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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
 Posted - 06/06/2006 : 11:36:55 AM
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A generous member has anonymously donated a Keola Beamer "The Art of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar" DVD. Winner will be randomly drawn in early July (officially July 15th).
To enter, post here and answer the question, "What is your favorite slack key memory?" This is purposely a very broad question. Post about why you love slack key... a specific performance or album that moved you... etc. It doesn't have to be limited to the ultimate favorite - any favorite will do. "Me too" will NOT qualify you as it has in past giveaways.
Post away and good luck!
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Andy |
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Bwop
Lokahi
USA
244 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2006 : 2:36:17 PM
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Aloha e Andy,
The answer for me to "Best slack key memory" is... YES!
The first one was attending George's camp for the first time in 2001. We had already been to Hawai'i twice that year (a fortunate accident), but then, I noticed George's Maui camp on the internet. I guess I moped for two weeks before Melinda pulled it out of me. Bless her heart, she said, "We'll sell the old pick-up! You're going!"
I brought a guitar, but didn't intend to play-- I just wanted to hang out with all those amazing teachers, and bask in their mana. But George doesn't do "wishful thinking"-- it's off your okole and into the fire.
It was the first time I met Dennis. I made him choke on his sandwhich when I told him, "I'm kind of new to Hawai'ian lyrics- what was that song you wrote about walking through the cow pasture?" He gave me a blank look. I prompted him, "You know, 'Cow Pie, Cow Pie, Auwe, Hohono..."". I told him I wanted him to sing to me when I was dying. And when he told us about songs of sacred places, I piped up with, "Sure, Dennis.... Every rock you turn over in Hawai'i is sacred. How come you don't hear songs like 'Ku'u Home Poughkeepsie'? He responded, "I don't know. But I've been to Cleveland. There are some nice people in Cleveland." Eventually, I did write the song.
I made friends with Wally and Job, shared a room with Braddah E, and jammed a lot in the kitchen.
At the MACC concert at the end of the week, I actually played on stage, was blown away by the amazing music and danced on stage as "Hawai'i Aloha" was being sung and the doves were released into the sunset over Iao. An Hawai'ian woman selling lei at the show looked at me later and said, "You look like you're having the best day of your life!". "What??", I said. "It shows??".
When my family picked me up at the airport after that first camp, they had a secret betting pool how many times I'd bust into tears on the way home, talking about how incredible it was. Aidan won with "7". Everybody signed my "Led Head" shirt.
There was the time we showed up in the podunk of Georgetown to see George (he thought I had become one stalker). One on one workshop, and he dedicates "Hawai'ian War Chant" to Melinda that night, hoping she's had some "ono" times with Bwop.
Or, showing up early at a Led concert in Santa Cruz and ending up being the "one finger sound guy" for the show. Led kept thanking me, but I wasn't really doing anything.
Asking Dennis to do "Honey Moon Hotel" at the Mauian for Melinda and my 25th anniversary, and him saying the grey cells were gone. But next day at the MACC, dedicating "Ku'u Home Kahalu'u" to "B-wop and Melinda".
Spending a week of a vision quest with my son Aidan on Big Island, and on the last day, circumnavigating the island one and a half times during the worst storm in recorded history to end up in Waimea to see George, Led, an Appalacian and a Celtic player from a front row seat. "Lokomaika'i" gave me some serious inspiration that night.
Having a bar closed down, so seeing Dennis and David in a wood-worker's shop in the middle of a boat yard.
Playing with Cyril at camp, and having him say, "eh, Bwop, I really like your song. We should get together and...", interupted by "Dinner's ready!", and that was that.
Having George, Keoki, Patrick, Dennis, David, Ledward to play in our own podunk of La Honda. I'm not even going to talk about the lu'au at our house.
So, Andy, I owe you money o wot? How can a mere mortal answer such a question other than the big YES? |
Bwop |
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RJS
Ha`aha`a
1635 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2006 : 3:55:49 PM
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OOO, too many moments. In general nothing like that super high when I'm performing, get into a real groove and feel the audience with me. One dpecial night at Espresso Garden open mic comes to mind, but ....
