Led Kaapana Is Back – and He Has a New CD | 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.

Led Kaapana Is Back – and He Has a New CD

Saturday, January 14th, 2017

It’s cold here in Northern California but it’s about to get warmer at our house. Led Kaapana is featured at the annual Southern California Slack Key Festival along with a roster of great artists, then he heads to Walnut Creek to begin a NorCal tour to celebrate the release of his new CD, a solo `ukulele extravaganza titled Jus’ Press Vol. 2. I’ll be opening at these shows and hope you’ll be able to join us for some big Hawaiian music fun.

Thursday, Jan 19 – 6:30PM
Harlow’s
Sacramento, CA

Saturday, Jan 21 – 7:30PM
The Cue
Concord, CA

Wednesday, Jan 25 – 7:00PM
Kuumbwa Jazz Hall
Santa Cruz, CA

Saturday, Jan 28 – 7:00PM
San Luis Obispo Museum of Art
San Luis Obispo, CA

Friday, Feb 3 – 8:00PM
Armando’s
Martinez, CA

Saturday, Feb 4 – 7:30PM
Pacifica Performances
Pacifica, CA

Friday, Feb 10 – 7:30PM
The Old Steeple
Ferndale, CA

We’ve been enjoying our preview copy of this new CD and it’s a treasure. Led pulls so much music out of his custom `ukulele you need to see it to believe it. I hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity to see a master at work.

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 14th, 2017 at 7:05 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.