

Yeah. So he took me over to central casting did some union thing and started doing background stuff on sets while I was waiting to do the record. But later it helped me because I had connections for my film and television later that I got, and I worked on ER for about a year, and George Clooney was really good to

Christa 13:23

me. Whoa. Wait, Michael no. We're not gonna blow past that. Okay. I wanna hear you worked. You worked with George Clooney for a year

Vaughan 13:32

a year and a half maybe on that show, er, He was just so sweet. It was before he became really big, it was one of his first breaks, as an actor. And so we bonded on the set because we're working together all the time. He was very sweet to the extras and the background artists

Christa 13:45

What were you doing? Were you acting in the

Vaughan 13:48

pushing the gurney, like in scrubs and stuff, like a surgical assistant uhhuh or whatever I needed to do for the scene. So I was like a background person,

Christa 13:56

How

Vaughan 13:56

that's how I got to know the director of that, the, actually the first ad sent my music to a music supervisor and five different people sent it to the same supervisor, but I didn't know that. And so it was a god thing. After he heard from five different people, then he listened and we bonded and we started working together for 20

LA Connections but back in NC

Vaughan 14:14

years.

Christa 14:15

I lived in Los Angeles for a little bit. Yeah. And so I saw what, what happens and goes on in the industry because,

Tommy 14:21

it

Vaughan 14:21

can be very tough.

Christa 14:22

It's a little crazy out there and it's a dog eat dog world, and so being here in, in North Carolina, it is just such a big difference in, in

Vaughan 14:32

more gentle.

Christa 14:33

it is more gentle

Vaughan 14:34

I didn't stay long and I was there like three years and I did a lot of background work and worked on a lot of TV sets and stuff. And then the record label lost their distribution deal with Atlantic. So they didn't finish the six artists they had signed. So I didn't finish, put a record out through that But I met a lot of people and I think I got in and got out just in time for me to, 20 years later, get back to, in touch with people to get film and TV going. Yeah. Yeah, actually it wasn't that long. It's been 20 years now, so it was, five years after I left town. But it helped by living there a little bit. So just enough.

Christa 15:04

So you didn't have to get out there and get chewed up. No, I wasn't gonna say

Vaughan 15:08

I wasn't gonna stay. You in the

Christa 15:09

You got in, you made your connections and you got out.

Vaughan 15:11

exactly what, and I, there's like the hospital go in, get something done and leave. Don't stay too long.

Christa 15:15

So when you're here, you're still working with the same people? Yes. I just in the a, a sweeter environment. Yeah,

Vaughan 15:21

Yeah, absolutely. I'm the same exact connections as I made

Christa 15:24

amazing. That's really

Advice to Someone Entering Music Industry and Networking

Christa 15:25

good. Before we move on, I wanted to find out. So a lot of people do dream about going to a big city and trying their hand in the music industry or the entertainment industry what advice do you have because we have a pretty strong film industry here in Wilmington, and I know a lot of people, they're trying to break into that. What advice do you have for anyone's who's looking to go in that direction?

Vaughan 15:49

these days people are lucky because we have hold this digital help when you can shoot a movie on your. I guess your iPad or your phone. So it's a different world. I bet. I've always believed in create yourself, own your own thing. So I was advised a long time ago to own my own masters in publishing, so I did that one deal. But once I got out of that, the rest of the time I owned my own work. And so if you can own or co-own your work and then try to not give it away to people that might say they can do something for you but don't have a current track

Christa 16:18

Mm-hmm.

Vaughan 16:19

So I've just tried to create it yourself, fund it yourself and own it yourself. Okay. Just like it probably for, unless you can find the perfect co venture. Of course you're open to, the big person, but you wanna trust them. So you wanna work with people that have good hearts. Gotta do your due diligence and trust and then check people out. Do they have current track records? There are a lot of companies that still try to get control of, of people's stuff, and so I would be. Larry of that. Try to get your own direct connections. Ken Cragan, who used to manage Tricia Yearwood, has a book out called Life is a Contact Sport.

