10/14/26

What a great night! Some of us arrived early at Yoshi's restaurant in Oakland at Jack London Square to have dinner at the restaurant, as we watched the room fill with concert-goers for the sold out first show. 

I requested a nice set of tables near the rear of the venue for us so the students could people watch, as well as concert watch. Eric's band was fantastic! He is known for his collaborations with other artists but has been grinding for years on his own to make a name for himself, and it is clearly happening. He has such a warm personality and did a variety of songs from previous records, some from his new album and a few classics everybody knew.

The most amazing part of the night was when he and the band improvised an entire new song around one of his super-fans and her husband who were celebrating their anniversary. Lyrics and all! SO we got to see real pros simultaneously improvising, composing and performing "Balcony Love" right on the spot! Incredible, and I couldn't have planned it any better for our songwriting class. You can find a QR code in the photos below to download his new album for free.

I'm compiling the music we did in the first three days and will post the creations in the resources tab. Go over and have a listen to what they did.

We've had a really fun and productive E-week, and I believe these students have come away with a new set of tools that they can use in perpetuity!! We had a blast.

— Mr. Ellis