Skid Row Karaoke Night Offers Help, Hope

From church services to Jewish weddings and holiday caroling, the custom of getting together to sing is as old as we are -- and for good reason. It lifts our spirits. That includes karaoke, as we find out in one of Los Angeles' roughest neighborhoods.

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Slavic Immigrants Sing the Season

Robust singing and beautiful carols are a hallmark of Eastern Slavic immigrants and refugees from the former Soviet Union. Here in California, they've mostly settled in and around Sacramento. But they're also in smaller cities like Fresno, too.

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California Songs: 'White Christmas'

The most popular and most-recorded Christmas song of all time is really about California -- but many people have never even heard the part of it that refers to the Golden State.

• More: California Songs: Music Inspired by the Golden State

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A Visit From the Real Vocal String Quartet

The Berkeley-based Real Vocal String Quartet is made up of four women whose music is hard to pigeonhole. You can hear the influence of jazz, classical, country, bluegrass, rock and more in their music. The group wanders all over the musical map and all over the globe. They've just returned from a European tour, part of the State Department's American Music Abroad program, with concerts in Azerbaijan, Latvia, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzgovina and Lithuania.

• More: About the Real Vocal String Quartet : at RVSQ.com