 This week on Pakele Live! with Tony Solis we welcome multiple Hawai’i Music Award winner (and Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award nominee) Faith Ako!
An Oʻahu girl who is the youngest of fifteen children, music was a part of Faith’s life all through school, in church and at home. She sang and played piano, and later learned to play ‘ukulele. But she listened to rock and roll during the 60s and 70s, and it wasn’t until she moved to California in the 1980s that she truly began to appreciate the traditional Hawaiian music that played such an integral role in her family traditions and cultural heritage.
Faith began playing Hawaiian music in the San Francisco Bay area in the mid 1990s, performing in bands as a lead and backup vocalist and playing ‘ukulele and keyboards. The bands played in venues both small and large, from small private parties to groups of 8,000 or more. They also opened for many of Hawai’i’s most popular musicians when they toured California, including the Brothers Cazimero, Willie K and Amy Hanaiali’i, HAPA, the Makaha Sons, Cyril Pahinui, Dennis Kamakahi, and George Kahumoku, Jr. She eventually became a solo artist, releasing her debut album, Kū Kahi, in 2007 to glowing reviews. She was honored with Hawai’i Music Awards in the Traditional Hawaiian Music and New Artist of the Year categories for Kū Kahi, and was also nominated for a Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award. She released her second album, Papakū, Bring It Home in 2009.
Faith continues to perform regularly on the mainland, both with other transplanted Hawai’i natives and with local musicians on tour. In February 2010 she and Steven Espaniola (another O’ahu native, Hawai’i Music Award winner and a past guest on Pakele Live!) had the honor of performing for Senators Dan Inouye and Colleen Hanabusa at a fundraiser held in San Francisco. Currently home to attend a wedding and visit with family, we are fortunate that she is able to make time to perform for us!
Please join host Tony Solis as we welcome Faith to the Pakele Live! stage on Thursday, September 22 from 6:30-8:30p.m. HST at the Willows Restaurant (901 Hausten St., Honolulu). Those who are unable to attend can watch the live stream at www.pakelelive.com. (The show will also be edited for television and shown at a later date on OC16 TV and www.oc16.tv)
Admission is free and all ages are welcome. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. (Doors open at 5:30.) Guests may choose from the full nightly buffet ($34.95) or an a la carte menu created especially for Pakele Live! (and available only during the show), with prices ranging from $5 to $16. Drink specials are also available. Validated valet parking is only $3.
Note: If you watch online, don’t forget to email the show at pakele @ lava.net and let us know you’re watching! Mention your name and where you’re located - city, state – or country, if outside the U.S.
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Faith Ako is home for a visit & on Pakele Live!
Posted - 09/21/2011 : 8:06:43 PM
