Alan Akaka

but more on that later that also recorded it. Alan's abilities are virtuosic. He can play any instrument in the band, and his office at the k Kula Mela School on Oahu is crammed full of them. But the steel guitar is his passion. It's a craft he spent a lifetime mastering. By ear, he'll retune in the middle of a song. When I asked him about older styles of playing, he approximated the sound by swapping his steel bar out for a nut raiser to slide on the strings. We're listening

to our air view. One of the things that stands out to me is how similar His musical origins are to Joseph K. Kuku, inventor of the stew guitar. Both began his children experimentally running objects up and down guitar strings. You hear Allen drop a lot of names here, and that's because from the time he was a teenager onward he studied and played with everyone, contemporary masters of the instrument, legends from decades before him, and artists who were rethinking

still guitar style. During the Hawaiian Renaissance of the nineteen seventies, as it proliferated in other genres, most notably country, the Sioux guitar became dissociated with Hawaii and fell out of the popular imagination. The instrument and its practitioners became an endangered species. Alan is the central figure in bringing Kika Kila back to prominence, and it's working all across the world now. Steel guitar enthusiasm and musicianship are on the rise.

At his school, Kaku Lamele, Alan trains the next generation of Hawaiian musicians, and he teaches lessons in all corners of the world via Skype. Mr Akaka is full of amazing stories, but the most poignant are his experiences working with kids, teaching them about the Hawaii they live at, tying them into traditions that very well could have been lost if he and the steel Guitar had not found each other. Without further ado, here's my interview with Alan

Akaca and his steel guitar. My name is Alan Akaka. I'm the director and owner of the school of wine music called Kula Melee, and it's located on the island of Oahu in Kailua Town. I've been a teacher for more than thirty years. I taught concert band, marching band, I started a choir at another school that I worked at, and also a Hawaiian ensemble since uh that middle school didn't have any of that, and I understand even though I'm no longer at the school, that the program still continues,

which is very good to know. I'm very happy with that. I've been playing music ever since I was in elementary school, at least learning how to play the kalle i. I taught myself how to play that along with all the other instruments I know, the upright bass, the guitar, and my number one love, the Hawaiian still guitar, and I taught myself to play the piano and so on. But since since I was into music, I could read music and so on, I could say, you know, I could

play a number of instruments. Plus I could teach it as a band director. So um, that's pretty much my life. Still. Guitar started when I was going into high school, so like from eighth grade to ninth grade around there. And the story is that this is back in the Renaissance, the new Renaissance period for Hawaiian culture and music, and that would be in the midst in the seventies, early seventies, and and so um, my brother started learning how to

play the slacky guitar. He was teaching himself, and so I wanted to play another instrument. At the time, I you know, I could play the clarinet. You know, I took the beginning band and intermediate band in middle school. And then, um, so, as he was in the living room playing, you know, practicing his slack key guitar technique, I grabbed my my father's Martin guitar. I laid on my lap and I grabbed the barrel of the clarinet. I used that as that as a bar and I

started sliding across the strings. And I was really fascinated with that song. And for some reason, you know, I did that. Why. I thought about it later and I understood why. But anyway, my my father came up to me and asked if I knew what I was playing. I just said, oh, slide guitar. He says, it's called the steel guitar. Really, so he encouraged me to go on. My father, by the way, at the time, was the director of music at our church, kwai Hold Church, which

is the mother of Hawaiian churches. Anyway, he had a large choir, like a hundred voices it was. It was a very good choir too, So so anyway, um, he says, yeah, you know, you should practice learn how to play this instrument. So I did. I took it too hard, and because I could read music, I put out a book, a Hawaiian songbook, and I started flipping through the pages and they said, oh, this one looks interesting. So I start

figuring it out on a on a slacky tuning. You know, I didn't know the tuning, but you know, I just kind of figured out the notes reading the music and so on. And that first song and they tell a lot of People was written by our Alexanderson, who wrote Melicali, Kimaka and Lovely Who Has. But this song was what Ginger Blossoms, and there was something about it, and I'll play you a little bit of it, so as part of the song white Ginger Blocks. Of course, it didn't

sound like that way back then. So anyway, I I um. I would listen to recordings I'll try to copy. The one that was the easiest one for me to learn was by a still guitarist named David Fete Rogers. He was in the group called the Sons of Hawaii and at that time the Five Faces album by the Sons of Hawaii or what many of us called the Red Album because of the cover, was released and it was quite popular with with the young musicians. It was a

new sound. It wasn't like the older traditional groups. It was different, but they were all traditional songs, but it was something about the still guitar. It was such a simple style. I could pick up on it a lot quicker. And the good thing about that is because my brother and his friends what would practice in our living room and they were practicing those the songs off of that album, and so I could sit in the back and I could, you know, practice you know, plugging into you know, one

of those stereo systems. You know, I could plug in and I could play soft least I could hear myself. And I didn't know they could hear me, you know. In fact, I was wearing a headset because I thought, Okay, if I plug in, they won't hear me. But they did. They could hear what I was doing. Just so everybody knows.

Two of my brother's classmates who would come over. The bass player is Aaron Mahi, who later became the longest serving band master for the Aurora Hawaiian Band, and he was an associate conductor or assistant conductor for the Honolululu Symphony. And the other classmate was Dennis Kamakahi, who wrote many songs that are considered classics today. He's passed done, but his music still goes on and many people, many people

play his songs. I was actually with these people, you know, I could play along with them and and so on. So so it's like, wow, I played with these legends and my brother. I would consider him about a legend too, because he's in great demand as um not not necessarily for music, although he plays a lot of music where he's at at the Mountani. But because he's a ca who and a ca who is like a minister, a priest, and his services are requested all over the world, including

by the Disneys. So he's flown to the mainland, He's flown to um To, to Asia, to Japan, to China, to Korea, um, all over the place. In fact, he's in San Francisco right now. Um. He just arrived there last night to do a blessing. He does blessings all over Hawaiian blessings. Anyway, that was quite a group, you know, Aaron Mahi, Dennis Kamakahi, my brother Daniel Kaka Jr. I

went on with still guitar. I practiced. Um. I remember there was a member of the church who said, hey, you're you're you're playing still guitared here, I'll let you borrow mine. I went, wow, a real still guitar and not just a Martin um so, so he showed me a few things. So I practiced and so on, and I would go to the music shop, uh down at our main shopping center, Ala Moana, and the music start at that time had a number of LPs that anybody could pick up. They were already opened, and we could

go into the carol and and listen to it. If we liked it, I guess we could purchase it. I would go there just to listen and I would pull an album out, listen to it. They put it back next one. What I was seeking was was really, you know, different still guitar styles and players. And the people knew me there. You know. UM. One of the women there, I would call her Auntie. I saw her, I saw her all the time. The owner of the shop UM, a nice man also recording producer. UM. He would say

hi along the way and so on. But but you know, UM, I I learned a lot of stow guitar just by listening to those albums in what was called the household music right in the center of the of the shopping center. When I was in high school, UM, I was an independent student. For another what should I call her? I would call her a legend. Her name was Winona Biemer. She collected to wine music and so on, and so

