1/2/2024 0 Comments Hawaiian slack key guitar![]() The soundtrack was nominated for a Grammy, along with two other albums I contributed to: Hawaiian Slack Key Kings Volumes I & II. Dondi had gone through virtually every existing recording of slack key without coming across anything that would work, until he heard Deep in an Ancient Hawaiian Forest. The film’s director Alexander Payne had mandated that the entire soundtrack be Hawaiian slack key only problem was that the final scene was very sad. I kind of forgot about the song until one day I got a call from Dondi Bastone, the music supervisor for a film called The Descendants. After our chat I started to wonder the same thing, and I ended up writing a deeply evocative instrumental called Deep in an Ancient Hawaiian Forest. He couldn’t understand why Hawaiian music always sounds happy. Zac Heileson, who has for years produced videos for my art, and I were talking about Hawaiian music one day. I got a call to go on the road for 6 weeks. Who would sing such crazy things in such a sweet, unassuming fashion? he wondered. The lyrics “from behind, or on the stairs, or on the table” wafted through the air and caught Jason’s attention. She happened to be playing one of my albums in the background. He was doing yoga in a private session with our mutual friend Denise Kaufmann. My first nationwide tour was opening for Jason Mraz on his Curbside Prophets tour. For it is said: giving never leaves one with less, and the principle of Makana- a gift given freely- has brought me a richer life than I could have ever dreamed. Rather than list accolades and awards- which should be reserved for scientists, soldiers and civil servants- allow me to share a few highlights from my unorthodox journey of using my art to inspire the change I want to witness in our world. This principle has guided my art, career and life from day one. The mobility to respond from empathy, passion and pure inspiration, unbounded by worldly markers of success. ![]() I value the freedom to listen to my na’au. I asked him, “will I be able to play the Hawaiian music passed down to me by my teachers?” He laughed and said, “sure, if you have any free time, but not professionally! There’s no money in world music son! We gonna make you a pop star!” I thanked him for believing in me, and politely declined. Doc McGhee, manager of Kiss, Bon Jovi and Mötley Crüe, offered me a management contract. By 15 I was playing 4 nights a week around O’ahu. ![]() At age 14, record deals started coming (I turned them down). I jammed with friends: Ty Cummings (grandson of legendary Andy Cummings, composer of Waikīkī) BB “Blind Boy” Shawn, Jake Shimabukuro (‘ukulele superstar), Steve and Bobby Hall, the Pahinui Brothers, Ledward Ka’apana, Dwight Kanae, Fiddler Joe (Gabby’s favorite haole), Gordon Freitas, Willie K. When you’re part of a legacy, it’s not about you it’s about doing your part to grow that legacy without losing anything along the way. I wanted to create my own style, but I knew I had to build a foundation from what had been created before me. I learned every audible detail: chimes, bass runs, tunings, tricks, old classics, various family styles, new hybrid styles, even mistakes made on live recordings. I turned to old- and new- slack key recordings. We were awarded a grant from the State Foundation on Culture and the Arts. He offered to teach me, and Bobby graciously passed me onto him. When I met him, he looked down at me and said, “young man, I’ve been looking for you.” I was speechless. We were featured together on SuperKids, a local TV show about young talent in Hawai’i.īy chance, slack key legend Sonny Chillingworth was watching. I would spend weekends with him, playing at his Roy’s Restaurant gig in Hawaii Kai, eating at Zippy’s after, and sleeping at the foot of his bed on weekends. After they finished, my mom found her way backstage, grabbed Bobby by the ear and said, “you gonna teach my boy.” He was scared so he agreed. Nānākuli slack key master Raymond Kāne and his young protégé Bobby Moderow Jr were performing. “Wow,” I thought, “that’s beautiful.” Shortly thereafter my parents and I attended the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival at McCoy Pavilion in Ala Moana park. ![]() 2 years later, while watching a local TV show called Portraits of Paradise, I heard kī hō’alu (Hawaiian slack key guitar) for the first time. ![]() I forgot my pick, so I folded up a piece of paper into a tight square and used that instead. Never on a Sunday was my first solo, ever. At 9 I joined Roy Sakuma’s ‘ukulele school. My two most vivid memories of HBC are getting to meet Dolly Parton in her trailer in Waimea Valley, and being suspended for not smiling enough during a two hour concert in Laie. ![]()
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