“I subscribe to the book of Willie Nelson and Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark,” says Kapali Long, a Native Hawaiian musician who will perform Friday at Mulligans on the Blue.

A self-described “Americana country bluesman” who’s based in Nashville, Kapali Long is heading home to bring his “Born & Raised Hawaii State Tour” to Mulligans on the Blue and Casanova.

“I’m a Native Hawaiian singer-songwriter influenced by country and blues, creating modern-day Americana to help your soul feel better for tomorrow,” Long said.

The first Native Hawaiian to play California’s Stagecoach Music Festival, the world’s largest country festival, Long will make his Maui debut on Friday.

Growing up on Oahu in a family steeped in Hawaiian musical traditions, he first learned piano and ukulele before picking up guitar at age 9. He later studied lap steel guitar with Alan Akaka.

Long’s grandparents were both performers. His grandfather was the emcee of the Hawaii section of the 1964 New York World’s Fair, and his grandmother danced hula at the fair. Her brother was popular entertainer Buddy Fo (the Maui Bud), who lived on Maui for more than two decades. With his wife, Sammi Fo, they developed a Hawaiian country show at the Maui Tropical Plantation.

“I was really heavily raised by my grandparents,” Long explained. “One of my favorite experiences growing up was being on a porch and remembering Uncle Buddy and my grandpa and everybody like jamming and playing music. That feeling was always something that I wanted to create.”

His ancestors include a great-great-grandfather who was in the first graduating class of Kamehameha Schools with Joseph Kekuku, the inventor of the Hawaiian lap steel guitar.

“I’ve been doing country music since I was little,” he said. “I used to get teased back home when I was younger like, ‘Oh, how come you play country music?’ To me, country music was just a punk rock version of Hawaiian music. Hank (Williams) Senior was like punk rock country Hawaiian music, because it’s the same instruments, just electric. It’s been my goal to teach the world the Hawaiian influence on Western music. Country and blues as a whole is all by way of Hawaiian music to me.”

A fan of Jimi Hendrix, he became a proficient slide player on lap steel.

“It took me to being an eight-string steel player for a bunch of country bands,” he said. “When they think they want pedal steel, I cover it on (lap) steel because all that old country music has Hawaiian steel.”

Courtesy photo

As a Hawaiian performing in Nashville, “for a lot of people it’s like a new experience for them,” he said. “When I moved to Nashville, my first show was in 2021. I was playing the Bluebird bi-monthly, and a lot of the staff at the Bluebird were like, ‘You need to live here.’ It’s been an incredible experience for me.”

Long released “The Routines” EP in early 2025. It included the anthemic “Downtown Tulsa” and what he described as “country-grass version” of My Chemical Romance’s rocker “I’m Not Okay.” “I subscribe to the book of Willie Nelson and Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark,” he said.

His other releases include an intriguing Americana reworking of Oasis’ iconic song “Wonderwall” and a cover of Muddy Waters’ classic blues “Feel Like Going Home.” He contributed to the compilation “Me and My Guitar,” benefiting SaveOurStages, which also included a song by the Particle Kid (Micah Nelson).

Long refers to his performances as “music church.”

“Church was supposed to be something that was going to alleviate, so I just hope that people can resonate and be alleviated at the end of the shows,” he said. “I don’t really make music for people to dance and get drunk to. I make music for people to think and to feel because I thought that’s what real Hawaiian music was and that’s what real country music was.”

Long will open for Brown Chicken Brown Cow String Band at Mulligans on the Blue at 7 p.m. Friday. Tickets range from $26 to $36 at mulligansontheblue.com. He will also perform at Casanova as part of the Aloha Music Series “Sundays in the Country” at 1 p.m. Jan. 11. Tickets are $20 at casanovamaui.com.