Slack Key from Makapu`u – Waimanalo Blues | 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.

Slack Key from Makapu`u – Waimanalo Blues

Wednesday, May 21st, 2014

One of the most gorgeous locations in a beautiful place, Makapu`u is the eastern most point of O`ahu. A lighthouse stands high up the mountainside, with a popular trail leading from the Kalanianaole Highway to the summit. On the northern side at the foot of the cliff is a popular surfing beach and the lovely expanse of Makapu`u Beach Park. With Pat La`a and Ledward Kaapana, we set up cameras and guitars on the rocks above the beach and recorded a few songs with this magnificent scenery in the background.

Makapu`u Beach faces Waimanalo Bay, and the trip to to point takes us through the old town, famous as the home of Gabby Pahinui, slack key master number one. His son Cyril hosts the Gabby Pahinui Kanikapila at Waimanalo Beach Park each year. Waimanalo is also famous for the song written by Thor World and Liko Martin, Waimanalo Blues. The song was originally titled Nanakuli Blues but when a Waimanalo based band, Country Comfort, adopted it as their signature song they changed the name to their location and it’s carried that name ever since.

The song is a bittersweet one, telling of the feeling of isolation that comes with being a stranger in ones own homeland, but the melody is sweet and sets the toes tapping. Certainly that’s the case when Ledward cranks up his instrumental version. We shot several songs that day, but the one that was obviously the keeper was his Waimanalo Blues.

Pat La`a and I took another pass through town to catch a few clips to add to the music. The town of Waimanalo is sited on a narrow strip between the bay and the Ko`olau, along a two lane strip of Kalanianaole Highway. The town has one grocery store, a crack seed store that also sells `ukulele, and a couple of sit-down restaurants but there are two fast food drive throughs and two 7-11s, and at commute time or on a busy weekend the traffic is usually epic. But that’s Hawai`i for you, deep history, raw magnificent natural beauty, crass commerce, and lots of traffic. And that’s the song, Waimanalo Blues as well. No wonder it has become an anthem.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 21st, 2014 at 6:41 am 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.