Los Angeles (Part 1): Deals with the Devil in the City of Dreams

Loving LA is just as much about being here as it is about missing home. Even if you’re from here, this is a city about longing, nostalgia, and a certain kind of sadness only entertainment cities really know. Los Angeles itself is practically a song, its stories told on repeat, the sun-powered myth illuminating the myths behind studio sessions from Rumors and LA Woman, from Pet Sounds to Norman Fucking Rockwell. What would happen if you explored LA? Like, really explored it? On Part One of a special two-part episode of SOOT, host Will Dailey takes you deep into LA’s belly of the beast, past the Sunset Strip to find the music town behind the music machine. To hear the artists mentioned in this episode, check Will’s playlist at soundofourtownpod.comWant to chat about the music in your city? Hit us up on: 

• Instagram: @DoubleElvis @WillDaileyOfficial
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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Whenever I want to turn on some music, I just
unpacked my Sonos Rome because its vocal clarity and power
sound is like nothing else. No matter if you're outside
on your porch or in your living room, you can
close your eyes and feel like you're in Laurel Canyon
listening to after the gold Rush experience. The best sound anywhere,
everywhere was Sonos Rome, the ultra portable smart speaker for

(00:21):
all your listening adventures. Visit Sonos dot com to learn
more and shop Rome in three new exclusive colors. Double
Elvis and before I knew it, I was sitting on

(00:43):
the thirteenth floor of Capitol Records with my acoustic guitar
in one hand and a couple of label executives sitting
around a large office in the house that Nat built.
It was the dead middle of the odds, where after
putting out your first album you could still get some
magical radio played just by mailing c d s around.
C d s are technical name for compact laser discs.
A laser reads a piece of mirror stuck inside a

(01:04):
small plastic circle and delivers excellent audio. I believe the
Aliens delivered the technology, but I can't be sure, I'm
not Indiana Jones. Anyways, my album was called Goodbye Red
Bullet after the car that was sold to finish paying
for its production. A lot of level irony to sell
a car and end up in l a the city
where you need one the most. Clearly, I had no
idea what I was doing when I produced my first

(01:26):
album without computers, on vintage equipment, barely a budget, and
I had no idea what I was thinking. When I
gave up my car, I would needed to tour around
and promote the album. There was no plan, just a reaction,
a chain one. Thankfully I had friends with cars and
lucked out with some love from XM Radio. Two months later,
phone rings top floor of Los Angeles' most iconic building.

(01:49):
Time to start the free fall and participate in that
twentieth century ritual. Go to these places of musical dreams
and legends. Play your song, gets signed, and the reins
of the world be handed to you, and it will
be your job to hold on for dear life. I
played my songs in the President's office to an enthusiastic staff.
I'm sure if they really were enthusiasm in certain buildings

(02:12):
in l A is synthetically manufactured. It can work, but
it may also not be real. Afterwards, I walked out
onto Vine and into my friend's ride. Remember no car.
We went out for drinks. The future was on its way,
and baby was it. Ever. The next week the President
who Heard Something and My Songs was called and replaced Goodbye,
Red Bullet Part two. Every month another titan of the

(02:34):
Old Guard fell off, something to do with the legal downloading.
Nobody was paying twenty five dollars for CEDD at Tower
Records anymore. Tower Records was a place where people could
go buy things that aliens gave us. So I found
myself running up that hill against an avalanche, and then
the deal with God was suddenly gone, and with it
the mountain. Didn't I know the thirteenth floor was the

(02:56):
unluckiest one. The whole damn building is built in a
sur goal or a boris no beginning and no end,
It's just the journey. Well, they say this place is evil.
That ain't why I stay, Because I found something that
will never be nothing, and I found it in l A.

(03:17):
It was midnight into Panga. I heard the DJ say,
there's a full moon rising. Join me in l A
warren Zevon in a simple twist of fate. One solitary
winding road that makes its way from Beverly Hills where
the movie stars live, all the way down into Hollywood

(03:37):
where the movies get made, was never incorporated into the
city of Los Angeles. It existed as a wild strip,
unmoored from the law of the land, eventually becoming a
bedrock of roadside houses, brothels, and even casinos until the
mob bosses that lorded over those golden goose back room
gambling dens turned the streets red with blood when they left.