I was studying under her. So it was in her office where I could collect like three photos of music Hawaiian music, three three like two inch photos filled with Hawaiian music. And then one day I was sitting there to her desk and I saw this book by Jerry Bird. I didn't know who Jerry was yet, um and and so I flipped through it and there was music, and I went, oh, my gosh, his diagram system for still guitar is a lot easier to read than all these

male Babe books that I purchased. And um, the only Hawaiian song in the male Baby books was a lohawaii, you know. Otherwise there were all these other tunes that you know, I didn't relate to. And so in Jerry's he he had a lot of Hawaiian tunes. And so, you know, she let me borrow the book forever and

I took it home. I went on my still guitar um and started, you know, reading through his music, and I didn't believe that I could play more, you know, um and and actually sounds so much better just by reading that music. I learned so much from that book. And then when I got to meet Jerry finally, I was so excited. Later on, you know, I was approached by a member of the Hawaiian Music Foundation and he asked if I wanted to take private lessons with somebody.

I said sure, especially when he mentioned the name Poor al Mada, Poor al Mada, and he was a famous musician. He was on what he calls he was a great musician. And so I waited, and unfortunately, since he was in such demand, he was too busy to even get me started. And and and then he passed. Um he had a heart attack. He passed, And so I never had a chance to to sit down with him. I've heard him live and on the still guitar he was. He was an animal. Oh my gosh, I was. I was hoping

to study with him. And so months passed by and I was approached again if I wanted to study with another person who who just moved to Honolulu, And that person was Jerry Bird, And so I said sure. By then I knew who Jerry Bird was because I had I listened to his Bird of Paradise lp. And then my uncle, who was a vice president of the Musicians Union,

had mentioned to me. He says, yeah, you know, Jerry Bird came in with his still guitar and he could play two voices at the same time, and and go, wow, gee, who is Jerry Bird? And so anyway, everything was set up, and I met Jerry for the first time in the what he calls office of all places, because I was such a big fan of what he calls Still. So he sat me down. He says, play me something. I was holy the skinny bar, and I was playing the still guitar. At the end of the song, he says,

give me that bar. So I handed it to him reluctantly, of course. And then here under wrapped this brand new bars, brand new bar. It was wider, and it was to his specs. He says, here, I'm going to show you how to hold this now, and and and that was a start of my lessons with with Jerry. And and he was an incredible teacher. He taught me, you know, a lot of things, technique musicality, which to me is the most important, how to play musically rather than plain notes.

This is about when I was graduating. Yeah, and the year after that. I believe I had lessons for two summers, which seems kind of sharp. I wish I could have taken more lessons, but my scholarship, I guess had run out by then. But I started going out there and playing with the others and sometimes I played still guitars. Sometimes I played the upright bass, and lucky I knew how to play upright bass because I had the opportunity to play with many other legends and even travel with them.

One of them was Billy Hill. An interesting thing about Billy hillnn he only had one hand. His left hand was severed in the shop accident in high school. You know, he was an aspiring musician. I mean, he came from a musical family. But luckily somebody was able to develop a glove going over his wrist that had a bar attached to it, and so so Billy Billy practiced and so on, and he became a monster on the still guitar. I mean I would play bass and I would be

watching him, and he was incredible. He was he was a tiny guy, but he was just a fantastic musician. I mean, when when it came to singing parts, he could choose to go above or below the melody. I mean he was well so cood to his brother, but on the still guitar, he was just he had all these ideas. He liked to play swing and jazz, you know, and incorporated into Hawaiian music. And I love that the best, but you know he was he was. He was a real perky guy, the first one to wake up, the

last one to go to bed. But I noticed he popped a lot of vitamin E too. He had so much energy on the stage. He taught me a few things other than me just observing him. But you know, like when it came to singing songs, especially if there was a trio, every voice counted. You know, he says sing I said, I don't know the words. He said, follow my lips. And I always remember that, you know, because I tell my my students that, you know, if they're on the stage and I tell them follow my lips.

You know, he didn't go to music school or anything. Everything was you know, learned in in the back alley at home someplace. But yeah, he truly is a legend. Uh And and then you know he has a grandson, Casey Osen, who also is quite a monster on the still guitar. He's really good. Um so, so Billy left the legacy, you know, through his grandson. His son in

law is also a great guitarist and singer. Billy also, you know, when it came to rhythm, he was stickler for rhythm, so on those occasions when I had to play the guitar, he would he would say no, no, no like this. You know, he couldn't play it himself, but he he showed me what he wanted. I would go to the nightclub where he played down in the White Kicking. It was called the Blue Dolphin Room, and he played with other legends, and really I do mean legends,

um recording artists and so on. You know, even though I was under age, you know, you know, I tried to go wherever there was a still guitars. He would take his break, his break, not the musicians break. He would say, it comes plays still guitar. So he let me play his still guitar while he was drinking, you know, at the bar and so on. By the way, he wasn't the only one that did that to me. They

were others. They would take a break. Sometimes it's you know, one or two songs, and then it would later on it would last the whole set while they drinking. Yeah, in those days, the musicians drank a lot. Things have changed. Times have changed a lot of musicians don't drink nearly nearly half as much as what those old timers used to.

So Billy would nor play a six string fry pan by Rick and Becker at gigs, but at that Blue Dolphin Nightclub he had a Fender four hundred, which is a single neck, eight string pedal steel guitar, but I think for uh foot pedals, and so that was my chance to figure out, you know, how to get cards on that pedal still guitar. I just loved it, uh you know, just that opportunity to to to play on the pedal still guitar and to play on Billy Hill

and still guitar. And then um, I remember going out to to a spot right along Kla Kaua Avenue, the main drag through Wiki and there was a singer, Eddie Kikalala, who was selling his LPs right on the street and doing very good in fact risk business because he was the only one on the street in those days, and he had his mike set up and everything, and two backup musicians and guitarist and still guitarists. The still guitarists

was David Kelly, who had returned home. He was living in Vegas prior to that, but he was a renowned still guitarist and revered by many, including some of the famous pedals still guitar players from country music. I mean they told me they used to listen to David Kelly when they were learning still guitar. So David Kelly wasn't young, but I would listen to him, and I remember standing and watching him and he was playing, and then I would see him turning his keys. By the end of

the song, he was in a different tuning. So I learned that from David. So I do that myself because it can be done. I mean, just by watching him, I knew it could be done. And then you know, when talking to him, um his advice that I'll always remember. He said, see your hands, keep them in your pocket. Their gold protect him. So all these all these artists, these legends had you know a little tip for me

that that I share with my students. You know. Going back to David feet Rogers, whenever I could, I would go out in and watch him. I remember he played an instrumental um between verses of a song, and so later I asked him, do you play the same one or does it change, you know, from day to day, or get to gate and he says, play from your heart. I mean he was, he was, he was a simple man to six ft something. Um had one glass eye.

