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What does it take to make wood sing? We sit down with Marimba One founder Ron Samuels to follow the arc from a Humboldt State spark to an Arcata workshop that supplies universities, symphonies, and soloists worldwide. Ron shares how an early encounter with African-style marimba led to years of hands-on experimenting, nights in woodshops, and the hard-earned knowledge of how to tune a bar so that overtones line up, resonators breathe, and a melody stays clear even when the room is alive.

We dig into the craft behind the music: arches carved into the underside of bars to shape harmonics, resonators adjusted with precision plugs to balance warmth and brightness, and modern tooling—custom extrusions, injection-molded interfaces, and CNC machining—used not to mass-produce, but to stabilize frames and protect tone. Ron breaks down the differences between marimba, vibraphone, and xylophone, and how thoughtful engineering can make an eight-foot, 300-pound instrument feel responsive under the mallets. Along the way, we swap listening notes, from Bach’s cello suites on marimba to jazz vibes and a Rolling Stones classic that quietly features the instrument you didn’t know you knew.

The conversation turns to sustainability with a breakthrough: a synthetic alternative that finally sounds like true rosewood. After years of R&D, player tests, and careful sourcing, the team unveiled material that keeps lines articulate without the harsh ring that plagues other substitutes. It’s conservation through acoustics, a practical path for schools, ensembles, and touring artists who need consistency and conscience. Grounded in Humboldt County’s creative network—engineers from Yakima days, artists, and builders—Ron’s shop also invests locally with school tours and concerts at the Arcata Playhouse.

If you love craft, sound design, and the human stories behind great instruments, this one’s for you. Hit play, subscribe for more conversations with builder-founders and artists, and leave a review telling us your favorite marimba recording or the question you want us to ask Ron next.

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About 100% Humboldt with Scott Hammond

Humboldt County CA USA is the home of some of the most iconoclastic, genuine, and interesting folks in the world.

We are getting curious about the movers, shakers, and difference makers in Humboldt County CA-Home of the giant redwoods, 6 Rivers, and the vast Pacific Ocean.

We will discover what makes people live/evolve in the beautiful, diverse, isolated, and ever-changing North Coast of California 100%!

Listen in and learn what it is to be 100% Humboldt!

Find us on You Tube, Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok!

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Roses blooming in February changed everything. That’s how Dr. Keith Flamer knew College of the Redwoods would be home—a place where Marine Corps grit and Jesuit heart could fuse into a people-first campus that serves Humboldt with purpose. In a wide-ranging conversation, we trace his path from Chicago’s west side and brand management at Kraft to graduate work at Gonzaga and two decades leading CR through change with transparency, humor, and resolve.

We dive into the big pivot shaping community colleges: meaningful careers that don’t require four-year debt. Dr. Flamer lays out why CR’s future is anchored in healthcare pathways and skilled trades—nursing, allied health, welding, construction technology, aquaculture, and climate resilience. These programs move students into well-paying jobs faster, strengthen the regional workforce, and create stackable on-ramps for first-generation learners and working adults. Along the way, we talk student housing, a new PE and field house, upgraded athletics, creative arts improvements, and the Del Norte healthcare education center—projects designed to turn access into persistence and graduation.

Policy and funding challenges are real, but they’re met with open books and decisive collaboration. Dr. Flamer walks us through balancing budgets without cutting opportunity, building partnerships with local industry and elected leaders, and keeping equity, inclusion, and community engagement at the center. Post-pandemic lessons—flexible online learning, tele-services, smarter scheduling—are now tools for long-term success. And beneath it all is a personal ethic: love people first. That’s the leadership that connects CR to Humboldt’s fabric, sends students seamlessly to Cal Poly Humboldt when it fits, and holds space for respectful disagreement as the community grows.

Come for the story, stay for the playbook: practical steps to build programs that pay, campuses that belong to their neighbors, and a legacy defined by service. If this conversation resonates, subscribe, share it with a friend, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway—we read every word.

Support the show

About 100% Humboldt with Scott Hammond

Humboldt County CA USA is the home of some of the most iconoclastic, genuine, and interesting folks in the world.

We are getting curious about the movers, shakers, and difference makers in Humboldt County CA-Home of the giant redwoods, 6 Rivers, and the vast Pacific Ocean.

We will discover what makes people live/evolve in the beautiful, diverse, isolated, and ever-changing North Coast of California 100%!

Listen in and learn what it is to be 100% Humboldt!

Find us on You Tube, Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok!

Send us a text

Some conversations change how you see your neighbors. This one does. We sit with longtime educator and advocate Nezzie Wade to explore why Humboldt County’s per-capita homelessness ranks among the highest in the country and what can actually move the needle: community-first design, small-scale villages, safe parking, and dignity-forward services that meet people where they are.

Nezzie's story threads from Catholic schooling and decades of teaching sociology to co-founding Affordable Homeless Housing Alternatives (AHA). Along the way, she lays out a clear diagnosis: California’s housing targets are chronically underbuilt; income thresholds exclude those in crisis; and institutional models struggle to support people who’ve been surviving outside for years. The alternative is both humble and powerful—mutual aid as infrastructure. Think tiny house villages that function like neighborhoods, with roles and support baked in, not imposed. Think safe sheltering that invites participation and grows stability.

We also spotlight AHHA’s mobile shower program: a custom trailer with ADA access that’s delivered more than 7,000 hot showers and services to 16,000+ guests across Eureka, Arcata, and McKinleyville. It’s a blueprint for practical compassion—hygiene, food, clothing, and referrals—built on local donations and grit, not red tape. Nezzie makes a direct ask: partners with land near transit, donors willing to seed operations and simple utilities, and listeners ready to help turn proven concepts into living spaces.

If you care about Humboldt, housing, or humane policy, this conversation gives you facts, context, and a path to act. Subscribe, share with a friend who cares about solutions, and leave a review with one idea you’d support locally—land, funding, or time. Your voice helps build the village.

Support the show

About 100% Humboldt with Scott Hammond

Humboldt County CA USA is the home of some of the most iconoclastic, genuine, and interesting folks in the world.

We are getting curious about the movers, shakers, and difference makers in Humboldt County CA-Home of the giant redwoods, 6 Rivers, and the vast Pacific Ocean.

We will discover what makes people live/evolve in the beautiful, diverse, isolated, and ever-changing North Coast of California 100%!

Listen in and learn what it is to be 100% Humboldt!

Find us on You Tube, Linked In, Facebook, Instagram, and Tik Tok!