Does the tour ever result in new music collaborations among the artists?
It definitely reshapes material that’s already out there—new harmonies, piano parts, etc.—but inevitably some new songs come out of it as well. Sometimes an after-show bar gets in the way of that. (laughs) I definitely want to make more of an effort this year to come up with new songs with this batch of artists. You once said that your EPs were like triple-A baseball and that your new record got you into the majors a little bit. Continuing with the baseball analogies, do you feel like the Hotel Cafe is, in a way, its own farm league? Absolutely. Beyond my obvious bias, I sincerely believe that the Hotel Cafe is without a doubt the best source of new music coming out of Los Angeles. Even though there’s more attention on the room now than when I first started playing there, I still feel like musicians have a chance to develop their sound in that room and get feedback from other artists in an encouraging, non-competitive way. That kind of support is rare in this town. With the odds agains