I didn't know which was to look at, you know, when I was talking to him and kind of intimidating looking. You know, you wouldn't want to meet him in the dark alley. You know, he looks scary. But when he played, oh my gosh, it was like it was like sweetness. We have a Hawaiian word for that. It's nah nah soft and sweet. And so he's to play from your heart. You know, I understand what he meant by that. But I tell my students, you know, the still guitar, you know,

when you're playing, it's a feel thing. The same idea played from your heart. It's a feel thing. Whatever you do, you learn my tab. When you got it down pretty well, then close the book and to play it. You don't have to play every single note I wrote. Just feel your way through it. It's a feel thing. David feet Rogers was actually my first teacher off of his LP and I followed him through the years and and and

so on. I just loved his playing, and every now and then, depending on the style of Hawaiian music, I'll kick into his style whatever fits that style and his works especially with the more contemporary Hawaiian music because it's so simple it fits right between the cracks. Musically, he was incredible. I mean, you know, he played only a six string, not a h string, not a double neck, not a triple neck, just a six drink still guitar. And it wasn't even a seventh tuning or minor tuning

or anything. It was a straight D tuning D major. That was enough. That was enough. His uncle, Bennie Rodgers, was also an influence on me. Bennie Rodgers um played with Genoa Cave, who many years later I played with since the eighties until she passed away almost ten more than ten years ago. Well he's still guitar, He's on many of her albums, and so I would listen to it. I'll try to copy so so unlike feet Rogers, Bennie's style was a little busier, but but it still had

that Roger's flavor in there. And so so I studied that and everything. I got to the point where if I was listening to the radio and I heard a turnaround or still guitar vamp, I knew exactly what song it was, you know, I just knew. I studied his style a lot. So when I started playing with the Anti Genoa, I kicked into that Bennie Rogers style. I read turned one of my still guitars, and I played that along with her along the way too before I ended up being her still guitars. I would go over

to a nightclub called the Aloha Grow. It was right in downtown, and so she would play there on the weekend. So I would go there. Again. I think I was underage, but I would go there and then she would call me up the still guitars would step down. He had a trip on that. I said, oh my gosh, this is my opportunity to try out his two needs. So I did. So, you know, at the beginning, it was two songs. As time went by, I would be up there the whole set and I would be playing with

the Jena Calvi Anti Jenna Calvi. Oh, by the way, that that picture behind my upright base, that's her Anti Genoah's great granddaughter. By the way, is uh one of my star students. She's what a sophomore in high school and she has quite a voice, and she's a demon on the still guitar. Whatever I teach her, she soaks up and she starts using some of those ideas. I mean, and I just watched her. She just keeps on going

in I rarely hear her play a wrong note. You know, she's going all over the still guitar and then going WHOA a sophomore? Well, I mean, I mean she was playing my still guitar when she could hardly reach it. You know, that was seven years ago. I got upon the stage. She couldn't her feet didn't even reach the floor with the still guitar in her lap. And she she played a song. She sang it, and she played a solo. I mean, she was in elementary school. Man,

it's so you know, Yeah, she's incredible. Her name is Molly and Lyman. I bring her to my still guitar festivals whenever she's available. Oh and and an adult, you know, chaperone, either her mother or her grandparents or somebody. Could you give me, like as if I had never heard or seen a steel guitar before, what is it? What makes the stell guitar what it is? What makes it different from a guitar? Is that Number one, you play it horizontally normally on your lap unless it has legs or stand.

Then the nut is raised so that the strings are not so close to the fret board. It has to be that way because we use a metal bar to slide across the strings. If we use a standard guitar will bump into the raised frets. In the case of the still guitar, with the raised nut, um I could just glide. I'm not structed. Of course. In the early days it was a wooden guitar acoustic and I'm talking about the turn of the century. Twenty century later on National came out with the try Cone, dough Brow of

cars came out Worth theirs. Uh. There was a Wisen Barn company that came out with their wooden guitars and acoustically produced more sound than some of the other guitars. The doll Brow and the National with their cones. You know, it amplified the sound to a degree, so you know it could be heard more. Later on, you know, in the thirties the electric amplifier was developed and then the electric guitar, and the first electric guitar was a still guitar.

A big difference was one amplification to sustain. When I play on my acoustic, I gotta pick more. There were certain things that the acoustic players did besides picking more, but they would do rows like this. They would just pick more, you know, things like that. Still guitars today, you know, you don't have to pick as much. You can make each note sing more. Its The sustain is so much better. One huge difference with the still guitar is the different sounds you can get out of it,

especially the lisandos. No instrument can do lisando like a still guitar. Maybe if you get a pinky slide on the guitar, you you can play a card and you can slide. But I tell you it's not the same. The tone is not the same. Hopefully, if you're doing on the one octave slide, you'll reach the octave before the violent fades away. Yeah. On the electric still guitars, the sound doesn't decay so quickly. Yeah. Well, it depends on the pickup, right or maybe the player. What are

some of the the different styles of steel guitar music. Well, you have bluegrass, you have country, you have Indian classical, you have Japanese, you name it, getting to Hawaiian. There are different styles and it's regional, believe it a not. You go to Europe, uh, I find that many of them love love to um use the reverb. I mean it's really wet, a lot of reverb, and they go

too much. I'm drowning. And yet you know, when you listen to some of the older Hawaiian recordings, you know, like the seventy eighth and so on, if somebody is playing an electric steel uh, those amplifiers didn't have reverb, and and maybe the highs, so you know you have this this nice, you know, thick, robust, dark, um, food bodied sound coming out of a steel guitar versus nowadays, you know, with the amplifiers, you know, you can raise the highs up as you know, pretty pretty high uh,

and so on, you know the mids as well as but you know, I I like the darker tone. So anyway, um, getting back to styles, then you know there's a different substyles of the Hawaiian music genre. There's the more traditional and the more traditional again you know that dark, that food bodied, rich sounding, and then you get into um, more of the more contemporary. Talking after the seventies, yeah, the where the Hawaiian music was influenced by another genre

from the mainland. Okay, from the mainland, Hawaiian music was always influenced by what was going on in the mainland, from the missionaries bringing over their New England books from the Hymn Knows to Henry Berger bringing music from Germany. He was from outside of Berlin, so bringing that style to the islands, and the Hawaiian Royalty studying under him.

So there was that. And then you know, at the turn of the century into the nineteen hundreds, you know that then you have um that style of music come in from the mainland. Plus some of the composers actually studied, you know in the mainland and then they came home. And then later on, you know, there was swing from big band to so on. I I love to play swing. I mean, you know how what you cause was my thing,

So I played more of that style. And then you know there were the other groups like Genoa, Kava and so on. Then later when things started to change, you know, around the seventies, the Renaissance, and that was you know they hate Ashbury days too, you know, Vietnam War. So things were changing in America. So was the style of music, and I could hear it in the Islands. Here. Some some recordings that are considered classics today. They're from that era. In those days, I you know, I didn't want to

I didn't want to listen to them. I couldn't relate to them. They were not the traditional Hawaiian music that I grew up with and loved. But today I listened to it. I I know the people who sang it, you know, um, they're all friends and so and and and it's like beautiful, you know. And and yet now you know, in in Um there's more music being written, but the style is very different from the fourties and fifties.

