Hollywood was certainly an inspirational trip for what’s ahead for E 320 Artists Joshua Bledsoe & HaleAmanO. The trip to LA was fun and our destination was the W Hollywood Hotel. We all were able to enjoy a little drive time serenade, thanks to HaleAmanO’s own Israel Waahila and every now and again Israel’s partner in rhythm Ryan Fleming, would chime in with some harmonies on various songs which was certainly a treat. Halfway through our drive we decided to stop for some lunch and relax a bit.
After lunch we had to get some snacks for the road and of course we needed to have tons of cookies, thanks to Ryan & Iz. As we continued on our way, the creative juices started flowing and the thought of a collaboration between Joshua and HaleAmanO was thrown out there and it was a no brainer but the question was, what song? After another hundred miles and a lot of trial and error, time was running out and we were about to arrive at the hotel. With little time left in our drive, the guys finally decided to cover Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down. The fun part was that nobody knew the words and the guitars were in the back of the truck so there was only the ukulele to work with. After going through the song twice, we arrived at the W Hollywood Hotel and it was about 90 minutes before showtime. We checked in to the room as fast as we could and the guys were able to run through the song two times. Joshua sang the lead and played rhythm guitar and Ryan & Iz knocked out the harmonies and filled out the sound with an additional guitar and ukulele.
We headed to the venue, which luckily was located in the hotel, with enough time to get set up and get a quick sound check. Joshua opened up the show and played through an excellent set of original material that was well received by all. On his last song of his set, he was joined by Iz & Ryan to perform Kryptonite. With no time to learn all of the words, Joshua had put the lyrics on his phone and balanced it on his knee while they performed the song. The song really demonstrated a brilliant blend of rock, R&B, soul, and reggae. People were singing along and many of them ran up with their phones to record video of an amazing collaboration. After some fierce applause, HaleAmanO continued on with their set and they did what they always do whenever they get on stage and do what they do! The audience enjoyed something completely different than what they usually hear at this venue and the hotel staff was loving the show. Iz & Ryan put on a memorable show as a duo and we can’t wait to get back to Hollywood, hopefully with the full band next time!
This is just the beginning of many more collaborations between E 320 artists and we are excited to see and hear what’s next. Thank you all for supporting us and a special thank you to the W Hollywood Hotel for having us and we’ll see you in October!