Good Things Come In Small Packages

Aloha Kakou!!

Well, the title says it all...for most of my life I have been looked on as a rather teeny person, coming in at a tad under 5'6". When someone is small like I am, it can gomone of two ways, either you accept it, make the best of it and find the goodness that comes from a low center of gravity or you develop a serious case of SPD, Small Persons Disease. (Think Napoleon) I have always strived for the former and frowned on the latter, and am glad to say that I have been lucky to have my dear Leialoha's share the same philosophy. Sure, you have to sit much closer to the steering wheel, and now and then you are forced to ask people to reach things for you on a higher shelf, but for the most part, it is all pretty good. So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, it is all about this:




This in my new iPad mini that the wonderful Leialoha gifted me. She is always responsible for bringing new wonderful things into my life. I am an iPader from the first gen and I have been debating whether to get the latest one or the mini. She made the decision for me, and I am so happy she did. This does everything my iPad does and more. While it takes a little adjustment for typing, it is definitely worth it...and I am doing today's blog from it. I always get heeled out by new things, but I can see that except for onstage, this new mini will take the place of my other iPad. It is much lighter, it takes pictures and video, and is much easier to hold and read. All around, it's a winner and it will now never leave my sight...except when sleeping of course.

So since the last blog, (which I am sad to say was at the end of November) the Hawaii season has just zipped by. We are now ten cruises in, and we are very pleased by the return of David Cole as cruise director. David is the CD who we developed the Hawaiian Enrichment Program with years ago, and he had been transferred over to the Sapphire Princess for all of last season. He has a great love for Hawaii, and always puts out a great program. I also split ukulele teaching duties with him and he will sit in with us from time to time as well. Between the three of us, we have come up with some pretty cool classes and presentations, and I urge folks to come and see us here on the Golden or on the Star for next year. Also, just as a heads up to anyone reading this from the Princess Cruising community, Leialoha and I will be disembarking the Golden a little early this season. Princess has requested that we go to the Sun Princess in late April to perform on a Japanese cruise for nine days. The Japanese cruise market is a blossoming one, and Princess is looking to position themselves it he market. The Japanese love Hawaiian culture and music, so they have asked us to do the inaugural sailing to give the guests an added treat. I have never been, so it will be a real treat for me, and to perform for a different kind of cruise passenger. We will miss the Golden, but we are company folks, so off we go!

So that is just a little quick aloha and news from Lahaina. I will endeavor to be better about posting...I guess you can say that will be my New Years Resolution...in February!

Malaga Pono e Aloha!!




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Wainee St,Lahaina,United States

A little Blast From the Past...and the Barter System Is Alive and Well

Aloha Kakou!!

Another beautiful day in Hawai'i Nei, with a beautiful breeze coming down the Ko'olau range and pushing some fluffies lazily through the sky. Days like this are when I wish I worked the outdoor gigs that used to make up the majority of my schedule when I lived in South Florida...but of course not actually IN Florida...same gigs, just in Hawai'i. Most of my gigs back then were of the "tiki bar" variety, feeding a constant diet of Jimmy Buffett, James Taylor, Bob Marley, CS&N and the ilk to outdoorsy folks looking to escape the winters of the north, or those who had permanently escaped and lived down there. I moved to South Florida in 1997 when I left the employ of Dolphin/Premier Cruise Lines and went into music full time. I spent an interesting seven or so years there, playing to a lot of people, meeting and playing with great musicians and always fearing for my life when I drove on the highway at night..or the daytime for that matter. Here are a few pics from "back in the day":

This is how I could usually be found in SoFla...on a small stage, with the tip jar out, and Bruce Freeland playing bass with me. Bruce is one of the best musicians I know, and he was in my large band as well as being at many of my other gigs. We did a ton of work together and had a million laughs...and almost as many beers. This is from our regular Monday gig at the Aruba Beach Cafe.

Bruce and me again at a city concert from Cooper City in Florida. This was with my band, Dave Soreff and the Coral Reef Revue. We started as a tribute band to Jimmy Buffett but became a tropical party band in the end...here is our promo video that got sent to the agents around the country...we used to do a lot of corporate work around the country...Colorado, Atlantic City, Puerto Rico...lots of air miles and lots of fun. This was back in 1998...many pounds ago...the core of the band stayed, but we ended up with a different guitarist and percussionist...the wonderful Fred Weng in the video moved over to percussion and was replaced by the amazing Eddie Saez.