Christa 16:51

Okay?

Vaughan 16:51

And to me that is one of the most important things about any business is your personal relationship. Connections. Okay. And nur, even if you just nurture one. Really the right way. It'll grow a garden. So I think not being a number and not just going through the system you hardly ever find the right job just doing it that way. It's usually

Music Sample: Sandbar Shuffle

Vaughan 17:11

always networked. So I think networking is hugely important. Genuine networking, not u networking,

Christa 17:17

good advice. Nurturing. I like that. Thank you.

Vaughan 17:20

Yeah.

Vaughan and The ChillCats - Jazz Influence

Christa 17:36

I wanna talk about Von Pin and the Chill Cats.

Vaughan 17:39

Oh yes. I love that band. That's my roots. And my parents, of course, giving us the jazz influence from the beginning. I've always, my soul also resonates, singing jazz music like my

Christa 17:52

mom. I heard you online as I was like looking you up, and it was really beautiful music. Thank you. Really beautiful.

Vaughan 17:59

When I get the opportunity to do that, it reminds me of the way I was raised. It takes me back to my roots. It's full circle and it's my grownup side, not my flip flop and tank top, but my high heels and party dress,

Christa 18:10

Yes.

Vaughan 18:11

it's important to have both sides in life. Your yin and your yang of music.

Chameleon and Forest Gump of Indie Artists

Vaughan 18:15

What were you gonna say?

Tommy 18:16

I just love everything about what she does because in a way, She's a chameleon because she's so talented with any genre that she picks up. If it's an original jazz song that's been in a couple movies to. Writing a country drinking song when she does it the finished product is unbelievable. So just sitting here listening to her recount how she came to be, I know her as well as anyone knows her and it's still are

Christa 18:42

falling in love with her all over again?

Tommy 18:44

fall in love with her every day. And you know what, one, one thing, this is funny because she gets embarrassed by this stuff, but I know I've known her for almost nine years. We spend an awful lot of time together. I'm very familiar with what she does and where she came from, and almost every day I discover another nugget. Oh really? You were in episode three, season two of Seinfeld. Huh? So then I go online and I find it, and there's the clip. Frazier. Was Frazier too?

Vaughan 19:12

yeah.

Tommy 19:13

Because Miles hit on you as he

Vaughan 19:15

coming. It was a little tiny itsy

Christa 19:16

What?

Vaughan 19:17

Itsy bitsy was

Tommy 19:18

so part of the fun stuff with this, cuz she's like the forests Gump of indie artists because it's almost unbelievable all these things that she's done and like to find her. In the movie Nutty Professor for five minutes laughing at the jokes and the comedy. It's

Christa 19:35

just really, it's fun, really.

Tommy 19:36

she's embarrassed about this stuff, but it's fun to see everything that she's done. It's unbelievable.

Vaughan 19:41

I've just tried to stay true to following my heart and following where my muse takes me. So it might not be a linear list where mostly where people have. Used their head to figure it out. I literally, it's almost like a compass. My heart might say, to do this for three years or this for four years. It's like being, I don't know, like a, an art heart compass. So I would go goofy places, people would, wouldn't make any sense, but then I'd get blessed or my music would be used, or all of a sudden a bunch of new songs would come out that would help someone. So I've lived my life. He calls me You Luci Ball, or Forrest Gone, but you're probably right. He's probably correct.

Vaughan Penn Trio

Tommy 20:17

you're

Vaughan 20:18

right about that.

Christa 20:19

Let's talk about the Von Penn Trio. Tell me about that.

Vaughan 20:22

That's usually whoever I put together with me as a trio now. We got really blessed the last time when we had a guy named James Brock, which is the son of Jim Brock, a very well known and amazing drummer out of Charlotte. And I was accompanied by my studio partner, music partner, David, but I don't really know if we play as a trio that much, do we?

