A Love Song to an Island

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.

Friday, January 10th, 2014

Auntie Maiki Aiu (Lake) contributed so much through her teaching of hula and culture. She also composed a classic Hawaiian song, Aloha Kaua`i, a love song to an island. I’ve been carrying the tune around in my head for quite a while, probably from hearing Mike Kaawa at Honey’s in Kane`ohe. I even used the opening lines as an intro to my Hanalei Moon video. But as it turned cold here in Walnut Creek I found myself playing the song often, trying to draw a little warmth from the story of the mokihana, the maile, and the warm friendships found on the Garden Isle.

That same cold weather chased me out of the upstairs studio, so I set up in the living room. I was lucky enough to have a volunteer camera operator, so we could add a new dimension to the video. I hope you’ll enjoy a slack key instrumental version of Aloha Kaua`i:

This entry was posted on Friday, January 10th, 2014 at 8:58 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.