Hollywood and Cahuenga

There are those rare finds of people, usually hanging around Hollywood, Silverlake, and Downtown. The ones that don’t need to compete. They just are who they are. Stealthily Brilliant. You’d never know they had won multiple grammys, and multiple other adorned awards. That is until you were invited to their homes, and even from the outside you’d think they lived humbly. Most of them did. These are the people I liked to hang with. Living on the westside of la had its advantages, but the rawness of the eastside is what drove me.


On any given evening you’d find me on Hollywood and Cahuenga, laughing loudly, singing softly, or drinking slowly. Behind mulitple bars, and a star encrusted street, is Hotel Cafe. Run by a very handsome man named Marco, anyone from Jon Mayer, to Joss Stone, to local starlets Ernie Halter, and then Katy Hudson (Perry) would play their hearts out. There has never been a need to check the roster at Hotel Cafe. It was always good music, a great vibe, and great people.

Before the renovation, there used to be a somewhat hidden room, called the Piano Room.
Inside was a beautiful black piano, a cigarette machine and high up near a small window a fan to circulate the air. As far as I knew, other than the cigar shops, this was one of the only indoor rooms away from the privacy of your home that you could enjoy a cigarette in CA. I loved coming to this room for late night jam sessions. Sal, a big red bearded man would brilliantly play the keys. I remember one instance an older black man, sloppy from drinking, tried to take over. Sals booming voice sent him to his place. And as we all watched, as soon as Sal hit the keys again, harmonies enveloped the room, and things were as they were before.

As the night continued, I decided to go into the main venue and listen to some music. Tony lucca was playing. It was my first time hearing him play. I had met him through my friend Ernie Halter, and knew his name sounded familiar, but didn’t really know why. Turns out...he used to be apart of the Mickey Mouse Club cast with Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, and Christina Aguilera. Tony is a gem. I loved that about these people. So humble. So talented.

Tony was playing his second to last song, and a buzz started to meander around the room. I had no idea why, so i ignored it. “ For this next song I’m going to ask Joss Stone to the stage” All heads turned and here comes Joss. This town was smaller than I thought!! The whole room was jumping up and down, stomping their feet, just enraptured by the music and this rare surprise. We asked Tony later about it, turns out he didn’t even really know her. He just saw her and thought...why not. I’ll see if she wants to come up. Music is so cool like that!


“ That was fun tonight. Are you heading back to the west side” Ernie Halter had encouraged me to make the big move to La from Santa Barbara after opening for me and this other amazing musician Tyrone Wells. Ernie is one of those people you meet andi nstantly just adore. Not only was he easy to befriend, he was a true friend. Someone you can count on, unlike the cliche, “oh nice to meet you, here’s my card, lets be friends cuz you seem like you’ll be famous”

“yeah, I think I am. I have to drive to Santa Barbara tomorrow, and start looking for another job. I’ll probably leave after this next set”

“Well, a group of us are hangin at my place on the roof, if you wanna jam a little bit?”

How could i refuse. Not only was Ernie the most generous, kind hearted friend I had made, he had some of the most amazing musician friends. His apartment was just around the corner. The rooftop was the most amazing view of los angeles other than the Griffith Memorial. The Hollywood sign was so close you could touch it, and on a clear night you could see the ocean. It was so inspiring.

After a few drinks, and a few rounds of passing the guitar, we all went back down to the street to enjoy some Greco’s pizza. Always a great late night snack.

“ One cheese and pepperoni! one whole pizza! mushroom and spinach!!”

“So Lisa. What do you want to do while you’re here in la” Ernie always tested me

“i don’t know. Play shows, meet people, Do what you guys do! I would love to play Hotel Cafe”

“Ok...well, lets make that happen”

and with my folded new york style pizza, I smiled. Even if my day to day was boring, I always had the night”