Mikey Pennington plays one of his original songs, “Irreplaceable,” live on-air at 93Q radio station in Marysville. 

MARYSVILLE, CA (MPG) - Music has been swirling around Mikey Pennington since birth. His mother favored hip-hop and rock, his grandfather fancied Aerosmith, country and Shania Twain, while his grandmother opted for R&B.

“Even to this day I still love every kind of music. There's no such thing as bad music good music is just good music,” said Pennington during his first on-air interview with 93Q, a local community radio station.

Pennington started penning his first songs in fourth grade, expecting to become a rapper until a ukulele found its way into his hands.

“I started a band with my friend, Jess, and he played guitar so I would just sing to whatever he wrote or we would do covers,” said Pennington. “And then I remember I stayed the night at his house one time and he had a ukulele so I just learned how to play it in one night and then by the time he woke up I knew like five different songs that I could play. After that, his grandma got me my own ukulele.”

By high school, Pennington became known as “the guy with a guitar”, singing and playing wherever he could. In pursuing his passion, this Lindhurst graduate soon found himself in a whirlwind of adventure. From playing on the piers of San Francisco to living in a van in the “safety” of a Party City parking lot in Los Angeles, Pennington has more than a few stories to share.

His time in Los Angeles led to his first EP recording and the start of a major weight-loss journey. The young musician ultimately shed more than 100 pounds, transforming his physical appearance but not his passion for music.

“I used to weigh about 363 pounds at my highest weight,” explained Pennington. “I got really into fitness and music kind of took a backseat for a while…Now I'm starting to come back out.”

Pennington’s re-emergence on the local music scene has been marked with frequent open mic appearances and a series of events, “Emo Nite 530.” These events can be caught at venues such as the Silver Dollar Saloon in Marysville and the 21 Club and Hooligan’s in Yuba City.

So what's next for Pennington? He’s launching the Next Up Festival on Saturday (July 27) in Marysville, alongside his friend and event partner, David Terrases.

“Mikey and I go way back and have been best friends since the third and fourth grade,” said Terrases. “We love all genres of music and have traded different styles and sounds of music we heard on our own over the years. That’s one thing we never stopped loving. I picked up my knowledge of being a deejay from my uncle, Valente Paiz, in San Jose and was wanting to do something more later in life. So, we started off small together with a few awesome Emo Nite shows in a few local venues, up to the point to where we are now - the Next-Up Music Festival for all ages!"

The Next Up Music Festival is a multi-genre event set to feature a diverse group of bands from throughout Northern California and the greater Central Valley. Among them will be Pennington’s band, Common Grounds, an alternative-indie band with original music.

“We wanted to have a music festival that was all original artists, so every single person on our festival is an original artist and they’re all going to be performing their own music,” said Pennington.

“We even had a band reach out to us from New York that was going on tour and wanted to be a part of this,” added Terrases. “It’s just awesome that a band far away is making a stop in Marysville to be noticed just like the other artists coming out that day to make a debut in a new location.”

The Next Up Music Festival will run from 1 to 10 p.m. on D Street, sandwiched between 3rd and 4th streets in historic Marysville. Sixteen bands will perform on two stages, one on the street and the other inside Skip’s Marysville Music Cafe. Guests can expect merchandise, games, and vendors scattered across the block and a beer garden hosted by Silver Dollar Saloon. Tickets are $20 online or $25 at the door. It’s $5 for anyone under 18 at the door.

“No need to purchase them a ticket in advance,” added Pennington.

For more information, visit nextupmusicfestival.ticketspice.com or look for “Next-Up 530” or “Mickey Pennington” on social media.