(03:59):
The rockers set in, eager to play stages along the
infamous strip with a wicked used to run games, thrilled
to make a deal with the devil. As the counterculture
scene of that glittering sunset strip began to rise up,
gods among the people turned tiny dirty clubs into the
stuff of legends. The doors Frank Zappa led Zeppelin and
the Rolling Stones, whose fans through attention that turned into

(04:20):
a riot after West Hollywood residents decided rock gods make
bad neighbors. Undeterred, glam rocks settled in next and punk
and new wave black Flag the Dead Kennedy's The Misfits,
motor had Motley Crew poisoned guns and roses, and even
Metallica made Rainbow bar and Grill into a shrine, a
house of the and holy and extremely unholy. In Los Angeles,

(04:43):
that's where they want you to start and where they
want you to end. Go back now in search of
those old kings buried under hotels and no aspiring artists
can afford into venues dead and dying. Visit the vessels
of the past instead of searching for where the spirit
wandered off too. Do you know how big this city is?
Because the truth is the Sunset Strip has only ever
been a fraction of the tale l A has to tell.

(05:05):
We are here to go deeper into the belly of
the beast, where the music lives. Celebrity bands may disappear,
fame itself may vanish. That's because locals in the city
don't trust a name as far as they can throw it.
What would happen if you explored l A, I mean
really explored it. The scene isn't on Sunset Strip. Come on, party,
you already need that. That's the part that's ready to journey.

(05:29):
Loving l A is just as much about being here
as it is about missing home, And even if you're
from here, this is a city about longing in nostalgia
and a certain kind of sadness that only entertainment cities
really know. Even the hometown films cheat around the edges,
pasting Musso's and Franks next to the California incline, pretending
Golden Hour always hits when you need it to, or

(05:51):
that there are actual downpours where you can kiss someone passionately,
or brawl with an assortment of bad guys attacking one
at a time, maneuvering around fog and trap fake in
the bitter crack of fake smiles everywhere that part's fake,
leaving the real stuff on the cutting room floor. Loving
l A is just as much about missing home, even
if the rolling sea of mythic megastars who call it

(06:12):
home it's just about as deep and wide as the
Pacific itself. Even deeper and wider is the ocean of
hopefuls who come here to serve those same waves, only
to crash into the rocks. And for each heavenly music
star we vault to the top of our consciousness via
l A, there are thousands of burnouts in the City
of Angels, the wisest of which have a grateful and

(06:33):
comfortable acceptance of their sonic space on Earth. Relieve they
avoided the American pop art meat grinder's insatiable assimilation of
apocryphal rock and roll storylines needed for biopic Hollywood movies.
There are already plenty of those to choose from. When
it comes to music. Out of l A Buffalo, Spring
from the Guns and Roses and w A. Van Halen,

(06:56):
Motley Crue, Black Flag, Los Logos, The Doors, Anita, The
Beach Boys, Red Hot Chili, Peppers, Ice Cube, Ice Tool, Wheezer,
Local Natives, Carpenters, Best Coast, Chris Christofferson Bengals, Kendrick Lamar, Eagles,
Eagles of Death, Metal Dogs, Flow and Eddie Kumasi Washington, Anderson, Poppins, Stables,

(07:18):
Snoop Dogg, Randy Knew, Jackson, Brown Schoolboy, que Or Joyce
Made dr Dre No Effects, no Doubt, Three Dog Night,
System of a Down, Phantom Planet Isis Oxygen, Bad Religion,
Edward Sharper, The Magnetic Zero, Dumb Dumb Girls, Time in
Weird al Yakovic. All Right, that's enough. The cacophony of

(07:39):
bands could go on and on, welcoming the transplants and
the natives alike. Anyone can be from l A if
they live here long enough. It's a flexible city, borders
always expanding, suburbs are always welcome to fall in or
splinter off as they see fit, And the Linnean names
doesn't even include those who came here to seek out
a respite from the endless tread of East Coast lifestyle,
the ones who want to ake and solitude, or need

(08:01):
to heal by the water and bake in the sun
until their whole again. The city of Angels, it takes
them all under their wing, whether they're seeking that dream
like strip in Hollywood, under the eaves of East Side Hips,
to runoff in Silver Lake and Echo Park, in the
gorgeous strut of Santa Monica Boulevard, or the glittering ocean
view city that Drag takes its name from. The city

