Tag Archives: Holualoa

Awake Again

Blue Sky Guitar, Fingerstyle, Live, Slack Keycoffee farm, Fingerstyle, Holualoa, Ki Ho'alu, Slack Key

“Awake Again” is an unfinished project I started working on in in early 2009 and only recently revisited. Now, assembled here together for the first time since it was recorded, the music in this playlist brings the project to a conclusion of sorts.

This music here was recorded in Holualoa, Hawai’i, on 11 different dates ranging from 2/14/09 through 6/20/09. Rather than a finished product this is the complete ‘first draft,’ comprised of the best recordings from that time in the order I had envisioned for the completed project. Hope you enjoy.

Track List:
1 – Intro 6/13/09
2 – Dust Yourself Off 2/24/09
3 – Ohio River Rag 3/1/09
4 – Transition I 3/1/09
5 – Straight Ahead Blues 2/26/09
6 – Hand Dancing 6/20/09
7 – Home Abroad 3/18/09
8 – Make 3/19/09
9 – Moment in the Sun 4/20/09
10 – Crossing the Field 4/20/09
11 – Morning and Night 6/20/09
12 – Brownsboro Road 4/20/09
13 – Bull By the Horns 2/14/09
14 – Kona Snow 6/20/09
15 – Transition One 3/16/09
16 – Momentum 6/8/09
17 – Outro 6/20/09

LIVE 100 • Jewel Ponds

Open Tunings, Songsacoustic guitar, big island, blue sky guitar, Elixir Polyweb, fingerstyle guitar, Hawaii, Holualoa, kailua kona, ksm141, nick borho, open tunings, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, shure, Slack Key, taylor 310ce, Taylor Dreadnaught

This improvisation is named for the beautiful anchialine ponds you find along the leeward coast of Hawai’i Island. These ponds are an ultra rare and pristine habitat (please do not bathe in them) that host rare tiny red shrimp – ‘ōpae ‘ula – and can have a magnificent array of turquoise and opaline colors, like jewels. Some of these ponds are tiny indeed, almost more of a puddle than a pond, and legends tell of ponds that would mysteriously appear to someone only to vanish when visited again. There can be no denying the strange, quiet magic of Hawai’i’s anchialine ponds.

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 10/08/07.

LIVE 099 • Mauna Loa Slack Key

Slack Keybig island, blue sky guitar, Elixir Polyweb, Hawaii, Holualoa, ki ho’alu, kona coffee, ksm141, mauna loa, nick borho, shure, Slack Key, taylor 310ce, Taylor Dreadnaught

Here is my cover of “Mauna Loa Slack Key,” one of the relatively few surviving original songs from legendary slack key kupuna Fred Punahoa. Though “Uncle” Fred never made a full album, he did make a notable appearance on the Waimea Music Festival album which features Mauna Loa Slack Key along with another of Fred’s originals, “Punahoa Special.” Uncle Fred’s legacy also includes fostering amazing Big Island talents of the next generation such as Ledward Ka’apana and Sonny Lim. Like the Punahoa Special, Mauna Loa Slack Key is an often covered song in the slack key world. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 10/11/07.

LIVE 092 • Opihi Moe Moe (Taylor 310ce)

Fingerstyle, Slack Keybig island, blue sky guitar, Elixir Polyweb, Hawaii, Holualoa, kailua kona, Ki Ho'alu, kona coffee, ksm141, leonard kwan, nick borho, open G, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, shure, Slack Key, Taro Patch, taylor 310ce, Taylor Dreadnaught

Here’s a recently found cover I did of Leonard Kwan’s signature tune, Opihi Moe Moe. One of the most popular songs in the slack key repetoire, this song has been covered perhaps most prominently by Led Kaapana; in fact, Chet Atkins even recorded a version after hearing it from Leonard on a visit to Hawai’i. Notably, Leonard himself recorded several versions of this song including variations such as Opihi Bounce. Opihi Moe Moe is a fun song to play that lends itself to little variations, and everyone seems to bring something different to this deceptively simple song. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 1/4/2008.