Tommy 20:44

It depends on what configuration. Right here at the beach there, there's a young lady that lives on the island named Holly Fusilli. And for a time she was David Allen Cos touring drummer. Yeah. And she's just this kind of. cool chick. And occasionally they'll do a trio thing down here where, I guess you call it Surf City Queens, where it's, Kim Chase on saxophone. It's Holly Faci on Cajon. Yeah. And it's V doing the guitar harmonica vocals. Yeah. And it's unique on the island because it's three chicks and they're doing this fun music. So

Christa 21:15

oh, I like that. That's the

Tommy 21:15

the versions of the trio.

Vaughan 21:17

That's right. That is a trio that we do sometimes.

Tommy 21:19

it's refined in a very unrefined way. It's very surf city.

Christa 21:22

I like the way you just worded that.

Meepers Music Records - American Girl

Christa 21:25

And what about Meers music records?

Vaughan 21:27

Yeah, that's my, that was my favorite kitty cat before. I had two other favorite kitty cats. Her name was Gracie Meers and she influenced my label and we had to put, I guess I had something in kicking and screaming. Will ferrell's Movie and at the end you had to give, you had to use your record label. So I originally named it ME'S music because we had the Will Ferrell movie and so there were some soundtracks too. But Mepr has probably done about 10 soundtracks by now. And we most recently did what was the most recent sound? American girl. Yeah. American girl. Did you ever hear of American Girl Doll? Yes. Okay. My song was Isabel Dances Into the Spotlight. That was about eight years ago. It was the main song for the promo. It kicked off the movie and it was the kickoff song of the soundtrack with the rest of the Disney artist. So that's a big one. I forget to talk about. So I, here I am, a grown person at this time, and I'm not gonna tell my age, but way grown, and they're picking my music for nine year old girls to kick off the soundtrack. I'm like, thank you, Jesus. Only you would know how to use my young. Spirit in that

Christa 22:26

one. I love that. Some crazy

Vaughan 22:28

stuff like that. And that's the Farrest Gump party he's talking

Christa 22:31

Yes. Oh I'm now that he's mentioned that to me, like I'm hearing it all over the place. So yeah, that time that I worked on this movie and that movie was like, that stuff is a really big deal. Yeah.

Vaughan 22:41

just it's not random, but it seems random, but

Tommy 22:43

it's,

The Big Short and Royalties

Tommy 22:44

so this sort of stuff is just cookie because then, like in 2016 there was an Oscar winning film called The Big Short, and it was about the financial collapse and it had Brad Pitt, it was a Blockbuster Deal. They selected one of her songs. To put right in between Led Zeppelin and Metallica. Unbelievable. So right in between, there's this sweet little von, but here's the thing. It's not real prominent in the movie, but forever. She's paid royalties in perpetuity and it's because she owns her publishing. This music supervisor can deal directly with Vaughn, the artist. It's not split. We've got

Vaughan 23:20

of different people.

Tommy 23:21

We've got friends that have credits for number one country chart topping Kane Brown songs on country radio, and yet they're one of nine writers. And when it's all said and done, that's a very difficult thing to license because everybody has to sign off on it and by the time the money trickles down, it's pretty diluted.

Christa 23:41

complicated,

Vaughan 23:41

So they don't like to have to do that in the business. That's

Christa 23:44

That's very

Tommy 23:44

smart. She was very smart with how she did this because she controls her own destiny and it's very wonderful. And she also has no one else to blame but herself if it's not going great because she owns it all.

Vaughan 23:55

right.

Christa 23:56

exactly. Good point.

Vaughan 23:57

That's right.

Tommy 23:57

right.

Voiceover Work

Christa 23:58

And you also do a lot of voiceover work, is that right?

Vaughan 24:01

I used to.

Christa 24:02

Oh, you used

Vaughan 24:02

I used to do it whenever I could because it's just another way to make some

Christa 24:06

money. Yeah.

Vaughan 24:06

your voice. Yeah.