(08:22):
is a country in itself, stretching out to the cliffs
of Malibu, where bards like Dylan and Neil go to
retire and meditate in mall on the songs that make
them even more legendary than before They've beached on l A. Sands.
There's not enough space in Wyoming to hold these poets.
They need to be within spitting distance of the city,
just in case zoom or blood on the tracks takes off.
You know, and it all plays a role in your

(08:43):
American life, even if you've never been to California. It
winds on down and across Mall Holland to the valley
where the vampires moved. West, ever west, down Ventura Boulevard.
L a is in so many recordings, the city itself
is practically a song. It's stories we've been told and repeat,
both in the art and in the legends of making
the art. Debaucher's folk tales smog accounts of studio sessions

(09:07):
that take on new life every time you drop the
needle on rumors, l a woman, the color in the shape,
Norman fucking Rockwell, or pet sounds, glitz, drama, dreams achieved
and dreams sun bleached and left to wither. The creation
of some of the greatest sonic works of art from
humankind from a sunny, lazy corner of a country not
yet three years old. At what point do we call

(09:30):
these things of Renaissance? Where did Shakespeare read pages with
friends over a pint to check his flow. Where did
Van go by? Pain? I want to go to there?
So much of American art is continuously scrolled through our
consciousness on the musical airwaves, a century of movies in
the ever expanding universe of don't miss TV everywhere, all
the time. But those are just parts of the stories

(09:52):
we tell ourselves, legends of our own existence. The truth
lies in the rooms together, in being there. The Sound
of Our Town as a podcast about the music that
shape the city you are touching down in. It is
also about finding, hearing and understanding it's best music happening

(10:13):
right now, What sounds and places of shape the city's culture,
and what new sounds continue to define it. It's about
getting together in a room to listen and why that matters.
And as we explore and listen, we may find a
more perfect union and people through our live music cultures. So,
whether you're quickly dropping in, landing for a long stay, moving,
or just dreaming, in each episode of Sound of Our Town,

(10:35):
I'll introduce you to the real spaces and sonic stories
echoing in a particular town, so that your time is
enriched with music. My name is Will Daily. I'm an
independent songwriter, performer, and all the things that come along
with that. I've lived my life on stages, iconic venues,
impromptu jams, and electrocution via bad wiring, just figuring it
all out as I go. I'm always on a quest

(10:56):
to find my way to that perfect room and that
perfect audience. And with this podcast we find ourselves at
a very special episode seven, and this is part one
of our time in Los Angeles, California. It may seem
like the machine of entertainment runs everything when we look
through the lens of Los Angeles, But like every hot

(11:19):
rod on the Sunset Strip, the machine goes where the
driver takes it until it runs out of gas or battery,
un till the end of the road, the end of
the fad, wearing the needle down on sounds and styles,
and then the machine goes searching for a new driver.
Any true to the soil music town needs a well
to return to when the reserves are depleted. If it's
a place worth visiting as a passionate live music fan,

(11:41):
then there must be pockets of gold in them hills.
And we'll get to the riches right after this. If
you want to stream all the podcasts, and music you
love without having to give up any of the sound quality.

(12:04):
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(12:24):
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original son No shows with playlists curated by artists like
Lord and Tom York. So get Rome and get ready

(12:46):
for your next adventure. Listen more and shop three new
exclusive colors at son nos dot com. Cantor's Deli on
Fairfax has fed the Drivers, Diggers, Dreamers and Stars twenty
four hours a day since nineteen thirty one for classic

(13:06):
l a deli cuisine, Unwind and Connecting, mixing it up
with celluloid heroes, politicians and the scene. The Doors and
Zappa went for that connection over coffee and a meal
in the hours when TVs used to turn to statics,
and you may have mixed it up in Canters before
in episodes of Curb Your Enthusiasm, Madmen Are Entourage, Valley
Girls ham shot their album cover. There worked the counter

(13:30):
put it back on the map. For generation of nostalgic
millennials who craved the sanctity of diners for the after
show Haven, these classic spots used to provide. To be clear,
there's no music at Canters. For live music, the restaurant
Delhi is attached by umbilical steps to the Kibbetts Room,
an unassuming bar. Well maybe you'd say dive. It's certainly relaxed.
Old school, opened and unchanged since nineteen sixty one, and

