Back from Kailua – Na Wahine U`i and Hawaiian Boy Crew at Honey’s

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.

Back from Kailua – Na Wahine U`i and Hawaiian Boy Crew at Honey’s

Sunday, July 28th, 2013

I’m happily surprised that there is such a thing as a vacation even for retired folks like us. Our trips to Kailua take us to a different world, different routines, different opportunities. I love walking around our neighborhood in Walnut Creek but in Kailua we’re walking with the Ko`olau filling half the horizon. I love the music we make and hear in Northern California, but on O`ahu we can never find the time to take in all the amazing talent playing all around the island. And of course the food, the shopping, the friends, it all piles up into a full time adventure.

I’m holding on to the good times as much as I can with a few videos from the trip. One features Lynn and her hula sisters, na wahine u`i, accompanied by my slack key. The others are a couple of clips from Honey’s at the Ko`olau Golf Course, where Mike Kaawa leads the Hawaiian Boy Crew on Sunday afternoon.

I passed along my Epiphone Masterbilt EF-500M to a buddy and bought a new EF-500RCCE on Ebay. This one has a wider, thicker neck and the factory Esonic2 pickup system. I’m liking the new guitar and pickup system and chose it for my rendition of “He Wahine U`i.”

The ladies were not always enthusiastic about starring in my movie but I had plenty of tricks up my sleeve and plenty of cameras in my pockets so I got a fair collection of shots. Lunch at Nico’s, a stroll down to Island Snow for shave ice, a hike up to the Lanikai pillboxes, some shopping and crafting in Honolulu, and a dance at Kona Brewing Company give an idea of the fun we had.

Honey’s at the Ko`olau Golf Course is one of our regular stops on Sunday. Mike Kaawa and the Hawaiian Boy Crew really crank out the Hawaiian music. From traditional tunes to contemporary and original songs Mike, Analu Aina, and Paul Kim give them all a distinctive and compelling treatment.

Here’s a Mike Kaawa original from his “Hawaiian Boy” CD called “Kula`ila`i” and one of our favorites. Mike mentions that he’s doing this one for Lynn.

I’m a huge fan of Paul Kim who sings and plays steel guitar with the Hawaiian Boy Crew. Here he takes the lead vocal on an Alvin Isaacs number, “Ahea No Ho`i La” –

So there’s a look at our adventures. You can see why we’re sad when we leave Hawai`i, even if it’s great to get back home.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 28th, 2013 at 7:35 pm and is filed under Videos. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.