In January of 1994, I started booking an acoustic club in Los Angeles called Genghis Cohen. Jill Sobule, Dar Williams, Ellis Paul, Martin Sexton, Shawn Mullins, and Maia Sharp all played there. Joni Mitchell did a super-secret set one night. And the Bangles all four congregated one evening for the first time in five years to see Michael Steele play. It was an amazing year in that little room. The first show I worked was Vonda Shepard. I didn’t know much about her other than she’d had a hit duet a few years prior and I was so wrapped up in my job that I didn’t give her a fair shake.
Then, one night I sat and really listened to her… and I was fairly well blown away. Turns out she didn’t have much else going on, so I started helping her out. We did a little touring, made a stunning record, It’s Good, Eve, got a deal with a small label, and she was on her way, eventually realizing massive success on Ally McBeal. Our paths diverged for a while, but we reunited a couple of years ago. Her latest disc, From the Sun, is a pretty great bridge between her amazing original material and the soul tunes she did on Ally.