The style, you know, the strumming of the guitar, the used to ukulele, just you know, even the melody of the songs or even even the lyrics in Hawaiian is different from before. So when it comes to the still guitar, like I said, it's a feel thing, it's like, okay, you want to make sure that you enhance the music, so you make it. Whatever you do, you make it fit. Are you gonna do something like this that might not fit? But if I do this just a simple try at

an archego that might fit better. And and and the reason for that is because now some of the rhythm instruments are are are busier they're they're playing some of their own licks rhythmically, unlike before where the rhythm players just played rhythm. Nowadays it's like they're doing that, but you know there's a lot of stuff going on or maybe the lookal Alan players picking in the background or

whatever it is, you know, a different times. And so with the still guitar, you know, scaling back is is a good idea again for for a musician and artists. It's it's it's fitting in. Yeah, not not not just squeezing in, but fitting in. When you get a news student, what are some of the basics that you show them, Like, what are the things you need to learn? This first? And then this And the first thing is the bar the left hand. You gotta learn how to hold the

bar between your thumb and your middle finger. Then pinch it or squeeze it what every bird would say, pinch it and flat the bar over, place it on, the place it on the strings, and and and hold it down and make sure that the bar is even with the frets. Now, oh, here's another difference between the guitar and the still guitar. We placed the bar over the line,

not between the lines, over the line. Uh, and then when you're sliding the bar, yeah, keep the bar even you can hear that, keep it even with the frets. And then when you're exercising going from one threat to the other, make sure you stop right there, right over the fret the second right hand. Eventually I get into this, But one of the most important things is palm muting, because if you don't palm mute, you're going to get what I call ghost notes. For example, got all those

ghost notes in there, you know what them. Harmonically they don't fit. But if I pomute correctly, that melody line will come out, big difference. So the right and left hand technique very very, very important. I know that there are other styles of technique from other players, and you know it works for them, but Jerry Bird taught me this system, and this is a system I used today and it works very well. So that you know, you know, people when they're playing they're playing music and not not

you know, well yeah and savory stuff. So technique hand technique is very important. The next thing is they gotta they have to learn how to read the tablature. Even if they never studied music before. Tablature is quite easy to understand. Because it's a system where you know, in the staff um there are lines that represent every string on the still guitar. I normally go with six lines

because I teach six strings still guitar. If somebody has eight strings, well they can forget about the bottom two uh before. Now on the staff there are numbers, and the numbers represent the frets. So if I say okay in the music, that is okay, put your bar on string three, fret three. Okay, Now slide up to fret five and pick on string one, same string, fret three, same string, fret six. By the way, that's an opening line for Beyond the Reef, a classic tune. Can you

give me the next little bit of beyond? I'll play here. So that's the first verse. That is that one of those songs that if you're a still guitar player you just have to know it. What would be good to know it? But it's one of the one of the first songs I teach because with that one we can work on what I call the patta. The patta is when you're going from one string to another string on two different threats. If I don't do the pata, it's going to sound like this. Remember I mentioned ghost notes.

But if I do pata, which is pick, slide the bar to your target, freat then mute, or if I do it in temple, the important thing is having that slide between the two notes. It's like what people sing, you know, the great singers, their notes are all connected. We have to do the same thing with this voice on the still guitar. Is it the sound that drew you to the instrument in the first place? Alan, The

sound did draw me there. You know, growing up, I would go to functions, you know, parties with my parents, you know lou Ow's, you know, the Hawaiian fees. There would be the you know the baby baby loue Oh, there would be whatever, you know, wedding and so on birthday party. You know. Being a child, you know, I didn't really focus on the music, but it was there. It wasn't there. It was you know, ringing through throughout

the hall. And so I remember hearing you know this, hearing all of that, and and I wish I you know, today, yeah, I wish I had paid attention. But you know, as a kid, you know there are other things going on, including you know, the food and and playing with the others, you know, you know, music is is was not on my mind. But anyway, hearing also, you know recordings my parents would play, you know, their LPs at home or you know, in the car, my dad would switch on

the radio to the Hawaiian station. We didn't have very many stations, but the Hawaiian station, and so I went to hear that. And in those days, almost other recordings had still guitar on them, compared to today where you hardly hear still guitar. I sort of absorbed all of this and learned drasmosis. So when I when I first started playing you know, the slide guitar as I called it, um.

You know, it's like wow, I recognized the sound. So I started sliding all over the place, and you know, then my father you know, approached me and said, yeah,

you're playing the still guitar, you know. And it was at that point, you know, um, I said, why, you know, I'm so intrigued by this, you know, I just want to learn this, you know, And so so you know, you could tell those who do really well, they seem to have this this passion from within, this passion, this drive, and I had it, the passion and drive I mean to the point where I would go down to the

shopping center by myself for hours. I would listen to LPs um just picking up on whatever I could, or going to the state library and barring some LPs and going home and sticking them on the the record player, you know, the old silvertone record player, silver toned by Sears anyway, so and and and just listening to it. At times, I would even just to slow down so I I could you know, catch that that that riff

or that fill. I would place my hand on on on the record, somewhere on the label and and I would just slow it down so I could pick it up. And I would do several times. Yeah, as Jerry Bird told me what in his days of listening to seven eight, you know, I've done war out the grooves, you know. I mean I kept picking up the needle and putting it down, picking up the need putting it down, and so on. Or I would even um. I remember I had a cassette player. I would call it the radio station.

In those days. You know, you could call in your requests and I would say, could you play this song? Because I couldn't find that song in the music star so I knew the radio station had it, so I would be ready to hit the record button on my player. Um so the announcier, you know, DJ would come on

and says, oh, here's one for alan Okaka. It's a Milo Lei, or it's Hawaiian Cowboys whatever, and then or it's hit oh no, and then I would press that record button, get the whole song, and then um at the end, I would play it back and try to pick up you know, try to learn some of those uh, some of those notes that you know, the solo or or even fails, you know, and you know I wasso in gross and all of that, you know, just learning how to play the still guitar and did I was

very lucky to be at the end of end of an era where I could play with so many different still guitarists, so many. Um. I remember Merle Kikuku, who is a grand nephew of the originator of the still guitar, told me he says, learn one tuning, well, learn one tuning. Well. I always remember that. So yeah, I have my one tuning and I can play a number of other tunings. So um yeah, all these little tips and tricks from all of these people, you know, helped to groom me.

