Norco College student Santiago Tanori performed “Common Thread,” an original song written for the City of Eastvale, at the 2026 State of the City event on Oct. 1.
The City of Eastvale invited Norco College to create an original song for its State of the City event. As part of that invitation, the City shared a list of qualities that reflect its vision of Eastvale: innovative, family-oriented, community-driven, diverse yet united, filled with a strong sense of community pride, safe and clean, prosperous, and a city full of opportunity where everyone can thrive.
Those ideas became the starting point for “Common Thread.” Rather than simply turning the list into lyrics, the song uses a quilt as a central metaphor for Eastvale. Written by Tanori, Adilene Michel, and Brady Kerr, the song grew from a collaboration between the City of Eastvale and Norco College’s Music Industry Studies program.
Each piece of the quilt has its own color, texture, history, and story. The pieces do not have to be identical to belong to the same design; their differences are what create it. The quilt represents individual people, families, cultures, experiences, and ambitions. Up close, those individual pieces each tell their own story. Step back, and they reveal something larger: Eastvale.
The quilt is intentionally unfinished. Eastvale is a young and evolving city, with room for new ideas, new families, new opportunities, and new generations to add something of their own.
A common thread does not mean that everyone shares the same background, experiences, or story. It is the connection running through those differences: a shared investment in this place, a willingness to contribute something of our own, and the understanding that what is created will eventually be carried forward by others.
Listen to “Common Thread” at the Norco Music website.