Here is a shot of us in Atlantic City, playing at Trump Marina...this features two of my closest friends, Robert and Mandy France. They were at the beginning of the band, all during the middle and at the end as well. Great performers and even better friends. Many a night was spent with them over sake and sushi.

Lastly is a picture of the late amazingly great Carlos Benthien. We were so lucky to have Carlos in the band for a little while. He played with many of the greats and actually played Woodstock with Santana. He brought a whole new groove to the band...he passed away a while ago from cancer...he is still missed by anyone who knew him or played with him.

Anyway, just a few pictures from the past...I will cull through the archives in the coming days and see what else I can find.

So, like many guitar players, I have played, bought, sold, traded, trashed, lost, modified countless instruments over the years. My very very very first guitar was a Madeira acoustic guitar (a less expensive division of Guild) and I have played a variety since, ranging from Alvarez to Fender to Guild to Carvin to Godin to Rickenbacker to Gibson to Ovation to Breedlove to...well, name it and I have probably played it. (This of course does not include my real love...steel guitar) Guitarists are strange in that we very rarely find one instrument that stays with us for a loooooooooooong time. There are exceptions of course, but we are mostly looking out for the next great instrument. Now and then it comes in handy...let me explain. In trying to lighten my load, I went through many of the instruments I owned last year and tried to sell or give away or just plain divest myself of many of them. One in particular never suited me, and it was this one:

I got this one to play in the Wheelhouse on the Dawn Princess, and it just never looked or felt right on stage. Into storage it went until last year when I brought it into Dan's Guitars in Honolulu, who do all the work on my steel guitars. I thought they might take it in and sell it on spec, and I guess most everyone else felt the same way as I did, and it stayed unsold...until today, sort of. I brought in my steel guitar for some work...a double neck 8 string requires a lot of patience to change all the stings...and they did some other work as well...and I thought I would throw out an idea to the owner. Straight up trade...services for the guitar...bingo! The barter system is alive and well. Mahalos to Dan and the guys at the store for doing a rush job on the steel...it plays great once again and makes me oh so happy! It got me to thinking that maybe we as a society should look a little deeper into the barter system. What do I need? Do I have something that you need? A service, an item...something I have been keeping in the garage for years that will never see the light of day again? Can you paint my house if I play your daughters wedding?

Nice pic eh? A very quaint way of looking at the barter system.


So we are now parked at beautiful Pier 2 in Honolulu and Leialoha and I are getting ready to go play Sailaway. there have been some big changes on board the Golden in regards to entertainment, and in my opinion, for the better. This means more work for us but truth be told, a better product for the passengers. So, we will be playing our tunes under the Honolulu stars as we sail off to our next stop:

Nawiliwili!!

Location:Kailua, Hi

I'm Taking Requests!

Aloha Kakou!!

Greetings from beautiful Waiakea...otherwise known as Hilo! It is another beautiful day here, with a gentle breeze blowing through and a few clouds in the sky, promising us a little liquid sunshine later in the day. It is something that we are quite used to here...it keeps everything green and looking lush. Speaking of lush...I have caved. Many of you may know that at our house, the lawn mowing and care is my responsibility. Having not done this for a very long time, (and of course not having owned a house before) I was actually looking forward to it, as part of my "manly duties". (Please not cries of sexism...I was being sarcastic...who do you think had to remind me exactly how to mow lawn? Yes, Leialoha) It was fun for all of about two times, and then became, for lack of a better term, a pain in the ass. So, I have caved. There is a very nice young man named Bryson who now comes to our house every two weeks and mows, edges, weeds and just generally does the things that I don't really want to do. I feel I may have dropped the standard of Tool Time Tim

But, as my Mother always says, when you don't want to deal with something like this, throw money at it. So, I get an extra hour to do things I want to do, like practice, or veg out, or write a blog entry. Hooray!!

There have been a few changes on the ship in the last week or so, as the Golden Princess changes its entertainment format on board to make it more of a non-stop entertainment venue. It is actually a very good idea, and the result is that there is very little "down time" for the passengers...if they wish to avail themselves of it. It has also resulted in a little more work for Leialoha and myself, but in a positive way...if that is possible. The set times are coordinated throughout the ship with the shows and the theme parties to make a better traffic flow, and to allow guests to see ALL of the shows if they wish, and to have some form of ebtertainment going at all times in the evenings. We no longer do sets in the Piazza, but they are billed as concerts. While they are not concerts in the real definition of the word, it does make for a little different atmosphere, and the result is that I think we get a little more of a connection with the crowd, as we choose to speak a bit more then we might, and to link up our material...all in all...a good thing.