(13:53):
at the dawn of the nineteen nineties, when the younger
siblings of the pay to play Sunset Strip glam hair Metal,
corporate convey your Belt Stink wanted to escape all of
that and needed a place to hang to call their own,
they started playing in coffee houses on Fairfax around where
Canters and Kibbits sit. See, you didn't need to sell
tickets or bring in drinkers. America runs on caffeine. There

(14:15):
were people for their indie shows in the Java joints,
jacked up on joe. They could eat at Canters any
time a day or night, and then they could also
get a drink after at Kibbitts. And oh look there's
a piano in the corner where one foggy and now
legendary night Rammi Joffy, Jacob Dylan and Morty Coyle just
start making some music. They sang melodic tunes from the

(14:37):
never ending catalog and their hearts and their beer soaked brains,
and then they stumbled out into the night, waking up
the next morning with the bright idea of bringing an
amp in next time and inviting some friends. A month later,
at p A on its last legs is set up,
Morty Coyle can actually use a mic instead of trying
to sing over the growing ensemble. Soon there's music every
Tuesday night. No stage, just what looks like a band

(14:59):
lined up against the wall, single file, easy to swap around,
jump in and out on songs and hand off instruments
to one another. A free form ragtag music movement under
the noses of companies trying to sell a twenty five
c D Southern California versions of Americana sounds start to
take shape. Organic music is the main ingredient. Echoes from
Laurel Canyon and the great song Smith's of the past.

(15:22):
Tuesday Nights turns into a thing, and on that year
everything fell on a Tuesday on Christmas, the Jews needed
a place to rock out, and the ensemble had been
hyping a free night of music on New Year's Eve,
which was right around the corner. You could feel something
happening when the year turned to the legend of Kibbitts.

(15:43):
Tuesday's exploded and there was no turning back. Friends of
Cantor's Kibbitts Room Fokker's was officially form. A moment arrived
an assortment of players those that can't be denied and
it is a scene crowds in the street kind of scenes,
flowing the traffic. Jacob Dylan and Rommi Joffey went off

(16:03):
to kick off the wall flowers. From those coordinates, everyone
starts coming to Canters and Kibbits, eats drinks in live music,
Slash Chili Peppers, Fiona Apple, Cindi Lauper b York are
all stopping in and sitting in record execs now know
of the spot and bring in a young band to
test their metal and rage against the machine plays a couple.

(16:24):
When it is that organic, the artists that are already
in the machine desire a return to Earth where they
can check their tank and make sure their truth gage
is full. Remember Metallica at the Metro in Chicago. So
then the Black Crows stop by while on tour, Lenny
Kravitz and Chrissy him. The list goes on and on.
If there were a list at Tivts, Grunge and hip

(16:46):
hop had taken over America, the labels were looking elsewhere. Seattle, Tempe, Boston,
the Sunset strip went dry, hair spray had ruined the
ozone and lost the rock and roll wars. The Fockers
reinstilled something vital and to believe l A is a
music town and not just a music machine. You can

(17:06):
go to Kibbits on a Tuesday night. Cantor's Delhi is
the perfect first stop. And once again that's true with
every town. A scene worth saving will need it every
decade or so. And now you'll find Morty Coyle is
doing just that post pandemic, revitalizing Fokkers and Tuesday Nights.
Recall he has answered many times since. And like the

(17:27):
kids who first fled the gluttony of the strip, a
stop here now is a lot like December right before
you can't find parking. It is history, the present and
all that. It's possible tomorrow when the right people are there,
the music, and that includes you. The problem with l A,

(17:52):
aside from a lifetime spent in a car, can be
the choosing. There's a reason this is a double episode.
There are many places for that is point away into
feeling like you arrived without having to buy a T
shirt or wait in line. Canters and Kibbits is big
within its legends. However, sometimes the first stop in a
town like l A needs to be a counter to
the city's size and overwhelming nature. Los Angeles doesn't tower

