Phelan LaVelle was born and raised in Omaha, NE and moved to Chicago when she was 17 to go to school at Columbia College, where she studied poetry, theatre and the arts. She lived in Chicago for 10 years, playing in bands and working as a bike messenger. After coming to Athens in 2009 on tour with her band Bird Names, who were playing with Athens band Quiethooves, she and the rest of the band decided to relocate here and she has been here ever since.  

 

Phelan is a yoga teacher under the name Grateful Head Yoga, facilitating courses at the Healing Arts Centre and earning the title of Athens’ Favorite Fitness Instructor in the Flagpole Favorites Awards. She is a musician, currently performing with the bands Ralph and Rotten.  In addition to playing music, she also books and promotes shows under Dosed By An Angel Presentations.  

 

Phelan lives with her husband, Greg, in Homewood Hills with dogs Poco and Peavey.  

 

What do you love the most about the work you do (teaching yoga)? 

I love that I can take something from one of my experiences and integrate it immediately into something that I can take to people and hope and see if that lands with them. So I have my own practice and discover things and then immediately fold that in and turn around and take it to people and just see how that resonates with them. So staying curious and learning stuff and being excited about it, that’s just part of the whole process and is something that I enjoy. And I just like being with people in the practice like that is just one of the sweetest ways to share time. Just a really intimate experience in a way that kind of transcends a lot of other social activities. I really cherish those times and the people that come there.  

 

When you’re not working, what are some of your favorite things to do in and around Athens? 

When Homewood Social was open we were on a league there and went all the time and my husband actually worked there fixing the machines for a long time, too. So yeah, I love bowling. We love to take long walks; love going to Bishop Park. I go to the Farmers Market. Love going out for a hike wherever. Athens is so lucky to have such great nature at your fingertips. We love eating at our favorite spots like Puma Yu’s, Pretty Boy, Tlaloc, National. Love hanging at the Hilo and Normal. Like monthly I’ll host a show at Normal Bar, and now Sunday shows at HiLo. I honestly just spend most of my time in my yard. 

 

If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would you go and why? 

I feel like I would go to the 70s and find my parents and take them to Northern California, like Mendocino County, and just enjoy the fruits of the land and hang out with my parents and then buy property there. 

 

If you could see any band, anywhere, who would it be and where? 

In the 70s Captain Beefheart played on a beach in Cannes, France. I would want to go to that show and see that. 

 

What advice would you give to your younger self? 

Don’t worry. Literally, don’t worry. There is a certain amount of anxiety that motivates you to do what you do, that ends up being good for you, but when there is too much anxiety it just puts a damper on what’s good for you. So, I would say: worry less, enjoy more. (And buy property.) 

 

Do you have a favorite book or book that you find yourself rereading or referencing or gifting? 

Nine Stories by JD Salinger. 

 

What about a favorite movie? 

When it comes to cinema, I feel like anymore I reach for nostalgia, not like cinematic nostalgia, but my own personal nostalgia. So, anything 90s. Like my favorite ones are The Fugitive and Jurassic Park. And Die Hard. Those are the type of movies that just feel like putting on a cozy jacket. 

 

If you could put one message on a billboard, what message would it be? 

Honk if you don’t exist. 

 

If you could have lunch with anyone, dead or alive? Who would it be and where? 

A strong woman from the past. It would be like, and I guess these are both French, but like Joan of Arc. She’s so brutal, though, I’d probably just get killed. Or Simone de Beauvoir. I think Simone would be good because she’s just like such an intellectual, and just so strong. I bet she would have a lot of really cool things to say and be really inspiring. And then also in her era in France, we would probably be sitting at like a cool cafe and it’d probably be a really fun lunch as well.  

 

What 3 words come to mind when you think of the word home? 

Greg. Poco. Peavey.