Henry Kapono

The 10th anniversary season of the Artist 2 Artist showcase will open Friday at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center with legendary slack key master Keola Beamer and Kumu Hula Moanalani Beamer hosted by Henry Kapono for a show touching on their decades of history as artistic pioneers.

“We just got back from a tour of the West Coast and sold out every show, which is amazing,” said Kapono. “I mix my songs up, he mixes his songs up, and then we play together. We’ve been doing it for several years, and everybody loves it.”

“We’ve been having a blast,” said Keola Beamer. “The whole idea of the tour is really spreading aloha. We’re both at that age where it’s not about accomplishment — it’s about meaning. The state of the union that we’re in, there’s a real need for people to connect. And so it was especially powerful this time around because people need to hear the message of aloha.”

With Cecilio and Kapono and brothers Keola and Kapono Beamer both forming in 1973, the two duos found fame early on in Hawaii.

Keola Beamer

“We cut our musical teeth on the whole duet concept,” said Keola Beamer. “So, when I play with him, I’m reminded how cool that really is. We both have just a mountain of experience behind us, so the music really flows. We put a lot of work in back in the day to get that sound.”

Kapono has been busy supporting young artists through his On the Rise program and performing together at various shows. He also opened Kapono’s at The Lounge on Oahu, where he recently presented an “Anything Is Possible” show with a lot of kids from ages 11 to 15.

“I played with a couple of the artists, and they had their own thing going on,” he said.

In April, Kapono will host a blues night at The Lounge with The Red House Blues Band, joined by On The Rise guitarist-vocalist Dominic Carlos and young vocalist Mila Hamm. The show will pay tribute to Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Muddy Waters, Alvin Lee and John Lee Hooker.

“We all love the blues, and I’ve been wanting to collaborate with Dominic,” he said. “I have a 15-year-old girl from the music school that just kicks butt. She’s doing ‘Piece of My Heart’ by Janis Joplin, and she kills that song.”

Down the road, Kapono is looking forward to recording new music.

“I’ve been writing and I’m happy with the stuff I’m doing,” he said. “It’s a rock album. It will rock.”

Keola Beamer is also looking forward to releasing new music. He was last featured on the benefit CD “Himalayan Sessions” with tracks recorded in Nepal, along with music by flutist Paul Horn and Christopher Hedge, and inspirational quotes by the 14th Dalai Lama.

“I’m working on a couple of singles,” he explained. “It’s not going to be out for a while. After the fire, time went by where I could think about things again. I redid my studio. I’m really enjoying getting back to writing some stuff, and I’m going to continue for the rest of the year just writing and seeing what happens.”

He recently returned from a trip to Bali as part of the Mohala Hou Foundation’s mission to help spread aloha around the world through the World Ukulele Program.

“That was wonderful,” said Beamer. “That whole program is so inviting. It really brings the whole community together, and that’s the miracle of it.”

The Beamers, with Jeff Peterson and filmmaker Tom Vendetti, previously donated ukuleles to underprivileged kids in Cambodia, Sikkim and Bhutan.

“The ukulele is fun,” he noted. “You put it in a little kid’s hands and give them a couple directions and they have a blast. Learning is fun for them, and they’re like sponges the more they experience the potential (of) how happy it makes them feel. Then they play for their family, and the family lights up, and then they play with their community, and the community lights up.”

As a finale, they presented a concert in Ubud, in Bali’s uplands.

“We ended with a concert with the kids and the teachers for the community. Steve Grimes was with us, and of course, Jeff (Peterson) who was leading the program this year, and we had some wonderful resources like Tom Vendetti filming. It was really all kind of a miracle.”

Artist 2 Artist: Henry Kapono with Keola and Moanalani Beamer will be at 7:30 p.m. Friday in the MACC’s McCoy Studio Theater. Tickets are $39 to $79 at mauiarts.org.