Entertainment

‘25 years later’

Amy Hanaialii revisit her song of the year from 1999 “Palehua”

KAHULUI – Having won the Song of the Year for "Palehua" at the 1999 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, 25 years later Amy Hanaiali'i decided to revisit the magnificent song adding a new verse. The revised version, "Palehua - 25th Anniversary," was just nominated for a Hoku for Single of the Year. Hanaiali'i also received a nomination for EP of the Year for "Christmas In Hawaii."

"It's the 25th anniversary of writing it," says Hanaiali'i about "Palehua," which she composed with Willie K. "I can't believe how much longevity I've got on that one song."

She was inspired to update the song "with the passing of Willie and I was coming up on a 25th anniversary of when we wrote it in Palehua. I wanted to do something special, so I wrote a new verse with my cousin Kumu Micah Kamohoali'i. I wanted to give it kind of a little facelift and a little refresher, and I also sang a new verse in French and also in Japanese, just for a little twist."

Traveling to Europe in 2022, Hanaiali'i had visited "Paris, London and Milan with my cousin for his fashion week stuff. In Paris I was listening a lot to the radio, and it's such a beautiful language to sing. Then I was like the Japanese would be totally stoked to have this in Japanese. I played the Blue Note and the Cotton Club in Tokyo and Nagoya, and they were crazy for the new verse. 'Palehua' is so huge in Japan with all the halau that I wanted to give them something a little special in their language."

Proclaimed by Honolulu Magazine as one of the "50 Greatest Songs of Hawai'i," "Palehua" has long been a beloved favorite.

"When I came out on the scene with Willie, there wasn't a lot of younger generation doing leo ha'iha'i falsetto," she recalls. "So that really grabbed the ears of a lot of people that love Hawaiian music. It was something brand new and fresh, and I kind of have my own style of it, as Auntie Genoa Keawe would say."

Recording in Palehua on Oahu at the Mountain Apple Company's studio, she says, "that place is so magical. Some of the greatest Hawaiian albums in the history of Hawaii were written in that studio. We would go up there for like three weeks, me, Willie and Milan Vertosa, our engineer. But the original 'Palehua,' a lot of people don't know I actually recorded in the forest. If you listen really good, you can hear birds chirping. It's just a really magical, very deep spiritual place. And I think that comes across in the music."

A multi Grammy nominee and multi Hoku Award winner, she was nominated in May for EP of the Year. "Christmas in Hawai'i" featured her new original song along with interpretations of "The Christmas Song" and "Unto Us is Born a King," which Willie K originally released on "Willie Kalikimaka."

"Christmas is my favorite time of year and I'm a huge lover of the Hallmark Channel," she says. "I like to just turn off my brain and watch. I think I like it because it's very wholesome and pure, and the world is just crazy right now. So I was driving in Hawaii Island from Waimea to Kona and there was snow on Mauna Kea, and this melody came to my head about a Hallmark Channel for a Christmas song in Hawaii."

Now Hanaiali'i is set to branch out as she's working on a jazz album. "I'm actually in the studio right now recording a full-blown jazz album, which I'm really stoked about," she explains. "There are some songs that I absolutely love, like 'In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning,' that I've always wanted to record. I just can't wait to record these songs, songs with great lyrics and room to breathe on the track. I'm kind of at a point where I just want to go into other genres of music. I will always do Hawaiian music. I just want to broaden my horizons a little bit."

Having previously starred as Eva Peron in a 2015 production of "Evita," in August, this versatile artist will return to the theater stage playing the role of Aldonza in a MAPA production of the Tony Award-winning musical "Man of La Mancha" at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Tickets go on sale on July 2. "I played Aldonza in college," Hanaiali'i says. "I'm really looking forward to doing it."