Tag Archives: big island

LIVE 148 • Magic Sands (Original Slack Key, Alt Take)

Live, Slack KeyAlii Drive, big island, blue sky guitar, Hawaii, hawaiian guitar, Honl’s, Kahaluu Snorkel Beach, kailua kona, Keauhou Bay, ki ho’alu, kona coffee, La’aloa Beach Park, laaloa, Magic Sands, nahenahe, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, Old Airport Beach Park, open G, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Slack Key, Taro Patch, taylor 412ce, Taylor 412ce-R, taylor grand concert, White Sands Beach

I used to take a guitar to sit and play some slack key at beaches around Kailua-Kona like Old Airport, Honl’s, Kahalu’u, Keauhou Bay, and La’aloa Beach Park… which is also known locally as White Sands, or Magic Sands. La’aloa Beach Park is just off Ali’i Drive a few miles South of Kailua-Kona. Often known as Magic Sands because the sand ‘disappears’ practically overnight from most of the shoreline during winter swells, only to fully ‘reappear’ in the Summer, the beach is a popular spot for residents of Kona. I often used to head over there with a cup of Kona coffee in the early morning before the crowds arrived, when it was still quiet, and sit on the picnic tables and play guitar. Here is a slack key style tune I wrote one day while hanging out with my guitar around Magic Sands. Hope you enjoy.

LIVE 142 • Hualalai Sunrise (Early Take)

Live, Slack Keyacoustic guitar, big island, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, hawaiian guitar, Holualoa, hualalai, kailua kona, kalaoa, ki ho’alu, nick borho, North Kona, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Slack Key, taylor 414ce-NR, taylor classical guitar, taylor nylon, Telefunken M60

“Hualalai Sunrise” was inspired by the morning sunrises in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawai’i. Much of North Kona – from Kalaoa where I spent much of my early childhood to Holualoa where I later lived – can see the sun shining over the top ridges of Hualalai in the morning, bathing its warm light over the slopes from the summit to the ocean. This is an early version of this song, though I have improvised several slightly different versions since. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 414ce-NR (Rosewood/Spruce grand auditorium nylon string) and a Telefunken M60 microphone.

LIVE 138 • Little Grass Shack, Pua Tuberose – Slack Key Medley

Live, Slack Keyacoustic guitar, big island, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, hawaiian guitar, kailua kona, Keauhou Bay, Keauhou Bay Resort, ki ho’alu, little grass shack, nick borho, open G, open tunings, outrigger Keauhou bay, peaceful guitar, pua tuberose, relaxing guitar, Sheraton Keauhou Bay Hotel, Slack Key, Taro Patch

From the vaults, here is an old recording of a slack key medley performed during an informal kanikapila at what was then the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort Hotel (it has since changed hands from Sheraton). The medley starts out with a rendition of Little Grass Shack, followed by the classic Pua Tuberose. Hope you enjoy.

LIVE 133 • Meadows Slack Key (912ce)

Live, Slack Keyacoustic guitar, big island, blue sky guitar, Elixir Polyweb, fingerstyle guitar, geckos, Hawaii, hawaiian guitar, Holualoa, Kailua-Kona, ki ho’alu, Mamalahoa Highway, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, open G, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Slack Key, Taro Patch, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert

“Meadows” is a slack key song I wrote during a full moon in Kailua-Kona. I think the song was influenced by the night air and night sounds – the occasional chirp of geckos, the distant sounds of traffic on Mamalahoa Highway and the waves in the ocean. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 912ce (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD Light strings) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

103 Minutes Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Instrumental Music

Slack KeyAli’i Drive, big island, blueskyguitar, City of Refegue, Hawaii, Higashihara Park, Holualoa, Honaunau, Honokohau Harbor, Hookena Beach, Kahaluu Snorkel Beach, kailua kona, Kailua Kona Pier, kainaliu, kalaoa, Kaloko, kealakekua, Keauhou Bay, ki ho’alu, King Kamehameha Hotel, kona coffee, kona district, Kua Bay, Magic Sands, mauna loa tuning, nick borho, North Kona, Old Airport Beach Park, peace, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Slack Key, South Kona, Taro Patch

For your listening pleasure here is another collection of Ki Ho’alu a/k/a Hawaiian Slack Key guitar instrumentals. This compilation is an alternate mix from another one recently posted on my other channel (Blue Sky Guitar), and includes a few classic chestnuts – or rather, kukui nuts maybe – as well as original songs. The songs here are both energetic and relaxed, though I’d say the overall vibe is relaxing. I like to listen to some of those longer “relaxing music” videos while working on the computer and became inspired to produce some videos featuring my own performances. Hope you enjoy.