So, to todays title. Many of you are not on FB, or my friends, so you may have missed my last post regarding a new steel guitar CD. A few years back, I had the audacity, (I really wasn't thinking straight) to record a steel guitar CD after having played for all of about a year. I liked how it turned out, but three years later, I think I can do better. Now, besides Hawaiian music, I have an affinity for surf music. in particular, the sound of these two things:

These are standard issue for surf music...a Jazzmaster and a Twin Reverb...but my days of being a guitar hero are long gone, so in my twisted mind I thought, why not a surf CD done on steel guitar...dripping in reverb and tremelo. I'm very excited about it, and I have a good idea of some of the songs going on it, but I do love to please everyone wherever possible. So, if you have a moment, make sure to drop in some requests in the comment section of the blog. There are "traditional" surf tunes, but almost any rock, pop, jazz or country song can be given "the treatment"...so i ask of you all dear readers, send me some ideas. If I use yours, I will send you a free copy of the CD when it is done.

My last thought for today has to do with the upcoming holiday season...I am all for celebrating each and every one of them...and everyone should be able to do it in their own way, but for hecks sake, can we not wait until it is actually the season to do so? We are just about to insert our holiday songs in the set list, which we do each year..but I for one, will always refuse to do so until it is at least December. Sorry, no Jingle Bells before Columbus Day is done. Soreff out!!


Malama Pono,
Dave

I Am In Love Again

Aloha Kakou!!

First of all, an apology for being away for so long. I had some drama with my laptop, and once it was fixed and fine, things here on the ship kind of took over...and maybe I got a teensy weensy lazy in keeping up with the blog. I promise to be better about it. I am humbled at all the people who have mailed me about the blog, and say how much they enjoy reading it and keeping up with our loves, both on the ship, and on land. So while I can't make any concrete promises, I will try my best to be more regular...some would say try bran.

So, to todays blog title..not to worry...I have not forgotten my one life love Leialoha...let me introduce you to my new love:






This is what is called a steel guitar. Some would call it a non-pedal steel guitar and this particular one is made by Fender, and is called a Stringmaster. Technically it is called a D8 which stands for Double 8 meaning that there are two necks and on this one, eight strings on each neck. For the uninitiated, steel guitars can have one, two, three or even four necks. These are used to give the player access to different tunings, which enables the player to play different kinds of chords, voicings, and to just generally expand the tonal palette. So in many peoples minds, the Stringmaster is the epitome of what a steel guitar should be. Up until now, and I have been playing for four years now, I have never laid my hands on one. But, just two weeks ago, I found out from my teacher Alan Akaka that a friend of ours Derrick Mau was thinning his heard of steels. (We steel guitarists tend to collect a bit) He had this one for sale, and he was reluctant to ship to the Mainland. Long story short, even though I have five steel guitars already, and had no intention of buying more, it was too good a deal fore too good a steal. So I got it this last Tuesday, and have been in love ever since. It plays beautifully and plays like a dream. It has been a slight adjustment to eight strings from the usual six that I use, but it is coming along. I am going to try to do a little recording with it and then I will post the samples here so you can hear for yourself just how special the sound of this classic instrument is.

The other thing that has been on my mind, is this whole issue about Christmas music playing in malls and stores as we speak. On Tuesday, while walking in Ala Moana Mall, I noticed that not only were the stores ALREADY decorated for the holidays, but there was non-stop holiday music playing. Now, granted it was local style performed by local artists, but call me old school in my belief that these things are meant to start after Thanksgiving. It just seems that each year it starts earlier...I imagine that if I live long enough, I will see holiday music start right after Labor Day...or Memorial Day...or possibly even the day after Christmas itself. Heck, why not do it year round...it would make things so much simpler...for the people who decorate the stores anyway.

So we have had a bit of change on the ship, as we had a new CD come on this past cruise. (Cruise Director) The funny thing about this business is that if you work in it long enough, chances are that you will see a lot of the same faces over and over again. Our new CD is Sammi Baker, and she is one of my oldest friends in this business. I met Sammi back in 1993 on the old Royal Majesty, when she came to take over the ship and I was just plain old newbie cruise staff. She came to us from the late lamented Sitmar cruises as well as Princess, and she was, and still is a force of nature. Lots of energy, lots of craziness, (in the best possible way) and a really good boss, as she promoted me to assistant cruise director quickly, and is one of my mentors in this business. We last worked with her back in 2009 on the Dawn Princess as part of the world cruise and were very happy to learn that she would be coming here to the Golden. It will be a wonderful rest of the season, as Sammi will be here for three months, and then our good friend David Cole will be returning. David is the CD that we developed the Hawaiian Program with back in 2008. He is similar to Sammi in many ways, not the least of which is that they are two of the hardest working CDs I have ever met.