(18:14):
over you like a New York or Chicago. It spreads
you out and out and out. Some towns are easy
because they are small. Some cities are huge, and we
need to go small to attenuate ourselves to them. And
maybe I shouldn't share this next spot because it is
small and special and beloved. I shouldn't tell you to
seek an open iron gate on West Temple Street two

(18:37):
to be exact, not so much a hole in the
wall bar, but a hole in the wall to a
better world. Poets and artists in the corner, scribbling in
notebooks with a glass of peno. New lovers at a
two top, eyes tethered hovering over candle light. A table
of friends who love each other's company as much as
they love what can happen when you just sit and
listen to your surroundings. Thoughtful regulars who want to imbibe

(18:59):
in more than just a perfect pint, Because at sixteen
forty two bar, it is the live music that is
the finishing touch to the wonderful spirit of the place.
A secret spot for jazz heads, fret board ensembles for
the studio hounds, for the people who know how many
songs the masses love bear the fingerprints of Tibo and
Burnett rich Hinman on pedal steel, Jay Beliro's delicate Thunder

(19:20):
on the Tubs, Ragtime Tuesdays with the likes of John Reid,
Torres and Eve Elliott, all creating the perfect soundtrack to
the perfume of hot pink. Bouganvillia outside a neighborhood bar
in l A is different from any other in the
US because most are ubering home for many miles. Sixty
two Bar is a portal to a small town field
with riches galore. This is my usual first stop, just

(19:43):
to get a glass of wine or a cold beer,
shake off the dust of the road, and settle into
a melody. Whatever it might be coming from someone else
I know who spent hours on their craft. They might
never get recognized on the street, never see a dime
of publishing, and likely sixteen forty two is one of
the few stages and artists here plays where they are
the star. That's exactly why it's worth seeing Ja beliros

(20:04):
out from behind Plant and Krause. This is their sweet spot.
And when you see an artist playing in their sweet spot,
well everything else starts to buzz too. For instance, two
has picked up a local cache with the foodie scene
for their excellent bar selection. Excellence breeds excellence, and game
recognizes game in this city. Knowing which dive will have
the glass of wine that impresses a psalm is half

(20:26):
the fun. Don't get me wrong, It's not like this
place we'll ever get any attention from the James Beard crowd,
but there is a reason. It's frequently closed for filming.
Two is the kind of bar everyone is looking for
when they come to l A. So go and vibe,
just don't harsh the vibe. Ever, these classic spots are
getting few and far between, even in a city as

(20:48):
big as l A, so we need to preserve them
by respecting the space. But for our coveted no covers,
But I want to go to the kind of bar
that has velvet couches. Stay with me, not everything in
the city as it seems. Tramp Stamp Grannies is only
four years old, spending a few of its toddler years

(21:10):
in a pandemic, but it feels like it's been here
for decades that possibly l A built itself around it.
It was opened by Mia Chris, a New York transplant,
and her husband Darren Chris, and brings a Jerry McGuire
level of completion to Hollywood. It's glitter personified, but not
the kind you find in bed after a long night.
It's the kind of sticks to your face even though
you're hungover and still looks good. I'm not watching this

(21:30):
off for breakfast at tramp Stamp. The decor is part
of the score, an arrangement of the music within. It's
got a vintage funkiness that rides the line between nightclub
and every beloved community theater across small town America. It's
titilating and the fun kind of sexiness, which is the
best kind of sexiness. Tug and Blow in Great Rack

(21:51):
are the titles of award winning drinks and sex Positivity
never went down so smooth. This is the new era
of Hollywood, and thank god. As soon as you realize
there's nothing derogatory about the name of this spot. The
tramp and the stamp in question are revered. You'll be
in on the joke or the joy rather. The live
music at tramp Stamp is a piano in a microphone

(22:11):
and whomever is sitting at them in a small booth
across from the bar. That's it. But also maybe the
bartender and the server and the doorman gets on the mic.
Theater is alive and we are all on stage at
tramp Stamp. If you know the words to Guys and Dolls,
Rent rocket Man, I feel pretty under the sea, don't
stop a leaving the Abbot catalog, wonder Wall. Do you
want to build a snowman? I mean, really, a Google's

(22:33):
worth of songs, or in every brain and every set
of fingers behind the piano that night. Sometimes, Darren Chris,
we're not working on award winning theater, and TV is
back there. Maybe the reason it feels like it has
always been here is because singing around the piano half
in the bag is our closest link to the parlor
room or the old bar, where all we had to
entertain ourselves was a song and a story. We need

