Giving City Pride A Voice

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The city that is home to the world famous Sunset Strip – a place where notorious rockers from Jim Morrison to Axl Rose shrieked out tunes – now has its own official theme song.

But don’t think West Hollywood’s song is “Light My Fire” or “Sweet Child O’ Mine.”

Instead, it’s a cheerful acoustic pop song called “Welcome Me Home.” It was composed by Kristy Hanson, who lives in Culver City but regularly visited West Hollywood because her trainer worked out of a gym there.

Hanson, 31, won a contest held this summer by the West Hollywood Marketing & Visitors Bureau, which wanted an official theme song it could use in videos and other marketing materials and events.

Contest entries had to capture the city’s spirit and had to mention it by name, but otherwise the rules were open-ended. However, there was no thinking about borrowing an existing tune penned by the city’s famous legion of long-haired crooners.

“There’s stuff that mentions Sunset Boulevard and the Sunset Strip, but as far as I know there no major song that’s ever mentioned West Hollywood,” said Andy Keown, the bureau’s director of communications. “(But) we didn’t want it to end up being a jingle that just listed a bunch of businesses.”

Hanson’s tune is about fresh starts and being accepted. “I’m picking up, I’ll start again, where I can be just who I am,” goes one line. The song ends with: “So welcome me home, West Hollywood.”

The tune was among 25 entries narrowed down to a final five by local judges; it was chosen by the public in a Facebook vote. The songwriter won a cash prize of $1,000 from the bureau, along with a guitar, a stay at the city’s Sunset Marquis hotel and a makeover, each donated by area businesses.

Hanson is a 2004 University of Michigan graduate with a degree in music. She moved to West Hollywood area six years ago to pursue her musical career; she is a touring performer. She said she was inspired by the city’s welcoming atmosphere.

“Once I sat down to write, the song came pretty quickly,” she said. “I love that they can get use from the song and that it helps them in some way.”

– Bailey Brewer

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