Christa 24:07

Did you, do you record that here and ship it off, or did, were you doing that in Los Angeles

Vaughan 24:11

I was doing it in North Carolina at the studio where I'm part of the production team, traffic sound, and I got my fancy mic there, but you don't need a fancy mic these days. Voiceovers, everybody uses their voice. It's a whole different thing. But back then, 10 years ago it was still an announcer voice was popular. But now they're using any anybody's voice, which kind of interesting. So yeah, it was just a good way to. To support other local businesses and be a part of it, either writing the jingle or the voiceover work. Just another way to make an income

Christa 24:37

You also wrote the jingles as well? Sometimes. Okay. Sometimes. Did you enjoy that work? Was that fun

Vaughan 24:43

I love any time I can have a microphone for the most part, and most of the time. And my parents did that to me at two. So it doesn't feel like work if I'm on stage or if I'm writing something and recording and singing. It's just the only way I've ever really known how to be. That's the only thing I've ever known to what, how to do.

Painting

Christa 24:59

And just being a well-rounded artist. You also paint as well, right?

Vaughan 25:04

I did for a little phase during Covid because it was like nothing going on, and all of a sudden I, maybe a lot of people felt this. You had more time to develop another maybe artist's side of you? I was writing and all that, but I wasn't ever painting. I don't, I never took an art lesson but I started doing some abstract and I enjoyed it. Tommy helped me name 'em and frame them.

Tommy 25:24

Here's the funny

Vaughan 25:24

and sell

Tommy 25:25

that,

Vaughan 25:25

'em. I sold some

Christa 25:28

That's great. I didn't

Vaughan 25:29

sell 'em anymore. And I was like, no, give

Christa 25:30

there she goes For gumming again,

Vaughan 25:32

I did. It was weird. about

Tommy 25:34

We are locked down for covid. She decides she's gonna start painting. She was doing like six a day. It was crazy. This one's a cat. This one's a blob. This one's a. I don't know. I

Vaughan 25:45

stop for some reason, but then someone wanted me, to do a something for their dentist

Tommy 25:49

office. Somebody saw her, saw something that she put on Facebook, and now it's the centerpiece of a dental office somewhere in

Vaughan 25:55

good money. I'm like, okay, sure.

Christa 25:57

Oh my gosh. There you go. That's great. That's great.

Vaughan 26:00

was fun. I haven't done it in

Upcoming Performances

Vaughan 26:02

a year, but

Christa 26:02

So let's talk about any upcoming events. What, do you have anything lined up?

Vaughan 26:06

Yes. We play at the World Famous Trailer Bar on June 3rd, in the afternoon, three to six. Then the following week, we play at Laura Lives. I believe it's on the Thursday from six to nine, and then that Sunday back at uh, backyard Tavern on June 11th, two to five Free hamburgers, great venue with a new owners and new patio. But all the schedules on my Facebook.

Christa 26:28

Back Backyard Tavern. That's in Sneed Ferry. Yes, it's great. Where's Laura Lies?

Vaughan 26:31

Lo Lies is also in Snes Ferry. So very fun sports bar.

Christa 26:34

Okay, gotcha.

Vaughan 26:35

Yeah. Those were the upcoming local shows.

Christa 26:38

Okay.

“In the Can” - Tortured Soul to Flip Flops and Tank Tops

Christa 26:39

Are you recording, any new music or albums?

Vaughan 26:42

I have some things in the can that I just did that I don't wanna release yet. Okay. And because I wrote 'em a while back and they're not really how I feel about. Life right now. So I put 'em in the can. I haven't released them. Okay. So I usually have something new coming out about once a year, every two years, but I'm in a incubation phase right now. So I don't have anything brand new coming out, and I have some things started. It, but they're not for all the way fully formed yet.

