Waverley Drive music teacher releases children’s album
March 2, 2023
GUELPH, ON — Congratulations to Waverley Drive Public School’s very own Geoff Jackson, who released a children’s album titled Hello Friends earlier this year.
The album explores themes such as friendship, learning, and joy.
“The opening song and closing song are respectively titled ‘Hello Friends’ and ‘Goodbye Friends’ and they are bookends describing a great day. ‘Palm to Palm’ is a song about how we can show love for those special people in life,” said Jackson.
Jackson was inspired to create the children’s album simply because of his love for music. Jackson began performing and singing songs in the classroom as early as 2005 when he first began his career as a teacher at the Upper Grand DSB.
In 2015, Jackson started his musical pursuits as a solo act performing at local libraries, community events and festivals like Hillside and Eden Mills, before growing his act into a musical ensemble Mr. J and the Groovy Gang.
Jackson said that he began writing most of his material for this album last year, “I wrote most of the songs over the Spring/Summer of 2022 and then recruited a friend/drummer and a friend/bass guitarist to help in the process. The songs were recorded over a weekend at Escarpment Studios under the engineering of Brian Hewson.”
The album Hello Friends by Mr. J and the Groovy Gang is available on all major streaming platforms, and you and your family can see the group perform live over the March Break on the dates below.
- Mar. 13 @ 10:30 am – Guelph Main Library
- Mar. 14 @ 6:30 pm – Idea Exchange Hespeler Branch
- Mar. 15 @ 10:30 – Eastside Branch Library, Guelph
- Mar. 17 @ 10:30 – Idea Exchange, Hespeler Branch