Is it a C six tuning or uh, it didn't matter, he says, learned one tuning was using to C six. Actually that night when he he told me that I was playing the still guitar, and I thought, I'm gonna try different tuning. Of course, you know, I'm still learning how to play you and these were yeah, old timers and then use so many old songs. And so they told me to take an instrumento you know, in between the verses, and I was screwing up because I didn't

know the tuning so well. Um. And that's when he took me to the size of learning when tuning well, because he was still guitarist himself. Um and and uh he played a totally different tuneing you so um. So you know he had learned that tune in really well because he would talk to me about the tuning and I went, wow, yeah, this is really different, um and so on. So um. I took that too heart. But then you know, I didn't let it stop me from

learning other tunings. So I I could do a show, and I could do three or four different tunings in the show. So which which would mean, since I'm using a single next still guitar, I would be retuning my still guitar. In a few seconds, i'd be in a different tuning. Um, you know that's my thing. Yeah, because you know, Um, I find that there are certain songs where a certain tuning would sound great. I'll give you an example. Here's a song called hannah Le Moon and UM,

I'm gonna play it on the C six tuning. Then I'm going to try it in the ninth tuning and see if you can hear a difference. I'm okay. On the late Moon written by Robert Nelson, Robert Bob Nelson. Okay, and I'm gonna change it. Okay, good night. So so there's a knife card right there at that spot. That's a big difference here to see six. You know, when I write tabs out, I'll write it and see six, and then along the way I'll go, wait a minute, mm hmm. What if I what if I change it

to this tuning? It normally works out. I said, Wow, I could do it in this tuning instead. Pedals still guitar stud all the time, right they step on pedals. They can change the tuning for a wine stone guitar. We normally stick to one tuning, play the whole song in their tuning. So that's a big difference from that genre and our genre, I should say for still guitar.

A big difference with Hawainian music too, is you know those glissandos Yeah um again yeah, you know, and and you know, people come up to me at my gigs or at the festivals and they say, or even at an emails or or tests. You know, I just saw one where where somebody says, you know, I was so bummed. You know, I was in Hawaii and I found only one still guitars and he wasn't so good, you know. And then they reply from another person was well he

had mentioned me. He says, yeah, you know, I'm developing the next generation. Uh and so on. But you know, there's there's a lot of really find still guitars in Hawaii. Many Bobby and Ghano, Greg Sardina, Casey Osen, Jeff Alhoi. He's a young one that's been playing about two years, and and he's incredible for somebody who's been playing for two years. Uh Capono Lopes. In fact, I take them to my festivals because not only can he play the still guitar quite well, but he has an angelic voice.

It's like wow. And then I have my kids, Mallya Lineman, Ethan Gore, he Joey Beside need this, Pao Fernandez, I have whole Ilana Mahuka. She's an elementary school. Yeah. I have some elementary school students too, but all of my next gender are all in school because of I guess, you know, the moment that you were born and sort of like the musical tradition that you were born into. You were kind of in this special place to be a link from the past of still guitar, through the

Renaissance and to the present. When you're teaching these kids, I mean, do you sort of feel like like you're really linking them into this amazing past. Absolutely, absolutely, not only the kids, but also any adult students. I I do mention the past a lot, or I'll bring out stories you know about people I knew, or stories I heard of people you know of past musicians. You know. I think it's important, especially for the young ones to understand and you know what the young ones are teaching them.

A lot of the more traditional or some of the older songs, Uh, not so much the newer songs, although they're learning that too, but I think it's it's it's important too to keep these other songs alive because they're beautiful, the messages, the poetry, the melodic line, the use of the chords, the beautiful. Um My student Joey who also has a lovely voice, but I always asked her to

do a certain song called Nunny. Nanny means beautiful, and it was written by this teacher who had these young students, and she worked for the parts in the recreations, so I guess it was a summer program. But you know, she fell in love with her young students and so on, so she wrote this song, you know, beautiful Nunny. And the way Joey sings it is like, oh gosh, we say over here, you know, chicken skin. Chicken skin is like goose pimples. Yeah, chickens. We said chicken whenever I

hear her singing. And you know, she's only in the ninth grade, you know, I mean, she just made the ninth grade, you know, And when Malas sing some of her songs, and I you know, I'm teaching her some of the songs her great grandmother sang, you know, and and she has the same range. And then I have another girl in elementary school and I'm teaching her songs. That's her great great grandfather, wrote Alvin Isaacs, who played with the Royal Hawaiian Serenaders, and he wrote a lot

of classic tunes a lot. So I'm sharing these songs with her. And I said, okay, this, these are all your family songs. We're going to learn them. So she is. She's learning them, you know, to keep up the family tradition. Yeah, she's the only one in the family playing still guitar. And yet her her grand or great granduncle was on what you calls was a famous still guitarist, Bartney Isaacs. I said, you gotta keep this going no matter what. You are the link to the past. Yeah, you're keeping

your rich family heritage. You know all that music, I mean a lot of music that's amazing. I read, you know, I read about I think there was a movement in Hawaii to make the ukulele the national instrument, the state instrument, state instrument, Like we have a state fish right right. Uh? I know that Hawaiians state not a nation and uh, and then someone's feel that it should be a nation. Well, yeah, okay, so there's that way into that. I'll stay out of

that one. But I read about that you that you know, you came forward and and you know, suggested that the steel guitar maybe was a better reflector of Hawaiian traditions or maybe you know, shouldn't be seconded by the ukulele. Yeah, that was a few years ago, a handful of years of When I found out about that, I ran down to the state Capitol where they were having the meeting

at that time. Members of uklelea company. We're just walking out the door, go to the elevator, and you know, I know them and so on their friends, and they said, oh yeah, they just gave the testimony. And I went, damn, I better run in there. And and I got there just a little late, because you know, I got wind of the meeting so late. I got in there and they were still willing to listen to me, and you know, um, nobody said, okay, you know, we're going to vote on

this now. And I said, wait, may I say something? Said? You know, the still guitar is only string instrument modern day string instrument invented here in Hawaii. The ukalele was adopted and adapted in Hawaii from a Portuguese instrument. Um. Although the kalala is well known more than the still guitar today, but it was a still guitar that actually lured a lot of people to the islands, and in some cases it still does. And not only that, a lot of still guitars, most of them here in Hawaii

play Hawaiian music. The ukulele, a lot of you see it at festivals, you see it in videos. A lot of the locals play non Hawaiian music. So um, the motion was, maybe we'll ask the students in the schools. I said, wait a minute, they only know the ukulele. They probably don't know the still guitar. And so um the chairman says, you know what, Okay, we're gonna table it, and uh, let's let's you know, um do a little more research. A lot of people rolled in in favor

of the still guitar and so on. Well, the next year came about. I didn't you know, I hadn't kept up on the schedule at the legislature. But they had another meeting and they did they made ukulele the state instrument. And it's like mm hm, you know, um okay, well said said, but you know what that that got me thinking, okay, we're induce something still guitar festivals, still guitar vessels. So

I was attending the Maui Still Guitar Festival. It was called the Henry Allen Still Guitar Festival at the time, and then at one point a few years later, the hotel approached me and asked me would you take over the festival, which I did, and so I renamed it the Maui Still Guitar Festival. That same year, I was approached by one of the senators. He says he could you do one in Waikiki, and so I started that one. So I had these two festivals, Maui and White Kiki