(22:56):
this kind of ship now more than we know. So
even if we end up disagreeing that the modern kitchen
glamor of tramps damp grannies is serving our impulses, give
it a night and see if a few great racks
don't break down your walls. It has to be tongue
in cheek to counterbalance its confidence and representation of all
our stories. Get in there, get over yourself, and believe

(23:17):
in the sound of your own voice. If you can't,
order a boob soup, and soon you'll believe in the
sound of music. Tramp Stamp is in a surprisingly walkable
part of l A, just down the street from Capitol Records,
around the corner from the Palladium. The fond of the

(23:38):
Pantages up from Amiba Records, moved from one grand location
to another a block away. You can stumble any way
you want and get somewhere that sounds good. Doubtful that
is what Tom Waits meant when he's sang better Off
in Iowa against your scrambled eggs and calling down Coena
on a pair of broken legs. Though I'm sure many
lustful dreamers have felt that way in their US for

(24:00):
a solid gig in Los Angeles. But I found an
oasis to get my live footing in l A directly
across the street from where Tramp Stamp Granny's now sits.
In the central arteries of the Glitz and Glamor rests,
the Hotel Cafe, the first career hurl for aspiring pop stars,
folk singers, songwriters and rockers. You'll never get to the
Hollywood Bowl without holding the attention of less than two

(24:22):
hundred people in this legendary indie club where Katie Perry, Miko,
Jason Mraz, the Luminears, and endless others got their starts.
It can be a jumping off point for an incredible
musical journey throughout Los Angeles. Here in indie rock band
with the pedal to the floor receives the same reverence
as a solo singer songwriter with a Gibson J forty
five in front of a single microphone. A gateway not

(24:44):
only for the artist in pursuit of writer lights, but
the listener in pursuit of songs and artists to fall
in love with the perfect setting for what everyone outside
imagines l a to b a machine for making stars
and or for breaking hearts. Walk away from that line
form on Coanga. That's the line for dow trust me,
you don't want to go in there. Hotel Cafe is

(25:04):
the antithesis of some of its neighbors, which can make
the whole thing that much more fun. Go through the
alley to find the door. Eventually, it might be hard
to locate a door that's integral to careers like Damien
Rice and Ingrid Michaelson and Sarabarellas. The elusiveness of the
entrance can clue you in on how difficult it is
to get to those heights. Hotel became a farm system
for the music supervisors of Grays and Atomy to populate

(25:27):
their TV show with songs that would be instant download
trends as soon as the credits rolled. If you were
riding with a friend who can't shut up, then leave
them across the street of tramp Stamp Granny's to sing
along to Broadway classics. Don't let them embarrass you at
Hotel Cafe. This was the gig that got me to
l A. Right when I released my Little d I
Y record, a friend had a couch and recommended I
hop on a plane and fly out and try getting

(25:48):
a gig in this room tailored for the song, for
listening and for breaking in. It still endears me to
Hotel Cafe that, upon emailing them about my first album,
No Car, never been to l A. I got a
gig on Wednesday night. That was a dozen Hotel Cafe
shows ago. They've all blurred together now, the dead silence
after applause between songs. You don't get that in New York.

(26:10):
It can be disorientating at first. I can see the
soft faces of the five friends I have in town.
One of them shout whispers to me that the VP
of Epic Records is here. Right before I walk on stage,
Kay Hanley is there in the audience, hometown music hero
from Boston. I better not suck or I'll never hear
the end of it. I see an outline that looks
like Ben Harper along the back wall. No way, that's him.

(26:33):
Third song to my set. I finally opened up my
eyes and I see actress Freedom Fighter author Busy Phillips
at a two top table and she might be crying
or laughing. I can't tell, but both are good, I suppose.
And there's Jacob Dylan solo at the bar. He seems
to be listening. Yes, there's a songwriting legend here, but
more importantly, it's a kid. It's a lum, a true falkker.