Christa 27:08

I'm gonna pick your artist's brain here just for a minute. So you wrote something, you put it in the can. It's not how you feel today. Does that mean it's gonna just stay in the can or you think you'll go back and revisit it one day

Vaughan 27:18

I knew that I had to record it cuz I had written it seven years ago, but I didn't like the chords and so I brought someone else in to gimme some new chord vibes. And I still really like it. It's just my frame of mind changes every few years and I'm a much more positive person now. And I was a little more tortured soul when I would write back then, but I wanted to record it so it's still good, but it's just not really where I'm at today. So I don't know when I'm gonna release it. I don't know if I will. Oh,

Christa 27:42

How interesting. Yeah. That's

Vaughan 27:44

but I had to do it. I had to record it.

Tommy 27:45

A lot of the kind of wonderful things that have been said about what she does throughout the industry. Emotive she's got that kind of warm control to a voice. A lot of what she does is very emotional. You feel it, it makes your hair stand up and some of it's sad. It's beautiful. It's fantastic. But since having come to the beach it's tanked up some flip flops. It's, yeah. So

Vaughan 28:10

started making me laugh.

Tommy 28:11

Like she went from a minor key to a major key kind of thing. It's,

Vaughan 28:14

I never laughed before you, I just cried all the time. It's

Christa 28:17

true.

Tommy 28:18

That's a slight exaggeration.

Vaughan 28:19

No it's not. No, it's not. No. I won't tell him about the self-portrait you helped me with.

Tommy 28:23

How do you mute this? No,

Christa 28:26

That

Vaughan 28:27

That was the nude portrait he helped me

Tommy 28:28

with. No no, it's

Christa 28:29

I don't even know how to respond to that.

Vaughan 28:31

know

Tommy 28:31

This is absolutely not true. This is

Vaughan 28:33

it's so true.

Christa 28:34

Okay

Acoustical - Ready to Rise

Christa 28:35

I was wondering if you might play a little bit for me,

Tommy 28:40

this is her newest guitar and it's a 61.

Vaughan 28:43

It

Christa 28:43

a 61

Tommy 28:44

Go all the way back to 1948. She only plays all the other musicians. Of course, they're not into the vintage stuff cuz they're very expensive and tough to keep alive, especially in the salt

Vaughan 28:54

air.

Christa 28:55

Oh yeah. All fuel

Tommy 28:56

play is this crazy old stuff

Vaughan 29:01

So living on island time of course, is all about living here. This song right here is the song that ended up being my bread and butter song.

Christa 29:08

Oh really,

Tommy 29:08

Grace

Vaughan 29:09

And it started out in Grey's Anatomy, but it's the one that got used for all the promo songs for the showtime shows. But mostly I wrote it for a friend who was feeling down. And um, it was really just intended to make her feel better. And it was one of those songs that I felt coming on and I really just wrote it in like 10 minutes.

Christa 29:27

Oh wow.

Vaughan 29:28

And I think the reason why, and it, it most recently also is gonna be on a TV show in two weeks called Cruel Summer. So it's recently being picked for stuff. And I know what, I think it's the message because it's a song about not letting your circumstances define you and holds you back. And it's a song about getting up. And showing up and then letting God meet you where you are. It's about seeing the glass half full and not half empty, and it's turned into a rock anthem. So I guess that's why God keeps using it. Cuz I wrote this song 20 years ago. I'll just play a little piece of it, but let's see. It goes like this, rise above the ground where you lay. You've been laying this long that you just about and forgotten how to live your life well. You can't find where you belong. No. Can't find where you fit in. Don't you think it's time you gave your life a chance again? You ready? Ready to rise. You ready? Ready to rise? You're ready. Ready to rise. You ready to rise? Ready to rise? Ready to go. You've been watching your life like a movie Show you ready to rock? Ready to roll. Break it down and take it real.

Christa 30:51

slow. See,

Vaughan 30:53

that's like the first half of

Christa 30:54

Beautiful. It's.

Vaughan 30:55

Ready to Rise.

Christa 30:58

And that one you said is was just chosen to be on

Vaughan 31:01

Cruel Summer. It's a freeform. Is that the network freeform, Tommy?