Still Guitar Festival happening. So all of a sudden, I was running two still guitar festivals. And that's when I started my nonprofit Hide Malley, which is the Hawaiian instan too for music enrichment and learning experiences. So it's Himili that coordinates and operates all of these still guitar festivals. Today, in at least this year, we have eight scheduled still guitar festivals throughout the state. I just had my Hawaiian Island Still Guitar Festival. Three weeks later, we'll have the

Kawaii Still Guitar Festival. Three weeks later, we'll have our Hawaiian Still Gutar Festival on the west side of Oahu. The following month I'll fly up and I'll attend my Friends Still Guitar Renaissance in Yokohama, Japan. And then a month after that then I have my mom Still Guitar Festival. In June, I have my um Hawaiian Still Guitar Festival

on the windward side of this island. Then in July we have our Waikiki Still Guitar Week from Monday through Saturday, Still Guitar in the Heart of White Kiki at the Royal Hawaiian Center. Then in August we have All Children Still Guitar Festival. You have to be school aged two to be featured, so no doubts. And and then in December we'll do the Hawaii Island Still Guitar Festival again. This year also I'll be doing a couple of conventions,

one in Indiana and one in New York City. And then I'll have my Still Guitar Symposium in the Bay Area come August, and maybe in October down in l A, Los Angeles. After the ukulelea became the state instrument, you know, it was like this fire was burning inside of me.

I wanted to do whatever I could to bring this still tired back to prominence because you know, UM, at one time, throughout half of the twenty century, the still guitar was a prominent instrument in the Hawaiian band, and it was so popular that at one time Oahu Publishing in Cleveland, Ohio, actually gave certificates to two hundred thousand of the still guitar students, a certificate of completion. Two hundred thousand. That's incredible, and so little by little we're

reaching out the still guitars more visible. We have people playing that home or going to you know, backyard parties and and playing there. And then we have all these youngsters we call them kakekke are youngsters in Hawaiian. We have all these cake who are playing still guitar and and seeing adults in the audience with their jaws dropped,

if you can imagine. UM. On the last day at the Hawaiian Island Still Guitar Festival, we played at the Morning Branch, and um, the bar is right across the lawn, very close to the dining area, close enough, and so we're playing on these tall stools at the bar facing the restaurant, and the people are eating in this open area restaurant, and and and and they're just loving it. It's like, wow, Hawaiian music, you know, featuring kids and adults. And I mean it was it was just a jam.

We call it Connie Kapila in Hawaiian Connie Capila strike the band. And so we're doing this jam session, switching musicians, switching the instruments and so on. Uh, and it was it was beautiful. I was just loving that. I mean I played the first half and then I sat down to eat and listening to the others plan it was like, oh, this is so nice. This is how I eat. To me, And that's what many people told me, many people over the years. Oh that's still guitar. I I I cut

to the islands to hear the still guitar. After all the still guitars and signature sound of Hawaii of the Islands signature sound, and many people relate the still guitar to Hawaii as they should it originated here. I would love to get an idea of some of the older style of songs. You know what what kind of that sound was like? Are you talking about more of the twenties thirties, going into more of the forties, fifties and then today? Yeah? Well okay, well again, I'm doing this

on an electric still guitar. So you know in the in the twenties and thirties, you were on on acoustics, right, Oh, I tell you what, No, okay, so I'll just play basically the style won't be the sound, um unless I have a bar that I can use under Okay, this is not a bar, but you know, okay, this emulates the sound more than my my my metal bar. This is actually a nut raisor this is what I was talking about. I'm not raising which which will raise the strings on a guitar. So you know you could buy

this for a few pennies way back then. Raising strings on your guitar with a bar in hand, you could you know, play those you could play them Hawaiian tunes. So anyway, okay, so uh, you know in those days he probably used a different tuning to okay, so I don't know I'm going to do this. Yeah they're okay, So okay. So so so here's an example of what it might have sounded sounded like before. So that was you know, more, you know, a lot more picking, right,

you know, So that's that's way back then. Then then you had you know, um, mortal white calls, you know, forties and fifties. Okay, and then there we go, oh so in this tuning, Um, they don't even play this song today. I don't know. Today they might play a song. Well maybe, Okay, if I were to play the same song, I'll try to play it more. Today's so simpler, huh again, because probably the band is playing all these riffs and swing them on their kulas or guitars, you know, so

kind of kind of different. What what songs were those? It was the same tune. It's called Maui Girl, Okay it was it was written I'm not exactly sure, but it was early nineteen hundreds, so the song is close to a hundred years old. Yeah, it works. All there was? That was that an example of that you were talking about, like Hawaii calls, like swing playing really spoke to you

when playing, or just a lot more you know, cording. Yeah, fatter chords and so on versus single note or or you know, bouncing over you know, yeah, maybe you wanna hear it this way. Yeah, you know absolutely, I can totally hear the difference with with the nut. I hear that old sound. Yeah, I'm not really doing it total justice, but you know, you know there there are differences. You know, you you pull out on seventy eight and then you pull out you know, I'm a an MP three, you know.

I mean you're gonna hear differences with the styles today versus way back, you know, a hundred years ago. But you know, whoever is playing still guitar should always uh fit and conform with the style of the music. It doesn't matter if it's you know, the old traditional or the new contemporary. Yeah, it should conform um or else or else you're not feeling it? Are there some like standards that you're sort of expected to know as a Hawaiian steel guitarist? Standards? Um, well, okay, I'll put it

this way. There's a song that people would like to hear, so maybe they expect that you can play it and it starts like this, you know, Um, see if you recognize even this opening line. Yes, yeah, I mean sleepwalk. I mean, even my kiddies want to learn Sleepwalk. It's such a popular tune by Santan Johnny. Right. There's an interesting story behind that song. By the way, So Johnny, uh, you know, he shared the story with me. Yeah. So we sat down and we were chatting, and I asked him,

how do you get the title sleepwalk? He says, well, you know, um, sometimes, you know, as teenagers, you know, we couldn't sleep at night, so we'd go downstairs and we'd we'd be jamming. Their father, you know, asked, hey, what are you guys doing. He says, oh, we're fooling around. So dad went out and bought a taper carter. He said, next time you fool around, switch us on. And so

he did. And so they developed this tune, this tune little by little, and then they thought wow, instead of okay, it's you know, the standard progression was one six, two or four. Yeah, one six, let's say one six, four five. Well, what he did is he made for a minor mm hmm. That was that was different mhm. And until today the song is the most popular still guitars solo ever, the

most popular Yeah, yeo. And and where the title comes from. Well, because at night when they couldn't sleep, they would go downstairs. Therefore they thought, oh sleep walk Yeah. Interesting, Sorry about yeah, Johnny. Yeah. See, I I got to meet all these people or even through stories, you know, some of these these legends icons that passed away before I even started playing the still guitar.