So we are in Lahaina today, which means one thing...pedicure! And poi! Life can be filled with rituals,some good, some bad...but in Lahaina, we always go to get our feet cleaned up and buffed...this is important, as we spend much of our life in slippers here in Hawai'i and you want your feet to look presentable...and up until Leialoha introduced me to pedicures, my feet did not look presentable...I will be posting the results from todays scrubbing/sand blasting. The sound in my ears now is the anchor dropping, so it is time to fight for a seat in the tender...have a great day everyone! A hui hou!!

Aloha No
Dave

Location:Lahaina, Hi

Lost In A Storm...Without My Laptop

Aloha Kakou!!!

I am as I write this, a little lost and at odds with the world. Why is that? Well, about a week ago, my Mac decided to take a vacation, get sick, go kaput, screw the pooch...whatever descriptive you may choose to use. It is at times like these that I realize how much I depend on this little wonder machine. Never mind the fact that it is my primary way of keeping in touch with family and friends around the world. Never mind that I do all of my banking and bill paying online. Never mind that it holds much of my music that gets me through two hours of lei making class. Never mind that I use it to flesh out, compose, arrange and often record the music that I perform with. Never mind all of these things and about a million other wonderful things that it does for me. If the only thing I used my computer for was to write this blog...I would still miss it a ton. So, for the next two weeks, I will be writing this blog from my iPad as I try to figure out this new app...BlogPress.

Apps and I have a strange relationship, as I am always amazed at how they make ones that are so great at increasing and refining our productivity, and I love those ones. Yet, they also have the ones that make flatulant noises and let you kill hours by flicking wadded up paper balls at trash can...and I love those ones too. But, the one thing I am consistent with, is that I usually do not get an app that needs more then a minute to figure out. So dear reader, stick with me while I figure this one out...for better or worse. For instance, I will right now, randomly try to insert a picture into this blog...heaven knows what I will find in my photo gallery...I'll be right back....





Ahhh....glad I found this one. This gentleman is named Bobby Ingano...in my estimation, one of the finest steel guitarists in the islands...or anywhere for that matter. He has a touch and a tone in his playing that I would gladly sacrifice some part of my anatomy to attain. Let's see what else is in the gallery...






This is a picture of one of the famous backyard kanikapilas that used to take place at the home of slack key legend, Gabby Pahinui...his music figures very prominently in the great movie, The Descendants. He is a revered figure in Hawaiian music, and at his home in Waimanalo, on O'ahu, there used to be famous jam sessions that would last the weekend with music, food, fun, drinking and lots of aloha. By the way, three of his sons are very well known musicians here in Hawai'i...Cyril, Martin and Blah...wonderful slack key guitarists all. Let's spin the photo wheel and see what else we have...





This is a good one, and something that we ran into when buying our home in Hilo. As some of you might know, the BI has volcanic activity. So, there has been a map made to reflect the Lava Zone of a given area, and the danger of there ever being lava flowing through your backyard...for instance, Leialoha and I live in Waiakea Heights in Hilo. Our zone is 3...it is when you get to 2 and 1 that you have some real problems getting financing and so forth. Believe it or not, there are people who live in Zone 1...they cannot get a mortgage, and I believe they cannot get insurance. In other words...one big crap shoot. That's living on the edge my friends. One more photot and we are done with random photo night...







This a great old photograph of downtown Hilo...I cannot find a year on this, but I might put it in the 20s or maybe the 30s...I have always been interested in old photos of places I know...and I am always fascinated to see how things have changed and developed. Believe it or not, you can go into Hilo today, and still see some of these buildings...not many, but enough that you can almost get a feel for what it may have looked like.

We are now a cruise and a half into the season for the Golden Princess, and I have to say, that it is looking to be one to remember. We are having a great time with the passengers, and so far, we have been overwhelmed by the aloha...especially from our repeaters. We seem to get a lot of repeaters and there is not one Sailaway that we do now that we don't have at least five or six couples or individuals come up to us to say hello and to reintroduce themselves to us. It's a very wonderful feeling to know that we have some positive impact on people's experience...all we can say is Mahalo nui!!