(26:55):
I'm one step closer to the real l A. As
I walk off stage into the tables and crowd, there
is no other way around. A full tated, gold chain
giant of a man approaches and tells me he wants
me on his TV show Everybody and Their Dog as
a TV show in l A. I politely say that
would be great, and I immediately forget what he says,
and as he's walking away, a small hustler takes his

(27:15):
shadow and says, why are you just talking to the
producer of c S. I do you need a manager?
I don't know who that was, and yes, I do.
Hotel Cafe is a listening room, but in a town
with so much chatter, it is up to the artist
to keep out the noise. And if this podcast existed
in two thousand and eight, maybe I would have suggested
a stop at the Hotel Cafe and maybe you would

(27:37):
have gone there on March twenty, when it was selected
as one of two stages to help launch the career
of one of this century's biggest artists before they were
a household name around the world. The first gig was
in New York City. The next night, the future Grammy
Darling was playing the intimate Showroom on Coega. The night
would have cost you thirty bucks with drinks, and you
would have heard Chasing Pavements right his rein Feel My

(27:59):
Love for the second time in the States. The show
even slips by some online Adele Tour blogs. It could
have been the only time in the US you could
have seen her in such an intimate setting. The move
to put her there when the pop world had a
plan says a lot about the authenticity impossibilities at Hotel Cafe.
And if you were there and at Kibbitz New Year's Z,

(28:21):
well that's one hell of a live music bingo card
I spent a year or two in l A touring
the West Coast, got to flirt with all those old
school music busins stereotypes right when it seemed a whole
wake up call was coming for the most gluttonous. It
was thrilling and frustrating and formative free falling, but not

(28:41):
in a tailspin, at least not yet. I went home
to Boston and made a second album with my friends.
That's what felt right. The music business will always get
itself in knots. The most vital artists are here to
instill in us that we are always moving forward, That
there is no singular mountain poor destination. There is bound ones,
and there is harmony. That is the quest and the

(29:04):
best experiences I've had and continue to have in the
sound capital of the world, as Capital Records put on
their early pressings, were in the rooms where music just existed,
where the best players went to have fun, where the
stars then went to remember what it felt like with
that kind of intimacy, where you didn't have to choose
between living and dying in l A. You just had

(29:24):
to play, Which also brings us to the crux of
a different question, who gets to play, who gets to
go to the show, Who is tapped to get up
on stages because they're safe to raise their voices and
sing because their communities help nurture their talent, and there
is space enough for leisure telling. The Hollywood side of
l A is only ever half the story, and we
must dig into l A's West side and the incredibly

(29:45):
influential hip hop culture of this city if we're ever
going to understand the whole story and do with justice.
That is all to say we are not done with
l A. And one more thing. There is more, you
know that right? There is a part two to this.
We have to find out where faces get melted, and

(30:07):
which spot is going to be called the Vatican the
hit and gem? And how do you choose a hitting
gem in the town this big? And what happened to Adele?
Did you ever make it? In between Adele and Christina Aguilera,
which one do you think stopped by Kibbits on a Tuesday?
For all that and more, I will see you in
part two of our time in Los Angeles, California. Okay,

(30:36):
that was part one of l A. I'm gonna fly
here so you can get to part two. You've been
listening to Sound of Our Town. In case you didn't know,
We've got twelve episodes for you this season. This one
makes seven point five. If you want to chat about
the music scene in your city, hit me up on
Instagram at Will Daily Official or Twitter at Will Daily.
Sound of Our Town is a production of Double Elvis
and I Heart Radio. Hit us up on I G

(30:58):
at Double Elvis or Twitter at Double Elvis f M.
If you want us to cover your town, your venue,
your basement, concert series, or whatever, just hit us up.
The show is executively produced by Jake Brennan, Brady Sadler,
and Carli Karioli for Double Elvis. Production assistance by Matt Boden.
The show is created, written, hosted, and scored by me
Will Daily. Additional writing on this episode by Taylin White.

(31:19):
For sources, see the show notes. Music for this episode
was composed and performed by me. You can check out
my music on Spotify, Apple, band Camp, and always at
Will Daily dot com. If you like the sounds you
hear in the show, check out my latest release, It's
called Easy to Be Around. If you want to see
me play live, you just go to Will Daily dot com,
w I L L D A I l e Y

(31:41):
dot com and all my shows are there. Okay, I'm
off to start Part two. I believe you might be
as well. We got business.