When I was offered the opportunity in 1983 to come to Los Angeles and sleep on the couch of legendary songwriter Ron Davies, a friend who had mentored me as a teenager, I jumped at the chance. Soon thereafter I was pounding the pavements of that city taking demo tapes around to record companies by day and writing songs with Ron late into the early morning hours.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Davies_(songwriter)
jeffreysherman.bandcamp.com/album/fireline-who-cares-single

On August 23rd, 1983 when I moved my life to Southern California, I had one trunk, my guitar and a borrowed car－which broke down on the way down. The plan was I was going to get a job for a short time while I peddled my songs around to record companies and finally get signed. I figured six months and I'd have those royalties coming in and I could then quit the job and spend my time building a performing band and writing new material. Then I woke up. Woke up to the fact that everyone around me it seemed had moved here with the same idea. Or to be an actor, an actress or a comedian. Sooo. . .for most of 1984 here I was, on the phones telemarketing for timeshares (yes, I was one of those irritating people that interrupt your dinner) and living at the Glendale YMCA. It wasn't as weird as it sounds－well it *was* weird, a little like being a monk in a monastery－but included in my $52 a week rent was full use of the Y's gym, rooftop track and weight training facilities. I used them daily and probably was in the best physical condition of my life. I worked my way up to being one of four managers of the business and eventually we took it over. It was an interesting time. One of those times in your life when you "find what you're made of." All the time I never gave up on my music and eventually did get that band together (Alan Rench & the Vicegrips) and played all the usual clubs in The Valley and on The Strip.
jeffreysherman.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-fm-station

Southern California afforded me not only closer proximity to the music industry, but also a view of poverty and homelessness I had not previously experienced. I lived near LA’s famous Skid Row and even for a time in the Glendale YMCA as I struggled to find performance opportunities. It was at this point I met and befriended novelist-to-be John O'Brien and formed a close bond. O'Brien encouraged me in the pursuit of my songwriting goals and I returned the favor by encouraging O'Brien in his nascent writing endeavors. I soon formed the band Alan Rench & The ViceGrips, and began playing venues up and down The Valley including The FM Station, The Palomino, The Roxy, The Whisky, The Troubadour and others. These clubs participated with event promoters in a pay-to-play arrangement known as “showcasing.” Bands are offered the chance to play these prestigious venues, but their contract fine print stipulates that the bands are liable for costs if the ticket sales fall below a certain minimum. Over the next couple of years I managed to play regularly in these prestigious clubs, but found myself losing money as often as I made it. Eventually my brother Greg, who had moved to Southern California in part to play with me, begged me to forgo the pay-to-play schemes offered by these promoters. Always a major trusted influence, I heeded my brother's advice.

While I was trying to break into "The Biz" down here in L.A., writing and performing with my band Alan Rench & The Vice Grips, I was also producing a seemingly-endless stream of home demos to take around to the various record companies headquartered here.
jeffreysherman.bandcamp.com/album/clean-and-pure-double-length-album