Singer-songwriter Justin Kawika Young has collaborated with Grammy winner Colbie Caillat and played keyboards with country star Brett Young. Courtesy photo

Justin Kawika Young returns to the Maui Arts & Cultural Center for a “Local Voices” show Thursday after touring and releasing the brilliant album, “Many Feathers,” with the band Seven Suns.

Released in late 2024, “Many Feathers” was nominated for eight awards in seven categories for this year’s Nā Hōkū Hanohano awards, including Group of the Year, Album of the Year and Single of the Year.

Packed with appealing songs, highlights included the rousing “LOML,” the romantic ballad “Run It Back,” and the inspirational island reggae of the title song.

“That song was one of the first ones I wrote with this project in mind,” Young said. “It takes many feathers to fly and this is sort of the mission statement of the band. We’re all coming together to lift each other up.”

The group was founded by an ensemble of seasoned musicians who have backed artists from Jake Shimabukuro, Paula Fuga and Brother Noland to Kimie Miner, Fiji and Rebel Souljahz.

“We’re just fans of each other,” Young explained. “We’ve been playing music together in different configurations. They backed me up for decades when I play my own shows.”

He joined when “they were trying to figure out who would be the lead singer. They were telling me about the project, trying to figure out how it was going to shape up. We decided to really commit to seeing if we could make this go because it would be a dream. They’re so talented, and it’s been really cool to write for something other than myself.”

The super talented singer-songwriter first found success in the islands, scoring 11 top hits on Hawaii radio before relocating to Los Angeles. Some of his most memorable songs included “Let Me Take Tonight,” “Streets of Waiks” and “In the Clouds.”

Raised on Oahu, Young absorbed a diverse array of influences growing up.

“My first instrument was a ukulele,” he recalled. “I loved all the island reggae stuff growing up and traditional Hawaiian stuff, Hui Ohana and Gabby Pahinui. I really fell in love with ’90s R&B, Boyz II Men and that whole era, and then I discovered Stevie Wonder and Donnie Hathaway. Where my sweet spot is, is soulful singers that write meaningful songs.”

Young’s early albums included “No Better Time Than Now” and “Soothe You.” His third album, “My Eyes Adore You,” featured a catchy reggae revamping Frankie Vallie’s classic song, a soulful cover of John Denver’s “Leaving On a Jet Plane” and the Hawaiian falsetto song “E Kailua E,” inspired by his home.

Over the years, Young has collaborated with Grammy-winner Colbie Caillat, played keyboards with country star Brett Young and teamed with British reggae star Bitty McLean.

Young and Caillat helped form the band Gone West and released the marvelous album “Canyons.”

“‘Canyons’ was really special,” he said. “I love the songs.”

It closes with his song, “Tides,” which included Hawaiian lyrics. “We were all trying to add our unique flavor, and I felt like there hasn’t been a lot of representation of different diversity in country music,” he noted. “It was kind of strange to come from Hawaii and then live in LA. and you end up being in a room with one flavor of people over and over again.”

An Associated Press review suggested they sounded like a country Fleetwood Mac, while American Songwriter compared them with the Eagles. Nashville Scene called them “the personification of the term supergroup.”

“Colbie and I met in L.A. through mutual friends, and then I joined her band and played with her for over a decade,” he explained. “We were a couple for a long time and moved to Nashville and started Gone West with a couple of friends that were married. We spent three years writing and recording and promoting the first single and then COVID hit. Everything was shut down. We had put a lot into it at that point.”

A couple of years after “Canyons,” he released “Back to the Blue,” his best solo album to date. This impressive collection of songs ranged from the funky “Greener” and “Up on That Hill,” and the uplifting horn-propelled reggae of the title song to the hauntingly beautiful ballad “Still Can’t Get Used To The End” about loss.

“When I started in music, it was so like genre-specific,” he said. “You really had to define what your record was. And now it’s streaming and single driven so you can put all kinds of stuff on the same album.”

Returning to the MACC, he said, “Maui has always been one of the biggest supporters of my music going way back. I’m always so grateful that people remember the songs.”

Young plays the MACC’s McCoy Studio Theater at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $35, $45, and $65, plus applicable fees. Ticket holders who bring donations for the Maui Food Bank will have the opportunity to enter a drawing to win an autographed poster and a post-show meet and greet with Young.