Tommy 31:06

Believe it's I believe it's NBC Disney freeform

Vaughan 31:10

and it's kicked off a lot of shows on Laguna Beach, on mtv ABC's Wildfire. It's been on a couple of movies in Europe. It's been on, the showtime promo for Nurse Jackie and Elwood and Weeds in California occasion. Then it's been the Grey's Anatomy song and some other things, and I don't know why, but it keeps getting picked. So it has to be the message. I

Christa 31:29

feel so honored that you can sit here with me today and play that for the podcast. Thank you so much. You're

Vaughan 31:38

you're welcome. That's the way it was written. And then when you play the full produced version, you can hear the difference cuz it's a gigantic difference. But I like to hear songs unplugged and when I play around town, I just play unplugged, the way they were written organically

Christa 31:51

I feel so lucky

Vaughan 31:52

now,

Christa 31:53

honestly, I could cry.

Vaughan 31:54

the lucky ones.

Final Thoughts

Christa 31:56

Okay gosh, really? Thank you. You're welcome. From the bottom of my heart. Oh yeah.

Vaughan 31:59

yeah.

Christa 31:59

So any final thoughts from either one of you? What do you want the listeners to know about Von Penn?

Vaughan 32:05

Oh, just the, how much I love them and how much I love the people that come out to the shows that connect with us. That we try to make the shows and Tommy's such a big part of it. A place that you can come and count on a hug. You can count on some love and a good. You gotta come out. So I will, we like to, add people to our tribe and we think of that. So I think support local, everyone, it's so important. Support each other's business, whatever that is. And that's it. But thank you for supporting my music in our, our thing.

Christa 32:33

my pleasure. 100%

How to Contact Vaughan Penn

Christa 32:35

my pleasure. Thank you. I wanna tell everyone how to contact Vonn Pen. You can find and follow Vonn Pen on Facebook and Instagram.

Tommy 32:42

Her website gets a lot of traffic and that's Vaughn Penn.

Christa 32:45

Pen.

Tommy 32:46

Dot com.

Christa 32:47

Let's spell Vaughn. Some people may not know how to spell that. V a u g h a n. Penn, p e n n.com. And what is the email address?

Tommy 32:58

Vaughn penn yahoo.com.

Christa 33:01

Von penn yahoo.com.

Thank you! and Professional Podcast Studio

Christa 33:04

so thank you, Tommy. Thank you, Vaughn. I appreciate it so much and thank you listeners.

Vaughan 33:09

You so

Tommy 33:10

Thank you very much. And I will tell you, this is the best podcast studio I've ever been in. There's a puppy in a four poster bed. It's

Vaughan 33:19

that's adorable.

Christa 33:19

So professional here. Yeah.

Vaughan 33:21

We support you.

Christa 33:23

Thank you very much

Vaughan 33:24

on your podcast.

Christa 33:25

just wanna say I had to pull 'em into the bedroom like

Vaughan 33:28

it did. She

Christa 33:28

that's, wait, that sounded really bad,

Vaughan 33:30

bad. It's

Christa 33:30

what I meant to say. Cause there was problems in another room I was having. So we set up a very makeshift studio today in my bedroom.

Tommy 33:38

It's perfect. And you're doing a great job.

Music Sample - Ready to Rise

Tommy 33:40

Thank

Christa 33:40

Thank you. Listeners, thank you so much for joining us, and thanks again Vaughn and Tommy. I appreciate it.

Vaughan 33:44

Thank you. Thank you.

Closing

Christa 34:30

Hey, thank you for joining me today on Topsail Insider. If you like today's episode, please hit the follow or subscribe button so that you can get the Topsail Insider Podcast delivered automatically to whichever podcast platform you're listening on. And if you're a business owner and you wish to set up a pre-interview or you want to advertise, please email me at topsailinsider@gmail.com. Please also find, and like the Topsail Insider Facebook page, I provide links to the new podcast there each week, as well as providing photos of the businesses that I'm highlighting along with any of their upcoming events. So, hey, let's do this again next week. I'll see you around Topsail