What Happens at the Lake …

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.

Sunday, July 10th, 2016

Our stay here on Enchanted Lake is coming near its end, and those last couple of weeks tend to get very busy, so this may be the last bit of video from Ka `Elepulu this year.

We’ve enjoyed sharing time on the lake with friends, and most especially musical friends of course. Ledward Kaapana has stopped by a few times and we always find time to get the instruments going. Here’s Led playing Pu`uanahulu on the dockside deck:

I’ve tried numerous times to capture the drama in the skies over Kailua and rarely succeed. This is my best attempt to include the clouds in a music clip, my old favorite slack key waltz, Pua Lilia:

I enjoyed a brief look at the history of Ka `Elepulu that I found here at the residents association website. The area has gone from Hawaiian aquaculture pond and kalo growing area, through agricultural development, to its current role as the centerpiece of a residential development and practice area for outrigger canoes.

This entry was posted on Sunday, July 10th, 2016 at 12:59 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.