But you know, I'm hearing it secondhand from or I should say from primary sources, the people who actually knew them and played with them. And I used to share a ride from kai Lua to Waikiki with another musician. You know, we played at one of the the shows in Waikiki, and he was Alfred Opaca's music director and also the ranger of music director for what he calls,

and he was an incredible musician vocalist. For example, we'd be driving towards Waikiki and I would have the Hawaiian radio going down, or I would stick in a a cassette. Well sometimes um, when the song came up, he would start humming an obligato part, just making it up, and I go, oh my god. Well, and yet I hear that on Alfred the Paca albums and also what he calls these the single note obligado parts. You know that we'ves through the melody and the chord. I don't know

what obligato means. Well, abligado is a line. Well, like I said, it weaves between the melody and so on, so it kind of harmonizes at some point. But it's also a sort of like a vocal riff. It would be like the cello line in the in in an orchestra, Hollywood orchestra playing this line down below, or the violence, you know, all of the violence playing this this one line behind the singer. That's an obligado. Also, you know, if somebody was singing or something, he would say, oh yeah,

you know, he would chuck. I said, you know that person, and these stories would come out. He said, oh yeah, you know, let me tell you about you know, and then go WHOA. Some of these things I better not leak out that. You know, they're not good stories, not for the person that if a lot of people revere them. But but you know, it's like, oh yeah, Benny, you're sharing all these stories with me. You know, I love it.

You know, um he and the Alfred Apaca group, you know, the Hawaiian village Serenaders under Henry J. Kaiser, they traveled a lot, and so they would meet a lot of people, you know, Andy Williams or sat More whatever. So Benny met him and you know, he had his opinions about each one of them and say, wow, this guy was he was the nicest guy, you know, and so on, and this guy was so down to earth it. You know, I was like, wow, I'm you know, I'm hearing it

from him. The same thing with Jerry Bird. You know, he told me many stories like with them. You know, the father of bluegrass, Bill Monroe, and he was from what I understand, kind of honorary. You know, he was a task master and so on. But you know those guys in in country land, they used to put pranks on on each other. So one time Bill Monroe walked up to the mic. He was ready to you know, start his show. Jerry Bird put out the mike cable.

So when we started talking there was nothing. And then and then he looked at the side he saw Jerry with the mike cable. Yeah, and he's a damn bird. You know. Things like that, or or they would go up and cut somebody's strings right on stage. They would do that on stage. Yeah, I've seen Jerry doo it. I've seen it. He did it to another still guitars

in Hawaii. That's what they did in you know, country Land in Nashville, and song you know, and and so so you know all these stories, you know, I I remember and and or even um Jena Calvia Anti Jenna, she had many stories too. Of course I had my

own experiences with different entertainers, gosh, so many. I was wondering if if maybe you could um play us through some of uh, maybe some some of your favorite players, some of your favorite songwriters or or people that were influential to you, anything that you could, you know, show us on the on the still guitar that would help us get a sense of maybe some of the influence you've had add or some of the history of the of the craft writing for that instrument. Well, let me

let me switch still guitars. UM funny because this is a different tuning, so I won't have to change totally change the tuning on the one I had. Um, So, what tunings have we used today? You did some C six, some D nine, A A six, This is a B E leven. Now this canopus still guitars from Japan and it was given to me back in seven by the Um,

the owner of the company. In fact, he gave me almost his whole line of still guitars, you know, just different, you know, from single neck to triple neck to acoustic and so you know I I used that I like to still guitars. Yeah, yeah, Well here's the song I remember hearing UM on an album called Evening in the Islands featuring two still guitarists, Barney Isaacs and Eddie Pang. While one played the other one played driffs for fields.

Out of all albums I heard that featured more than one still guitarist playing together, yeah, tour more, this is probably the finest for because of the blend both still guitars blen very well. Um. The tone of the instruments are very similar. And the churches songs. Oh I loved it. Here's one song. It's called Hannah you no oop So sorry that's it to me? Okay, yeah, that's more like it. Or so that's one song. Another song, UM. The first

song was called Paradise Farm. This song is called Hula Heaven, which is a recording UM done by Joelsasi who was one of my great influences, Uh, I mean my influences were like again, Um, the early one was David Fete Rogers and his uncle Benny Rodgers. Then of course Jerry Bird and then um Julsa See from what he calls huge influence. And you know I got to play with

two members of what you calls. You know, I played at the Helekulani for twenty three years, so um, it was my trio and these two guys played with me. They were much older than me. They knew a lot of songs. And then that style Joosa See style fit in with their style because why they all played together and what you calls and the Alfred the Packet show. So I could play to my heart stay like you

know all you know, the Julsa See style. But then when I went anti Gennal, you know, on another night of the same week, I would change through the Benny Roger style like a chameleon changing colors. And why because it's a feel thing. I felt that playing that's a certain style with a certain group made a big difference, huge difference. So oh, here's another song. I guess, um, this is the one that people ask for and it

goes something like this is called whispering lullaby. Ah, so it's it's all harmonics on the single string, which mean lullaby. And I'd like to play this one, um, something from the twenties. Yeah, and so on, go to Tall Street. Reg. I should ask you this earlier, but you want to just explain what Hawaii Calls was? How About Your Calls was a show that was broadcast for about forty years from pre war all the week to about nine. It

was a showcase of the talent in the Islands. They had top musicians and every week, every broadcast, weekly broadcast, they would have a different show, different lineup of songs. At one point there were a lot of stations across the United States that would er what he calls. Of course it probably would be one week later. So they would have these large, large discs, you know transcriptions. Yeah, that would be sent out all over and even in Japan.

I remember a friend saying, as a kid, I guess this was in the fifties, he would run home just in time to sit in front of the radio to listen to what he calls? How are he calls? Uh? Featured Alfred Opaca, I mean the great voices, Uh, how by Danny Kinni lau Benny Kalama. I mean, the list goes on and on. Oh I know one of the singers um was snatched up by Arthur Godfrey beautiful voice and he says, oh, would you like to go back to New York with me? So she sang on his

his show. Yeah, many many fine fine players and artists the top and then they would come out with this these songs and sometimes even introduced songs. It became so popular that Hollywood or the international actors are artists would come to the show and so the m c Webley Edwards would introduce him and called him up to the stage and they would say a few words. So it was quite a popular show in this heyday. UM. And you know the government at that time, the territory government

did support it. Why because it brought people to what and and then later on, you know what, the advent of TV, television and and so on. You know, the radio started to go down, yeah, downhill, and so you know what, you cause kind of lost its audience even though they tried to do a TV special, but yeah, they to keep up. So it finally closed. But but still the music, the recordings are. Oh, there's so many recordings out there, LPs and and their masterpieces, great singing,

great music, arrangements by Benny Klama. Still guitar, Oh yeah, lots of still guitar. And they had the best Josassie Barney, Isaac's um. They had j K. Lee called, they had David Kitley who was the first still guitarist. They also had Eddie Pang for a little while, Danny Stewart UM, Joe Christino, Jerry Bird. Yeah, the top still guitarists. I want to ask you. We kind of covered this a little bit, but um, what is what's the mission of your school? And what what all do you teach? What

