Warm Slack Key Sounds in Winter – Touring Northern California with Ledward

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.

Warm Slack Key Sounds in Winter – Touring Northern California with Ledward

Wednesday, January 9th, 2013

I feel pretty silly complaining about the weather, because I know plenty of folks have it a lot worse than we do here in Northern California but this has been our first Christmas and New Year at home in several years, and it has seemed unrelentingly chilly.

Things are looking up, though, even if the thermometer stays on the cool side. In just a few weeks we’ll be getting a visit from the inimitable Mr. Ledward Kaapana and I’m sure he’ll be bringing some warm island feelings along.

In case you’re just tuning in I should mention that Ledward has been a major force in Hawaiian music for over forty years, won numerous Na Hoku awards, been featured on three Grammy winning CDs and had two of his own CDs nominated. His most recent recognition came in the form of a National Heritage Award in 2011.

Ledward is featured in a newly released DVD which he’ll have available for sale on this tour. I’ll be opening the shows around the area, I hope you’ll have an opportunity to join us.

January 22	Don Quixote	Felton, CA	7:30 PM
January 24	Harlow’s	Sacramento, CA	7:00 PM
January 27	Rancho Nicasio	Nicasio, CA	8:00 PM
January 31	Sweetwater Music Hall	Mill Valley, CA	8:00 PM
February 1	Freight & Salvage	Berkeley, CA	8:00 PM
February 2	Club Fox	Redwood City, CA	8:00 PM
February 15	The Cue	Concord, CA	8:00 PM
February 16	The Dance Palace	Pt. Reyes Station, CA	8:00 PM

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 9th, 2013 at 10:33 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.