The Acoustic Café Songwriter’s Recital showcased the talents of several music students at American River College. Organized by Professor Eric Chun, founder of the commercial music program, he intended for this event to give students an opportunity to perform original pieces for the public.

A small but lively crowd attended the recital, hosted at room 547 in the Fine Arts building. The acts consisted of a wide variety of different musical styles, with each act being an original piece from several soloists and groups. One particular soloist that stood out was ARC student Tyler Kirk.

“The Acoustic Café is a great way for local talent to come together and showcase what they can do,” said Kirk.

The students participating see this event as an avenue to show the results of their work for others and what it means to them as a whole.

“This event is very open and user-friendly,” said Kirk. “We don’t judge or put each other down. It takes a lot of courage to get up there and it shows the passion we have at ARC.”

Though each act was unique, they all shared one thing: passion. And that passion resonated in abundance during each of the performances.

“Through the Acoustic Cafés, I was able to get experience, network with a lot of different people and helped get the education to go forward from here,” said Kirk.

Chun finds this event to be a boon for his students. “This event has been highly successful in bringing commercial and traditional music majors together to perform and hear original music written by fellow student performers and guests,” said Chun.

With three more recitals planned for the upcoming spring semester, anyone that has the time to be there, or is perhaps an aspiring musician, should the Acoustic Café a look.