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Sheryl Crow was among the early cheerleaders for Rock the Vote, a nearly 20-year-old nonpartisan effort that encourages young people to register to vote and become more politically active.

So it was not surprising when she encouraged the 2,700 fans at her recent concert here to take a few minutes and register at a booth set up in the venue. Judging from her comments, she was hoping that most of those who took the time would sign on as Democrats. Hope is alive, she said, a reference to Democrat Barack Obama’s campaign mantra.

“Don’t give up on hope,” she said. “Hope’s not hokey.”

Musicians of all political persuasions are using their talents and celebrity to encourage others to vote this election season.

The practice is nothing new. During the build-up to the 2004 election, several major artists, including Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, Crosby Stills and Nash, Jack Johnson, NOFX and Authority Zero came through Arizona on the “Vote for Change” and “Punk Voter” tours.

David Slutes, entertainment director for Hotel Congress, saw a number of politically themed tours come through in 2004, and his club even hosted a few. Linda Ronstadt headlined the venue’s Virgin Voters Ball on Election Day.

Slutes has always seen music as an effective way to draw people in, especially younger people, to look at the issues. But the jury is still out on whether the tactic actually generates votes, he said.

“What I found last time is that many of these people just didn’t vote,” he added. Congress will have voter-registration booths set up at most of its shows right up until the registration cut-off date on Oct. 6.

“They came to the events, did a lot of ‘rah rah’ and just didn’t vote. It was interesting and great to motivate and get the message out. But to actually have them make it into the voting booths this time — the proof will be in the pudding.”

While the number of major artist tours geared toward voting has been toned down this election cycle, musicians of all genres have stepped up to endorse their chosen candidates.

Earlier this year, producer will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas showed his support for Obama by gathering John Legend, Common, Esthero, Ed Kowalczyk of Live, Herbie Hancock and a slew of other musicians, actors and sports figures for a musical recitation of Obama’s “Yes, we can” speech. The resulting video was posted online in February and has since been viewed more than 9.5 million times on YouTube.

On the other end of the political spectrum, John Rich, one-half of the country duo Big & Rich, is firmly in McCain’s camp: He wrote the campaign’s theme song, “Raisin’ McCain,” which played throughout the convention last month.