The Hotel Café is a live music venue located off an alley on the Cahuenga Boulevard strip in

Hollywood, California Hollywood, sometimes informally called Tinseltown, is a List of districts and neighborhoods in Los Angeles, neighborhood and district in the Central Los Angeles, central region of Los Angeles County, California, within the city of Los Angeles. ...

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

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

, with its Hotel Café Tour, a

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

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

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'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

". 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.
Boom, Boom, Out the Door
'. 2004. ''

''. Retrieved on November 14, 2010

Significant activity

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

Sara Bareilles Sara Beth Bareilles ( ; born December 7, 1979) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and actress. She has sold over three million albums and over 15 million singles in the United States. Bareilles has earned various accolades, including ...

, Meiko, Rachael Yamagata,

Brooke Fraser Brooke Gabrielle Ligertwood (née Fraser; born 15 December 1983) is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She uses both her maiden and married names professionally. After signing with Sony BMG in 2002, she gained recognition for her debut album, ...

, and many others. Most stops are in the United States, but past tours have also included performances in Norway and Switzerland. 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 focusing on the personal and professional lives of surgical internship (medicine), interns, residency (medicine), residents, and attending physician, attendings at the fictional ...

'' 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

Adele Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (; born 5 May 1988) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...

. 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 Valley Christian High School in Cerritos, California. He has released 7 studio albums: ''Good Movie (Gre ...

, 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) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...

''. 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 both in Electronic publishing, electronic format and a weekly print edition. It was founded in 1908 ...

''. Retrieved on November 2, 2008.

External links

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