The Hotel Café is a live music venue located off an alley on the

Cahuenga Boulevard Cahuenga Boulevard () is a major boulevard of northern Los Angeles, California, US. The “Cahuenga” name is a Spanish, phonetic derivative with no actual Spanish language meaning that is attributed to the Tongva village of Kawengna, meaning "p ...

strip in

Hollywood, California Hollywood is a neighborhood in the central region of Los Angeles, California. Its name has come to be a shorthand reference for the U.S. film industry and the people associated with it. Many notable film studios, such as Columbia Pictures, ...

, United States, that has become known for helping to establish the careers of new singer-songwriters in the 2000s. The venue began as a coffee shop, but has gained a reputation as an intimate performance space featuring acoustic-based songwriters, such as

John Mayer John Clayton Mayer ( ; born October 16, 1977) is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Born and raised in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Mayer attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, but left and moved to Atlanta in 1997 with ...

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Anna Nalick Anna Christine Nalick ( ; born March 30, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter. Her debut album, '' Wreck of the Day'', featuring her first radio hit, "Breathe (2 AM)", was released on April 19, 2005. Nalick left her label under Sony in 2009 ...

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Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Known for her influence on modern pop music and her Camp (style), campy style, she has been ...

Ingrid Michaelson Ingrid Ellen Michaelson (born December 8, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Her first album, '' Slow the Rain,'' was released in 2005, and she has since released eight more albums: '' Girls and Boys,'' '' Be OK'', '' Everybody' ...

Tony Lucca Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby leagu ...

Priscilla Ahn Priscilla Ahn (born Priscilla Natalie Hartranft; March 9, 1984) is an American singer, songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. She released her single "Dream" from her debut album, '' A Good Day'', produced by Joey Waronker for EMI's Blue Note Reco ...

Charlotte Martin Charlotte Ann Martin (born October 31, 1976) is an American singer-songwriter and voice coach, who performs predominantly on the piano. She has written several studio albums, two of which have received mainstream commercial releases, 2004's ' ...

Emi Meyer Emi Meyer (born March 1987) is a Japanese-born, American-raised jazz pianist and singer-songwriter who is based in Seattle and Tokyo and active in both the Japanese and American markets. Background Meyer was born in Kyoto, Japan, but grew up in ...

Laura Jansen Laura Jansen (born 4 March 1977) is a Dutch-American musician. Before gaining fame in the Netherlands, Jansen became a fixture in the constellation of artists associated with Los Angeles nightclub Hotel Café – a national launching pad f ...

and Meiko. The venue has become its own

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

, with its Hotel Café Tour, a

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, and two albums, ''Live at the Hotel Café, Volume 1'', and ''The Hotel Café Presents...Winter Songs'', that are downloadable via the

iTunes Store The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...

History

When The Hotel Café opened in 2000, it operated as a coffee shop where singer-songwriters came to perform their material for small audiences. Co-owner Maximillian Mamikunian has noted that in the venue's early days, turning a profit was challenging, as the cafe's steamers and blenders could only be run between songs so as not to drown them out.Knowing How to Play the Room
. 2008. ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the Un ...

". Retrieved on November 14, 2010 Today, the venue's main room still has its five original elevated bar tables running along a hallway linking the front and back of the club, as well as six dinner tables set immediately in front of the stage. In 2004, the club acquired space next door and underwent expansion for eight months. The Hotel continues to host live music seven nights a week, from touring national acts to up-and-coming locals. Past notable performances have included:

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, Chris Martin of

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Haim The name ''Haim'' can be a first name or surname originating in the Hebrew language, or deriving from the Old German name '' Haimo''. Hebrew etymology Chayyim ( he, חַיִּים ', Classical Hebrew: , Israeli Hebrew: ), also transcribed ''Ha ...

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, Hozier,

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and many others.

Significant activity

Since 2004, the club has curated an annual group musical tour. Past featured artists have included

, Meiko,

Rachael Yamagata Rachael Yamagata (born September 23, 1977) is an American singer-songwriter and pianist from Arlington, Virginia. She began her musical career with the band Bumpus before becoming a solo artist and releasing five EPs and four studio albums. Her ...

Brooke Fraser Brooke Gabrielle Ligertwood (née Fraser; born 15 December 1983) better known by her maiden name Brooke Fraser, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter best known for her hit single " Something in the Water", released in 2010. Fraser released two ...

, and many others. Most stops are in the United States, but past tours have also included performances in Norway and Switzerland. In October 2008, The Hotel Cafe concluded talks with

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

that paved the way for official ''Live from The Hotel Café'' downloads that debuted the following month. Also in October of the same year, an album of four Hotel Café regulars was featured and offered for sale at over 2,100

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

locations. The club's eponymous record label has seen success with ''The Hotel Café Presents...Winter Songs'' and ''Live at the Hotel Café, Volume 1.'' Other artists, including

Matt Hires Matt Hires (born August 5, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter from Tampa, Florida. Drawing inspiration from influences as disparate as The Band, Sufjan Stevens, Wilco and Ryan Adams, Hires became the first artist to sign with F-Stop Musi ...

, have recorded live albums at the club under other record labels.
Matt Hires Live from the Hotel Café
'. 2008. ''

Amazon.com Amazon.com, Inc. ( ) is an American multinational technology company focusing on e-commerce, cloud computing, online advertising, digital streaming, and artificial intelligence. It has been referred to as "one of the most influential economi ...

''. Retrieved on November 14, 2010 John Mayer has also played surprise shows at the cafe and has tried out new songs from his past two albums before their release. The Hotel Café's website, like the venue itself, has served as a source for new artists to be tapped by music enthusiasts and industry professionals alike. ''

Grey's Anatomy ''Grey's Anatomy'' is an American medical drama television series that premiered on March 27, 2005, on ABC as a mid-season replacement. The series focuses on the lives of surgical interns, residents, and attendings as they develop into se ...

'' music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas has used both the website and club itself as sources for discovering artists and songs she uses on the show. Meiko, an artist who hit the No. 1 folk spot on iTunes in August 2008, was discovered by Patsavas via The Hotel Café, as was the English singer-songwriter

. Another artist favored by Patsavas for use on ''Grey's Anatomy'',

Greg Laswell Greg Laswell (born April 26, 1974) is an American musician, recording engineer, and record producer from San Diego, California. He attended high school at Valley Christian High School in Cerritos, California. He has released 7 studio albums: '' ...

, has praised the club for its "rare" environment and has become one of its regulars.

References

*Bordal, Christian (March 11, 2008).
A Musical Residency at Hollywood's Hotel Café
. ''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

''. Retrieved on November 2, 2008. *Humphries, Stephen. (October 10, 2007).
L.A.'s Hotel Café is favored haunt for singer-songwriters
. ''

The Christian Science Monitor ''The Christian Science Monitor'' (''CSM''), commonly known as ''The Monitor'', is a nonprofit news organization that publishes daily articles in electronic format as well as a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 as a daily newspaper ...

''. Retrieved on November 2, 2008.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hotel Cafe Music venues in Los Angeles Music venues completed in 2000