Tonight LA-based pop singer-songwriter/producer extraordinaire Ne-Yo will be performing for a sold-out crowd at Club Nokia in Downtown. Grammy Award-winning Stone Temple Pilots front man Scott Weiland is poised to rock the Henry Fonda Music Box with the Colour Turning. Fiction Family (LAist Interview), a collaborative project between Nickel Creek guitarist Sean Watkins and Switchfoot front man Jon Foreman, will be gracing the Largo at the Coronet. Alabama-bred country singer-songwriter Charlie Louvin is slated to headline Spaceland with none other than Mike Stinson in tow. And, lastly, Charlotte's own genre-crossing singer-songwriter Benji Hughes will be performing at Home Restaurant in Silverlake. But we strongly suggest heading over the hold-and-corner Pehrspace to experience Fol Chen's record release extravaganza. Karin Tatoyan and Avi Buffalo are slated to kick off the show. more ›

The songwriting process for Fiction Family's first record didn't follow standard procedure, and that's probably one of the reasons why it's such a fun and fascinating album. When Sean Watkins of Nickel Creek and Jon Foreman of Switchfoot decided to write music together, they knew they'd have to do much of their songwriting while one (or both) of them was on tour. So they established something of an electronic pen pal system for writing the music and getting each other's feedback. Along with that, they established some ground rules: 1) no tuning of vocal tracks, 2) no amp simulators, 3) no shlepping of gear back and forth, 4) no pussyfooting around each others musical feelings and 5) no crap. Thus they began a collaboration that would have been technologically impossible 20 years ago, while making sure they maintained an organic sound. The result is Fiction Family's self-titled debut, which was released on Jan. 20. Last Friday, LAist spoke with Watkins to learn more about the new record, surfing, Guitar Hero and Fiction Family's gig at Largo at the Coronet this Saturday night. more ›