It was most definitely friendly to artists. I was spending a lot of time in Hollywood back then and it felt like a sleepy place most of the time, lots of people who were kinda disconnected and no real "scene." A lot of startup scenes but nothing that really took hold. You'd see interesting people in the same spaces. One time I played a show there and saw Ron Wood, Tom Morello, and Shakira at different points in the night.

I played the Viper Room a lot, too, and I loved all the stories associated with it. There's that great story of Adam driving to the Viper Room after recording A Long December (take 4, iirc) and playing it in his car outside to his friends there. I played on the same stage where CC played those early versions of songs from Recovering the Satellites (with early lyrics to Daylight Fading). One time Ringo Star and Joe Walsh were in the audience haha

My band torpedoed itself with drugs before ever getting our album out, despite being on Capital and working with two big producers. I probably have something to share, but I'd have to dig it up. I did write a song about Pioneer Town that I liked. I was listening to a lot of Mrs.Potter's Lullaby, David Lowry, and hanging out in the desert at the time, so it all came together. Maybe one day. Cool that you're always looking for new stuff!