Tag Archives: blue sky guitar

LIVE 126 • Opihi Moemoe (improv on K22ce)

Live, Slack Keyacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, ear trumpet edwina, Hawaii, hawaiian guitar, Hawaiian koa, koa taylor, nick borho, open G, open tunings, opihi moemoe, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Slack Key, Taro Patch, taylor grand concert, Taylor k22ce

Here’s a recently found recording where I’m improvising some ideas around Leonard Kwan’s classic slack key song Opihi Moemoe. One of the most popular songs in the slack key repertoire, this song has been covered by everyone from Ledward Kaapana to Chet Atkins. Opihi MoeMoe is a fun piece that lends itself well to improvised variations, and everyone seems to bring something a little different to this deceptively simple song. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor K22ce (solid koa grand concert with Elixir HD Light gauge set) and an Ear Trumpet Labs “Edwina” microphone.

LIVE 125 • Bach Cello Suite #1 Prelude (Alt Take)

LiveBach Cello, baroque guitar, blue sky guitar, BWV 1007, classical guitar, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, peaceful guitar, prelude, relaxing guitar, steel string, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert

Here is an alternate take of the Bach Cello Prelude (BWV 1007) on guitar. I fell in love with the Pablo Casals recordings of the Bach cello suites a few years back. The prelude to the first suite is oft adapted for guitar, but it’s still a great piece to play. Hope you enjoy.

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

LIVE 134 • Every Breath You Take by The Police

Classic Rock, Liveacoustic guitar, Beyerdynamic MC 930, blue sky guitar, every breath you take, Hawaii, honolulu, I’ll be watching you, nick borho, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, St. Louis Heights, sting, Sting fingerstyle guitar, taylor 412ce, Taylor 412ce-R, taylor grand concert, The Police (band)

Here is a fingerstyle cover of “Every Breath You Take,” the hypnotic signature tune from The Police. Many stories surround the writing, recording, and subsequent success of the song – for example one interesting tidbit is that Sting apparently wrote the song while sitting at Ian Fleming’s writing desk on his famous Goldeneye estate in Jamaica. With its classic guitar part, “Every Breath” has a mellow / dreamy feel seemingly at odds with its borderline creepy lyrics – though some may find the song is a tad less sinister as an instrumental 🙂 Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) a single Beyerdynamic MC 930 microphone in Honolulu, Hawai’i 8/25/14.

LIVE 123 • Punahoa Special (alt take)

Slack Key, Uncategorizedblue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, fred punahoa, fred punahou, Hawaii, ki ho’alu, mauna loa tuning, nick borho, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Slack Key, taylor 414ce-NR, taylor classical guitar, Taylor guitars, taylor nylon, Telefunken M60

Here is an alternate take of “Punahoa Special,” this one recorded with a Telefunken M60 microphone. Punahoa Special is a signature showpiece of legendary slack key master Fred Punahoa. This is a song I was fortunate enough to learn directly from Led Ka’apana, one that Led had in turn learned directly from Fred himself. Though Fred Punahoa never made a full album under his own name, he did make a notable appearance on the Waimea Music Festival album, in addition to fostering amazing talents of the next generation such as Led and Sonny Lim. “Punahoa Special” is an often covered song in the slack key canon, and might also be the most popular song in Mauna Loa slack key tuning. Hope you enjoy.

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

LIVE 115 • Mino’aka (Alt Take)

Slack Keyacoustic guitar, altered tunings, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, harmonics, Hawaii, keola beamer, ki ho’alu, nick borho, open g tuning, open tunings, peaceful guitar music, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, Slack Key, soliloquy, Taro Patch, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert, tranquil song

Here’s an alternate take of Keola Beamer’s Mino’aka (Smile), from his awesome Soliloquy album. Soliloquy is one of my favorite Dancing Cat era albums from Keola and a highly recommended listen. Keola’s book is one of the first I picked up when I really delved into the slack key style years ago, and this was one of my favorite songs featured in the book. In fact, I also recommend Keola’s book for beginner to intermediate fingerstyle players who are looking to learn some slack key. Although the version I recorded here is at a slightly faster tempo, I hope it still captures the original’s relaxed feel. Hope you enjoy.

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

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 122 • Fronds in the Wind (alt take)

Live, Slack Keyacoustic guitar, blue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, honolulu, ki ho’alu, Neumann TLM 102, nick borho, open G, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, Slack Key, Taro Patch

Here is an alternate take of a slack key song I wrote called “Fronds in the Wind.” Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir Nanoweb Phosphor Bronze HD gauge set) and a Neumann TLM 102 microphone in Honolulu, Hawai’i 11/23/15.

LIVE 120 • Pono ATD Ukulele Improv #2

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Here is another improv I recorded on a Pono tenor ukulele. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Pono Acacia Tenor Deluxe (ATD) ukulele and a Telefunken M60 microphone.

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 119 • Pono ATD Ukulele Improv #1

Ukuleleblue sky guitar, nick borho, Pono ATD, Pono Tenor Deluxe, Pono ukulele, tenor ukulele, ukulele improv

Here is a short improv I recorded on a Pono tenor ukulele. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Pono Acacia Tenor Deluxe (ATD) ukulele and a Sennheiser e 914 microphone.

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