LIVE 094 • Gabby Style Hula Medley

Live, Slack Keybig island, blue sky guitar, Elixir Polyweb, Gabby Pahinui, Hawaii, Holualoa, Hula Medley, kailua kona, Ki Ho'alu, kona coffee, ksm141, nick borho, peaceful guitar, Pure Gabby, relaxing guitar, shure, Slack Key, taylor 310ce, Taylor Dreadnaught

Today’s post is a performance of “Hula Medley,” which pays tribute to Gabby Pahinui’s hugely influential recordings of the same name (both the early solo verision, and the version found on Pure Gabby). Many have covered this over the years, with one of my favorite versions appearing on Sonny Chilingworth’s Sonny Solo album. Per below, my recording of the medley here includes a slightly different lineup of songs. Hope you enjoy.

Medley:
Intro / Nani Wale Li’hue
Wai’alae
U’lili E
Aloha ‘Oe

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, in fall of 2007.

LIVE 089 • Bumble Bee Slack Key

Fingerstyle, Live, Slack Keybig island, Fred Kelly, Hawaii, Holualoa, Ki Ho'alu, kona coffee, ksm141, peaceful guitar music, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, shure, Slack Key, Taro Patch, taylor 310ce, Taylor Dreadnaught, thumbpicks, tranquil song

Demo recording of original song Bumble Bee Slack Key, inspired in part by the nalo meli, honey bees buzzing about their business. I wanted a song that was both lively and mellow and think I achieved it. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 12/16/07.

LIVE 071 • Green Tea (Fingerstyle Improv)

Live, Open Tuningsbig island, Hawaii, Holualoa, improvisation, Ki Ho'alu, peaceful guitar music, pen D, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, shure ksm 141, Taylor 310, taylor 310ce, Taylor 310e, tranquil song

“Green Tea” is a fingerstyle improvisation based on the idea of toying with certain oft used open tuning tropes and seeing how they could be morphed. Listening back, I enjoy the sound of the dreadnaught guitar I recorded it on, even though I have been using predominantly smaller bodied guitars for the last 4-5 years or so. While small bodied guitars have a great balance that is perfect for many situations, sometimes there’s just something nice about the sound of a big boomy acoustic box. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 12/14/07.

LIVE 070 • Sunny Afternoon In My Ohana (Koaloha Pineapple Soprano)

Livebig island, Hawaii, Holualoa, koaloha, ksm141, peaceful ukulele music, pineapple ukulele, relaxing music, slack key ukulele, soprano ukulele, tranquil song, uke, ukulele improv

Today’s song from the vaults is an ukulele improvisation dubbed “Sunny Afternoon in My Ohana,” after the ohana unit where I recorded it. The unit centered on a large tile floored room with great acoustics that I kept mostly empty of furniture for recording purposes. People think of tile as producing a bright, harsh sound, but I never found the room to be that way at all. At any rate, it complemented the sound of ukulele nicely and though I only have a handful of uke recordings from that time, I recall playing uke a lot while living there. Anyway, this is one of those recordings; I hope you enjoy this music.

Recorded with a Koaloha pineapple soprano ukulele and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 3/1/08.

LIVE 067 • Waimea Ride (Slack Key Improvisation)

Live, Slack Keybig island, Hawaii, hawaii ranch, Holualoa, kamuela, Ki Ho'alu, mauka, open g tuning, paniolo, Slack Key, Taro Patch, Taylor 310, Taylor 310e, waimea cowboy

Today’s song from the vaults, “Waimea Ride,” is a slack key improvisation that blossoms from a familiar type of descending figure. Though often used as part of a turnaround, this type of walk down has also been featured as a melodic device in a number of songs, most notably Leonard Kwan’s classic signature tune Opihi Moe Moe. I also recall Ozzie Kotani using it in some of his songs. Anyway, I thought the descending figure and overall pace of this improv might evoke the picture of a Paniolo riding downslope on horseback, ergo the title. Hope you enjoy.

Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM 141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai’i, 1/11/08.

LIVE 086 • Silver Threads – Slack Key Improv

Fingerstyle, Open Tunings, Slack Keybig island, blue sky guitar, Hawaii, Holualoa, kailua kona, Ki Ho'alu, kona coffee, mauna loa tuning, nick borho, open g tuning, Slack Key, Taro Patch, Taylor 912ce

Here is an improvisation I did based on Leonard Kwan’s famous slack key arrangement of “Silver Threads Among the Gold.” This classic tune is a popular piece in the slack key repertoire and often one of the first things people learn when exploring Drop C tuning. Most listeners of modern day Hawaii radio will recognize Silver Threads as the slack key passage quoted in the intro to Country Comfort’s Waimanalo Blues, a beloved song in the islands in its own right. Hope you enjoy.

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

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