So...be on the lookout for more frequent updates and blogs everyone...tomorrow is Nawiliwili, and that can mean only one thing...Hamura's Saimin. ONO!!!!

Aloha Nui,
Dave

Location:Kailua, Hi

Everybody's Gone Surfin...

Aloha Kakou!!

    Well, first of all, an apology for not putting out any fresh blogginess for the last week and some change. Leialoha and I joined the Golden Princess for yet another season of Hawaiin cruises...and if you thought dial up internet was slow back int he 90’s, you have yet to exoerience ship internet...which moves at what might be generously called a “glacial pace”. I’ll get back to how internet works on the ship in a moment...but for a little while, the blog will not be appearing on a “regular” basis...but on a kind of catch as catch can basis. In other words, when I have internet that I don’t have to take out a second mortgage to use...I will post. Sorry about that everyone.

    How important is internet on a cruise ship...to those working on one? I would say that after the need to eat and sleep, it is the most important thing. (And by the look of some of these folks out here and how thin they are, maybe it is more important then the former...then again, it just might be that most of the workers out here are about 24 and have the metabolism of a hamster) For many of these workers out here, they are literally thousands of miles from home, and to keep in touch with family and friends is imperative to their mental health. This is a very hard gig, and sometimes, the one thing that can keep people on an even keep is being able to communicate with home. So, on any given port day, you see hundreds of cruise ship workers schlepping their lap tops to the nearest Starbucks or internet cafe to Skype with the Phillipines, Bulgaria, Australia, Ukraine, South Africa or one of the remaining thirty or so different countries that workers here hail from. THE hottest piece of news to share with your fellow cruise ship worker is where to find good cheap, or free internet in a port. Sometimes it’s actually not such a hot idea to share...case in point. When Leialoha and I first started working on ships in 2005, we were on a ship that sailed to St Thomas once a week. We found, just around the corner from the ship a lovely little dive bar, with cheap drinks and free internet...as long as you bought something. (Rumrunner with a floater for me please) Anyway, for about a month and some change, along with the trombone player from the orchestra, we were pretty much the only folks in there. But, someone ratted us out, (not me or Leialoha) and before you knew it, the entire bar looked like mission control in Houston with dozens and dozens of Skypers sucking up bandwidth.

   Now, internet ON the ship is another beast entirely...as crew members, we receive a discounted rate on internet...but not that much. I will try to give you an analogy for the speed of the internet at sea. If what you are used to at home or in the office is what most people use, let’s say it is this:

 Those of us who connect to the WWW on a cruise ship are surfing on something like this:

   
    Yes, for those of you born in a certain era, I have name dropped the Yugo...don't laugh...my friend Billy Richmond had one...and it could go from 0-60 in an impressive two days. This is no fault of the cruise company, it is just the way it is when you are using satellite connections, and you have hundreds of people at a time trying to jump on the net...so, in other words...NOT FAST. So, since we will only be in port for 1/3 of our days, I apologize, but the blogs will not be as plentiful. Then again, I guess I should be happy...in 1990, when I worked on my first ship, this, is how we all stayed in touch with loved ones and family:

   
My how things have changed...for the better!


   Anyway, we are five days into the Hawaiian cruise season, and to say it is going well is an understatement. The people have been very receptive, the ukulele,hula and lei classes full and fun, and the cruise staff from top to bottom is great. The seas were VERY smooth going over and if I peek out my window right now, I can begin to make out the Hamakua Coast in the distance. It will be a day of running around and business for us and of course...renting a car. See, we do not own a car, and have not for the last seven and a half years. It can be a bit of a pain, but very freeing...at least monetarily. So I have become a little bit of an expert on renting cars...long term, short term, budget, cargo...you name it, I have rented it. Next summer though, that all comes to an end...and I will share with all of you when the time comes, the trials and tribulations of that.

   Okay, to wrap it up, I am going to drop a recipe on you all. I know that we will be having a lot of new readers in the coming months, as already, many people on board have asked about websites for us, and things like that. While we are still working on our website, Elua World will have to do. So as a welcome aboard gift for new readers, here is one of my favorite recipes...Chicken Long Rice...I do a few things differently then the recipe...for instance, I use chicken thigh meat instead...and also have extra broth on hand, as the noodles will suck up the moisture pretty quickly and you will be left with no broth...so keep an extra two cartons of chicken stock ready...JIC. Try it, I think you'll love it. Next blog..."Welcome To My World"...where I will show you my unnatural habitat on the ship.

Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 40 Minutes

Ready In: 1 Hour 30 Minutes Servings: 8

Ingredients:

3 pounds chicken leg quarters 3 (32 ounce) cartons low-sodium chicken broth 1 tablespoon Hawaiian sea salt 1 (1/2 inch) piece fresh ginger root, sliced

1 large Maui sweet onion, cubed 1 (8 ounce) package uncooked bean threads (cellophane noodles) 1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced 1 small head bok choy, chopped

Directions:

1.	Place chicken, chicken broth, salt, and ginger into a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until the chicken is tender and no longer pink, about 35 minutes. Remove chicken, and strain broth into a new pot. Discard the solids.
2.	Fill a bowl with hot tap water. Add the long rice noodles, and let sit for 30 minutes to soften.
3.	Stir onion into the broth, and bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Meanwhile, remove the skin and bones from the chicken and discard. Roughly chop the meat and set aside. Add the noodles, chicken meat, green onion and bok choy; simmer until noodles are tender.
4.	After the noodles have sat for 30 minutes, stir in the chicken meat, green onion, and bok choy. Reheat and serve.

Malama Pono,
Dave

It's My Party...

Aloha Kakou!!

    First of all, a huge mahalo to everyone who sent me birthday greeting, message, emails, songs, poems and gratuities. (Okay, no one sent a song) It was spent doing exactly what I like on my birthdays...nothing! Well, we did pack a little, have some sushi, a glass of wine or two and just relaxed. This of course is in direct contracst to how these things used to be celebrated. It got me to thinking how cyclical the whole birthday celebration thing is. When you are young, it usually looks like this:

    I think we all had one like this...then there is the next party, when you hit your early teens...

   Heck, I had pizza parties too...fabulous Greek pizza from Newton Highlands, made from only the best Land 'O Lakes cheese...but that's an inside joke...then things seem to get serious when you get into your late teens and college...a party usually ENDS looking like this:

    I see you all nodding your heads...we've ALL been there...some of us not even looking this good...then we figure out that birthdays are meant to be remembered and we may have a party that looks like this...

  

   Yes, this is where we are at now...and I like it. Friends, laughter, good food, presents...and always someone trying to prove they are haveing TOO much fun...(lady at the back left of the table, I'm talking to you!!)...and then as I said, it all cycles back to:

    So, in my near future, I imagine I will once again don a pointy party hat, blow out my towering inferno of candles and try to funnel some Ensure. At least that's what I am hoping for. Then again, it all may end up like this:

  
 Come to think of it, not a bad way to do it...


    So this will be a short one today, as we have to hit the road in a few hours and there is still much packing to do. But I want to leave you with a few things that I would like you to listen to. Many people come on the ship and they have a pre-conceived idea of Hawaii music. It usually begins with Don Ho, and ends with Iz. Now, I happen to love both of these artists, but I see one of my jobs as trying to get people to listen to some things that they may not find on their own. I certainly am no expert, but I know what I like, and I think you may like these songs/artists too. In no particular order:

These are the Brothers Cazimero, and they are legendary here in the islands, and in many other places. They have the cohesiveness that sometimes only family groups have. This is in a very casual setting:

Next up is a twofer...the singer is a young woman named Raiatea Helm and the gentleman on ukulele is my favorite local player Bryan Tolentino:

   

    You all know how I feel about steel guitar, so here are a few clips I think you might like...these are a few of the great steel guitarists from Hawai'i...Casey Olsen, Greg Sardinha and my kumu Alan Akaka:

    Just a note on this last one. It is a song called Whispering Lullaby, and those delicate chime like notes you hear are called harmonics. They are one of the hallmarks of Hawaiian style steel guitar, and I can tell you from experience that playing them as cleanly and as lovely as Alan does here is extremely difficult.

    And lastly, I want to throw in a hapa haole number that was the theme song for the old Hawai'i Calls radio show. This is a version featuring Casey Olsen on steel guitar, but most importantly is the vocalist, who is named Nina Keali'iwahamana. She was a featured vocalist on Hawai'i Calls,and here she brings you the song...one of my favorites:

  

    I suggest that you all take a few trips around YouTube and online and just see where it takes you...you may discover an artist or a song you never knew but that was waiting for you all this time.



A Hui Hou,
Dave