Music Row

Our place is in Midtown, bordered closely by Music Row. Except for the large statues at the traffic circle near the ASCAP building, we hadn’t been down the road until yesterday when we took the city tour bus. I’d expected a lot of high rise buildings with underground parking.

Surprisingly, it looks like a nice neighborhood of older single-family homes and cottages.

Almost all the homes are actually music studios where the country (and some rock) singers record. Per the tour guide, Peyton, the city ordinance requires the exterior of the buildings to remain the same. There’s one studio, J’s, where we can knock on the door and for $40 get a tour and maybe watch a recording. That could be a thing for me…

We topped off the day listening to the addictive live music that surrounds us. Friday and Saturday nights are so busy in Downtown, the police shut off street traffic in the honky tonk section of Broadway. We decided to stay in Midtown and were thrilled to hear two Santa Rosa natives perform at Fraye Hotel—Dallas Caroline (Voice Season 14) and Justin Peterich.

Terrific voices, and Justin really knows his way around a guitar. We talked for a bit and made a lunch date. Can’t wait to hear their stories.

It’s cool today, so we’re staying in and getting to work.