other instruments do you teach, including still guitar. Kick Coola Millery was started because I could see that other ukulele schools, we're not really teaching Hawaiian. They were teaching everything else along with, you know, using the uk le as a primary instrument. Maybe they're they're learning, um, some rock and roll song, you know, some song on nukual ele that has four chords, rock and roll style chords, you know, one, six,

four or five, and that's it. So I said, yeah, I want to bring back some of the old songs, some of the songs that talk about the islands, you know, like like being power points of the past. So so in my class, the way I have a design for my uk l A classes is that every six months I produced new songs, and then I teach them about the islands, about the lifestyle, about the culture through the songs,

even history through the songs. Or I'll even take out a map and say, okay, do you know where such and such a place is, Especially for the young ones, you have no clue. Second show them and then I let them interact, you know, and they say, oh, yeah, yeah, my grandmother lives out there, you know, you know, things like that. So because very concrete for them, you know, I wanted to learn about the Hawaii they live in.

And I don't care if they're they're from Hawaii or not, because you know, there there's a military base here, and I have students whose parents are military, so they can learn about the Hawaii they live in and wherever they moved to next perhaps they'll always remember that or they'll share it with somebody else. I have still guitar classes as well. I teach all the instruments, guitar upbrak Bass.

I mean, I have a girl who was a third grader and when her sister plays still guitar, and when I took them to a still guitar festival, the Momi Still Guitar Festival years ago, people couldn't believe that. When we're in a john session, so you know, we're playing the song and then we change keys. The third grade of change keys too with and she was right on

the beat. Amazing. Yeah, And and so she's become quite a legend, you know, amongst many of you know, many people, especially if somebody makes the mistakes, she looks at them, she glares so so you know, like they're afraid of her, you know. They so they said, oh you don't tell this, don't make a mistake, She'll look at you. Now she's in the sixth grade. So in anyway, Um, so, I I have a lot of vocalello students I have. I have a lot of still guitarist students around the world,

true skype. And then I have classes. Um I have three classes beginning to intermediate and advance, and then many private students that come here to to learn the art of the still guitar. And then I have many different levels from you know, beginner all the way to a pretty done good not able to take the stage that good. It seems like, Uh, I think it's such incredible work. I mean, really just patching young people into a legacy and just letting beautiful music just flourish in the world

instead of you know, fizzle out in the past. I mean, I really think that it's important. And I also think teaching music is like teaching magic. I mean, it's it's as close to real magic as there is. Well, you know, another thing too, is what music you can work on. Creativity, release your energenious you know that thing about you know, reading tabs and learning tabs, memorizing tabs. That's fine. But then again I tell him, close your book once you

learn it, close your book and feel the song. Don't worry about all the notes on the music. Don't even worry about the rhythm. It's whatever you feel. And you know, I see people playing something and and and they're they're putting in their own touch or their own rhythmic pattern in there um and and I just smile or or or they'll go off on the tangent and come back. And and that's great because that's working on creativity the

right brain. UM. I noticed some of those who are retired lawyers, engineers, um surgeons, they have a rough time. Their left brain is very well developed. The right brain, however, isn't and they struggle. But you know, little by little they they kind of get up there. But it's interesting to see the difference. And then you have children who

just absorbed like sponges. It's a start of satisfaction for me, really is so you know, going out putting in volunteer work too, to coordinate and operate these still guitar festivals too, to make it available to the public, both young and old. You know, the starts of joy. I mean, you know, I come back and I'm like ready to not for twelve hours. But we're making the still guitar more visible. We're exposing many people to it. And the great thing

is it's free and open to the public. The workshops, the concerts, they're all free. The jam sessions now, so you know, a little by little we're bringing still guitar back to the island. So the man who wrote to me about still guitared that I had mentioned that one of my students was playing. He says, I'm interested in that one. So I sent him a link. It's here. Check it out. Um. There, it's a great sounding still guitar for an incredibly low price. I said, Yeah, I

I recommend this to others too. You know, there's certain still guitars still guitar brands that I particularly like, And depending on someone's budget, I'll tell him which way to go, you know, I mean there are so many still guitar manufacturers out there. Really, there's a lot, and there's some that that I really like because of the tone that comes out of the instrument. Yeah, there's some others that maybe it would be better for maybe rock or or

or some other music, but not for Hawaiian. And then same like with the amplifiers. You know, I recommend amplifiers too. If somebody is asking, so I say, you know, this one would be if you have six strings, this one is an excellent amplifier. It could fit in your suitcase, you could travel around with it, and so on. If you want something for an eight string, I would recommend this many amplifier. Uh. And and you know I have a lot of amplifiers to you know, um in my garage,

I have in my room and in my garage. So you know, I I've tried a number of them. Yeah, even at the festivals, I or I should say at conventions. I tried a number of different amplifiers, and so you know, I kind of know what I like and what I don't like. For Hawaiian music, it seems like you've lived in an incredible and are living an incredible life. Uh. And uh that it's for like good thing that the

still guitar and you found each other. Yeah. I think it was meant to me because you know, even when I was in the ninth grade, I had decided that I wanted to become a music teacher. You know, my band Instructor was an influence on me too, and so I did become you know, I got my degree, you know UM in music AD and then administration UM. But I taught music all those years and was still teaching music. It's started like my contribution to society, especially for Hawaiian society,

to teach music. I mean there's a lot of teachers, you know, teaching language, teaching UM protocol you know for Hawaii, teaching hula or even teaching slacky or teaching you know, singing and so on. But for me, it's it's more like ensemble solo working ensemble with the steal guitar, with songs that I grew up with are played with these old timers, these legends, bringing out those songs because if if I don't, you know, it might die, it might fade away. I mean, we lost so many songs already.

I'm sure you know. So these are songs that that tell the story. Yeah, they tell a storry and and I think it's good to know you who knows. Maybe you know one of my sermons might say that's my family, that's my family's place, or really, you know, that's amazing. We've had everything on my list. I mean, I was just curious if if you would, you know, play a song on the way out. Okay, ready, so here's a song called I want to go back to my little grass shack to take him to talk to the food,

get time to take eating. It's lovely. Okay anyway, Okay, my next student is yere No. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you for everything that you're doing. Most of the serio, I think that the work that you do is super important and great. I really appreciate all the time that you gave us today. Thank you, thank you, my pleasure. Take care of them. As we say in Hawaii, Aloha Aloha mahallo m our. Deepest thanks to Alan Acaca and to steel guitar historian John Troutman

for making the introduction. Learn about upcoming stew guitar festivals at high La dot org and lessons via Scarpe at Kola La dot org. Links to all this and more at our website, Ephemeral dot Show. For more podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. How about out That? Oh? How Pretty? Get it Yet? Thank you ladies and gentles. Thank you guys. Love, Elena kaka h