Last Sunday and Monday was Obama Nights! at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood. The sold-out Barack Obama Presidential Campaign fundraisers, featuring an all-star lineup of 23 singer-songwriters, included Marina V (MySpace), Caitlin Crosby (MySpace), Laura Jansen (MySpace), Charlotte Martin (MySpace), Charley Turner (MySpace), Brother Sal (MySpace), Terra Naomi (MySpace), Priscilla Ahn (MySpace), Greg Laswell (MySpace), Cary Brothers (MySpace), Jim Bianco (MySpace), and Butch Walker (MySpace) for Sunday, while Monday included Kelly Dalton (MySpace), Marié Digby (MySpace), Tim Myers (MySpace), Schuyler Fisk (MySpace), HoneyHoney (MySpace), Rocco DeLuca (MySpace), David Ryan Harris (MySpace), Chris Pierce (MySpace), Tom Freund (MySpace), Ben Lee (MySpace), and Brett Dennen (MySpace). more ›

Last weekend, the 24th Annual Abbot Kinney Festival took place in Venice. One longtime attendee noted that in past years, the quality of musical entertainment wasn't particularly memorable, so she was pleasantly surprised at the lineup this year, which included locals WAZ (MySpace), Buddy (MySpace), Laura Jansen (MySpace), Holly Conlan (MySpace) with Pedestrian (MySpace), Steve Reynolds (MySpace) with Cary Brothers (MySpace), Brian Wright (MySpace) with Sally Jaye (MySpace), Jesca Hoop (MySpace), Greg Laswell (MySpace), and Chris Pierce (MySpace) on the Brooks Stage (booked by the Hotel Cafe), Paul Chesne (MySpace) and Matt Ellis (MySpace) on the Andaluisa Stage, and War Tapes (MySpace) and HoneyHoney (MySpace) at the Palms Stage (although it should be noted that the set times listed on the website for this stage were woefully incorrect). more ›

Last Thursday, Australian singer Lenka (MySpace) performed the second night of her month-long residency at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, backed by openers Emy Reynolds (MySpace) and New Orleans-based Theresa Andersson (MySpace), and locals Caitlin Crosby (MySpace) and The Ventriloquists (MySpace) completing the evening's lineup. more ›