LIVE 121 • Slippery Slack Key (Nylon String Guitar)

Slack Keybig island, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, kailua kona, ki ho’alu, nick borho, nylon string slack key, open G, open tunings, Slack Key, Taro Patch

Here is another version – this one recorded on a nylon string guitar – of my song “Slippery Slack Key.” Also known as the “Slippery Fish Slack Key,” this is a fast paced and fun to play slack key song that saw various incarnations in my set a few years back. The slippery runs were inspired in part by the fish in the waters off Kailua-Kona. Hope you enjoy.

LIVE 113 • Meadows

Live, Slack Keyacoustic guitar, big island, blue sky guitar, Elixir Polyweb, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, Holualoa, Kailua-Kona, ki ho’alu, ksm141, Mamalahoa Highway, nick borho, open G, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, shure, Slack Key, Taro Patch, taylor 310ce

“Meadows” is an original song I wrote during a full moon in Kailua-Kona. I think the song was influenced by the night air and night sounds – the occasional chirp of geckos, the distant sounds of traffic on Mamalahoa Highway and the waves in the ocean. This version was probably recorded within a year of when I wrote it. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Sapele/Spruce, Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 10/9/07.

LIVE 117 • Makalawena (alternate take)

Fingerstyle, Open Tunings, Slack Keyacoustic guitar, altered tunings, anchialine ponds, apogee one, big island, classical guitar, Fingerstyle, Hawaii, Hawaiian coot, kailua kona, Keahole Point, Kekaha Kai State Park, ki ho’alu, Kona International Airport, love, Mahaiʻula Bay, makalawena, mauna loa tuning, Neumann TLM 102, open tunings, peaceful guitar music, relaxing guitar, Slack Key, taylor 414ce-NR, taylor nylon guitar, tranquil song

Here is an alternate take of “Makalawena,” an original song I named after a charmingly beautiful and relatively isolated beach on the Kona Coast. Makalawena is part of that long stretch of white sandy beaches you see right before landing at Kona International Airport at nearby Keahole Point. The beach is generally accessible via a short hike from the neighboring Mahaiʻula Bay section of Kekaha Kai State Park. I remember camping out at Makalawena as a kid, exploring the rare anchialine ponds with their delicate red shrimp, and swimming in the waters of the bay. Today still, the neighboring marsh is a protected nesting ground, home to rare birds such as the Hawaiian coot. The song’s bridge seems to capture the strange sense of converging energies that I feel in special places such as these. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 414ce-NR (Rosewood/Spruce grand auditorium nylon string) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone.

LIVE 114 • Slippery Slack Key (310ce)

Blue Sky Guitar, Slack Keybig island, blue sky guitar, Elixir Polyweb, Hawaii, kailua kona, ki ho’alu, ksm141, nick borho, open G, shure, Slack Key, Taro Patch, taylor 310ce

Years back I was working on some turnaround ideas when I wrote “Slippery Slack Key.” Also known as the “Slippery Fish Slack Key,” this is a fast paced and fun to play slack key song that saw various incarnations in my set a few years back. The slippery runs were inspired in part by the fish in the waters off Kailua-Kona. Kona’s world famous fishing was also brought to mind frequently by my landlord at the time I wrote this song, a local fish boat captain named Chuck. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Sapele/Spruce, Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Kailua-Kona, Hawai’i, 9/20/07.

77 Minutes Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Instrumental Music

Live, Slack Keyacoustic guitar, big island, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, hanalei, Hawaii, Holualoa, kailua kona, kapaa, kauai, ki ho’alu, love, maui, mauna loa tuning, nick borho, open tunings, paia, peace, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Slack Key, Taro Patch, taylor grand concert, tranquil song

For your listening pleasure here is a collection of Ki Ho’alu a/k/a Hawaiian Slack Key guitar instrumentals. This compilation includes both energetic and relaxed tunes, though I’d say the overall vibe is relaxing. I like to listen to some of those longer “relaxing music” videos while working on the computer and became inspired to produce some videos featuring my own performances. Hope you enjoy.

BlueSkyGuitar.com

Slack Key and Fingerstyle Guitar