Acoustic Guitar Showcase – Superbowl Sunday | Slack Key Guitar in Kaleponi

Welcome to Kaleponi Records, my musical home on the web. My name is Fran Guidry, and I play kika ki hoʻalu or Hawaiian slack key guitar.

Kaleponi is the Hawaiian word for California, where I live. Ki hoʻalu, or slack key, has a direct link to California history. The guitar was carried to the Big Island of Hawaiʻi by vaqueros from California. You can read more about the history of slack key guitar on the Dancing Cat Records web site.

Slack key guitar is named for the retuning that characterizes the style. Most of these new tunings feature loosened, or slackened, strings which give a deep rich sound.

My personal slack key history goes back to 1999 and my first visit to Hawaiʻi. When we turned on the TV in our Waikiki hotel room I was captivated by the playing of Keola Beamer. I knew in an instant that I had to learn to play this beautiful music. Over the years I've learned from great players and teachers like Ozzie Kotani, Keola himself, Patrick Landeza, Kevin Brown, Cyril Pahinui, Kawika Kahiapo, Raymond Kane, Dennis Kamakahi, and Ledward Kaapana.

Acoustic Guitar Showcase – Superbowl Sunday

Sunday, January 22nd, 2012

Am I identifying myself as an odd duck by admitting that I have very little interest in football (or baseball or basketball) and basically ignore the Superbowl except to enjoy a day free of traffic? Perhaps I’m not the only one who thinks an evening of acoustic guitar music is preferable to watching a bunch of guys beat each other up in between multi-million dollar commercials.

If you’re one who prefers music over mayhem and marketing, you might join us on February 5 at the Mission City Coffee Roasting Company in Santa Clara, CA, where I’ll join Doug Young for his Acoustic Guitar Showcase.

Doug hosts this showcase on the first Sunday of each month and has two guests join him for an evening of acoustic guitar in a round robin format. I’ve been a big fan of Doug’s music since I met him in a guitar shop years ago. I’ve played a few of his showcase events and always had a fine time. This upcoming show will feature Mark Goldenberg playing with us. Between Mark’s abstract compositions, Doug’s explorations of Americana and pop, and my Hawaiian slack key, we should have something for every musical taste, well, except for heavy metal and rap, I guess. The show starts at 7 pm, food and coffee are available, please join us.

This entry was posted on Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 at 6:57 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.