Musician, Personal Trainer, Salesman at Guitar Center

Name: Ernie Pettaway

Age: 30

Occupation: Musician, personal trainer, salesman at Guitar Center

Are you local? I live in Concord.

Did you grow up in the Bay Area? I grew up in Concord and Benicia and Vallejo.

What do you do for fun? I make music.

What kind of music? I make hip-hop and R&B.

What parts do you do? Do you do production? I’m an MC. I do a lot of songwriting and I do mixing when called upon.

Do you sing at all? No. God no. Not unless it’s got some auto-tune on it. I need some pitch correction on that.

How long have you worked at Guitar Center in El Cerrito? I’ve been with the company about three and a half years. I’ve been at this store about two years.

What’s it like working in El Cerrito? It’s cool. You get a lot of eccentric people, a lot of comedy jumpin’ off in here.

From locals? Richmond and El Cerrito people? And Berkeley.

Do you have a funny story? My first year working here it was the NBA finals, I think the Lakers were playing, and the Lakers had just won. We were about to close. Right as we locked the door, this guy came running up, butt-naked, slammed himself onto the window, screamed a bunch of nonsense and ran off. Then he was just running up the street screaming and laughing. Butt naked. It was quite the experience. That’s the kind of stuff that happens around here.

Anything else you want to add? Look out for my new mix tape called "Smell My Finger." My friend Tyrade the Kalage just dropped his album called Little Giant, and it’s available on Bandcamp.

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