Uluwehi Guerrero, other legends to honor the Golden Years

September 1, 2016

In the midst of rehearsing for his upcoming "Na Mele O Hawai'i - The Golden Years of Hawaiian Music" concert, kumu hula Uluwehi Guerrero got choked up singing the 1920s classic "Honolulu, I'm Coming Back Again," when he came to the line about waving sugar cane."I've sung the song dozens of times in the past and this time I had to stop," Guerrero explains. "It was so hard for those words to come out because very soon we won't be able to see that anymore. We will no longer see the iconic view of fields of waving sugar cane that graced our island for generations, and our grandchildren will ...

Feel the Island Breeze flow

August 25, 2016

The first non-Japanese to attain the rank of grand master of the shakuhachi bamboo flute, Riley Lee has been enthralling audiences with his mesmerizing playing for more than three decades.Moving from Hawaii to Japan in the early 1970s, Lee spent years of deep and arduous training in traditional ways to master the instrument - including running barefoot in snow, and blowing his flute under waterfalls and in blizzards."My studies have at times been quite rigorous," explains Lee rather humbly. "I'm still studying."This shakuhachi master will join Grammy Award-winning slack-key guitarist ...

Thompson Square

August 18, 2016

With a new baby joining the Thompson Square family, husband and wife Keifer and Shawna Thompson decided to introduce him in a video for their new single, "You Make It Look So Good." It's a very cute, black-and-white iMovie starring their 4-month-old son that they shot themselves as a follow-up to the official video."We thought it would be fun to promote the single a bit," says Keifer Thompson. "It turned out real good. Everyone thinks it's the official video."A return to form for the multiplatinum-selling country duo, "You Make It Look So Good" showcases their passionate, soaring vocals ...

‘Modern Hawaiian’

August 11, 2016

Contemporary Hawaiian musician Kalani Pe'a has just released his first CD at the age of 33, and it's a major achievement. Gifted with a gorgeous voice and a flair for composing resonant Hawaiian songs, his exceptional debut album, "E Walea," could win him a bunch of Na Hoku Hanohano Awards next year.Fluent in Hawaiian and passionate about perpetuating the culture, Pe'a spent months crafting the project guided by award-winning producer Dave Tucciarone, who has worked with many prominent island artists from Henry Kapono to the Makaha Sons to Raiatea Helm."Coming from a Hawaiian language ...

Rickie Lee Jones

August 4, 2016

"So now, no beret, no boyfriends, no badass bravado," writes Rickie Lee Jones in a press release for her latest album, "The Other Side of Desire." "I am badass, but who cares. No one is taking my lifestyle to market. I am who I am, the age I am. What I have is music."One of the most acclaimed and talented singer-songwriters of our time, Jones returns to Maui to play the Historic Iao Theater in Wailuku on Tuesday and Wednesday. Vaulted into the national spotlight in 1979 with the hit song "Chuck E.'s in Love," Jones' self-titled album won her the Grammy for Best New Artist.Dubbed "The ...

Music in the moment

July 28, 2016

While working toward a new studio album, reggae star Matisyahu has been releasing a few tracks available exclusively through his Dreampatron fan club."It's for core fans who want access," he explains. "I started this fan club mainly for the purpose of releasing new music while I'm in the writing and recording process. I release a new song every month."Matisyahu says he's been using this time "to go deeper into my inner world and to discover what it is that I want to convey next in terms of my writing. Some artists basically put out a record at the beginning of their career and spend the ...