She was here and then gone in a flash, but some people still are wondering how Callann Lane, a popular young recording artist from Tennessee, ended up performing for a large gathering of Kenilworth Junior High School students.
About a year or two ago, Michael Eklund, an English and history teacher at the school, saw one of Lane's music videos, so he decided to order one of her CDs. A couple of months passed, and the CD still hadn't arrived, so Eklund sent an e-mail to an address listed at her website.
Apparently, the CD got lost in the mail, and Lane's mother, Jackie Crabtree, responded, saying that she would send another CD. Eklund and Crabtree began writing e-mails back and forth about teaching and reaching troubled kids, and it turned out that Lane, 24, had done a lot of work serving as a mentor for kids and working with troubled youth.
Crabtree mentioned that Lane had a new CD coming out soon and would be doing a tour to promote the CD. Eklund told Crabtree that Lane is invited to visit the school if she is ever in the Bay Area.
"At the time, I figured it was a nice idea, but probably wouldn't happen, especially since Callann lives in (Nashville) Tennessee," Eklund said.
Well, a couple weeks ago, Eklund got an e-mail from Crabtree saying that they were going to be in the Los Angeles area, where Lane would be taping a Christmas television special at Knott's Berry Farm, and would love to stop by Kenilworth.
So, on Dec. 15, Lane, her guitarist (Shawn Power) and Crabtree flew to Los Angeles to do the taping, and then flew to Oakland, rented a car, and drove to Petaluma. They arrived at Kenilworth at around 11:20 a.m., and Lane sang six or seven songs to a group of some 250 kids, and then did an encore.
"The kids really enjoyed the music, and commented on her pretty voice," Eklund said. "Even though it was an acoustic set, with just her (voice) and a guitar, Callann put on a pretty rockin' show. For a couple of songs, she got the kids up and dancing.
"The kids loved it, even requesting encores."
She then stayed with the students until well after the early school release due to finals, chatting with students, giving all of them at least one of her four CDs and autographing them, as well as posing for photos with every student who wanted one.
"She handled it all with style and grace," Eklund said.
The Tennessee bunch then joined the Kenilworth staff for lunch before heading to San Francisco to do some shopping before catching a 10:30 p.m. flight back to Nashville.
It's likely the students won't ever forget the experience.
"Before the event, the kids were pretty excited that a recording artist would go through so much trouble to come and see them, but I was totally unprepared for what happened," Eklund said. "They absolutely loved her and her music.
"They were talking about her even more the day after she left."
This presented problems in teaching the class.
"I was trying to teach the class, but all the kids wanted to do was call (radio station) KZST and request (Lane's song) &‘Call Me Crazy' to help her. It is refreshing to see the kids so excited about helping someone make it in the music industry," he said.
Eklund still is buzzing from the experience, too.
"I'm humbled by how much Callann went out of her way to stop in and perform for the kids without expecting anything in return," he said. "It was inspiring to see."
(Contact Dan Johnson at dan.johnson@arguscourier.com)
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