... my bestest memory is when I was just starting out. Teachers weren't coming as often to mainland. I flew out to Honolulu to get basics from Ozzie. Sitting knee to knee in one of the funky back rooms at Harry's. Listening and watching Ozzie, feeling my guitar vibrating sympathetically to Ozzie's playing, Ozzie taking such great pains to teach me so much in one day, as well as lunch and talk story. I learned about slack key, aloha, got to know one great person, one of the highlights in my life. |
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Pua Kai
Ha`aha`a
USA
1007 Posts |
Posted - 06/06/2006 : 5:17:52 PM
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Eh - BWOP is surely going for the LONGEST answer... I just found out what slack key was about a year and a 1/2 ago. I was so taken with the music I heard around the barbecue fire in the 1/2 50gal oil drum in Lanai City in 1972 that I vowed I would one day learn these awesome Hawaiian folk songs. Uhhhh..... And I started buying Cracked Seed, Ohta-San, Melveen. Then one day my friend heard Wooden Boat on the radio in Colorado and introduced me to Keola with his CD. And by then I was also "collecting the Bros Caz -
Went to a wedding at the old Hawaiian Church in Makena, just up from the Maui Prince and heard Malie's Song/Hawaiian Wedding Song and fell really in love... still didn't know about slack key..... So I think I fell in love with Slack key more than 30 years before I knew what it was. I'm not sure that counts. Oh well...
mahalo for another gift!!
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wdf
Ha`aha`a
USA
1153 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2006 : 06:41:19 AM
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So many memories - music on the beach in Hanalei, seeing the slack key ledgends perform, Aloha camp, Kahumoku camp, SCSKS, Andy's visit, Reid & Sarah's visit, ...
One of the best has to be when I was attending (of all things) a dulcimer festival in Dana Point, CA 4 or 5 years ago.
Mark Nelson was a performer and workshop instructor there. I was just starting to learn slack key. During a workshop break, Mark saw my Blue Lion guitar and wanted to look at it. I gave it to him and he noticed that it was tuned to taropatch. He jammed with me for 30 or 40 munutes.
Mahalo, Mark! |
Dusty |
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Konabob
`Olu`olu
USA
928 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2006 : 07:39:21 AM
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About 4 years ago. My wife Shirley and I were celebrating our anniversary with a trip to Oahu. I had given Led one of my basses, and he asked me to come by to give it a slight adjustment. We found ourselves in Ledward's back yard. Led brought out a funky little fiddle which belonged to his niece and handed it to Shirley. Then be brought out an old squareneck "Hilo" brand lap steel. He laughed and said that he had found it in a trash can in a second had store on the mainland. He asked the owner what it was doing in the trash. The owner had told him that "the strings were so high off the neck, nobody could play it". Led offered the guy $5 and walked away with a fantastic sounding Hawaiian steel guitar. He handed it to me along with some finger picks. Then be brought out his guitar... Oh lordy! Then he started singing... then heaven opened up and there were angels hovering all around us... oh wait, did that part really happen, or was it just Led's laughter? Time and songs slipped away... he found out it was our anniversary, and brought out a bottle of champagne. Then his mother cooked us some Korean hamburgers that were out of this world. Neighbors stopped by. The poke came out. (Best I have ever eaten!) And when it was time to go, I tried to give Led back his finger picks. He chuckled and said "No, you keep 'em, brah".
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Konabob's Walkingbass - http://www.konawalkingbass.com
Taropatch Steel - http://www.konaweb.com/konabob/
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=&search_query=Konabob2+Walkingbass |
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Fran Guidry
Ha`aha`a
USA
1579 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2006 : 08:32:00 AM
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First time I heard a vamp - Keola playing on the tv at Hilton Hawaiian Village???
First time I played "Kani Ki Ho`alu" for Lynnie and she shed a little tear???
First time I saw Ledward and went total chicken skin hearing him sing "I Kona" live??
No, it's gotta be the Brown Ohana tour last year, seeing the look of pride and joy on Kevin's face as he accompanied his two kids. Artistry and family is a potent combination.
Fran
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E ho`okani pila kakou ma Kaleponi
Slack Key Guitar in California - www.kaleponi.com
Slack Key on YouTube
Homebrewed Music Blog |
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Ray Sowders
Akahai
USA
96 Posts |
Posted - 06/07/2006 : 09:14:39 AM
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Aloha Kakou,
Not sure about the best, but 2 come to mind very quickly.
1- Being a proud student of Ray Kane, I try to share and teach others if I can just like Ray always wanted. One time I had students, 17 year olds who were seniors at Kamehameha High School. One was an accomplished musician already the other had never even seen a guitar before. I knew our time was limited because both boys were going off to the mainland for college. So, I taught them for one year, best I could and they both did very well. For their graduation I took them over to see Ray and Elodia Kane, to play for them and just as a "graduation' present. Ray was just floored when he heard them playing his songs. He turned to me, looked me in the eye and asked…."you taught them all this?" then he reached out, grabbed my hand and thanked me, the most serious eye to eye mahalo I ever heard. I'm not sure who was happier, the boys for meeting and playing well for the master, the master who heard these young men playing and perpetuating his songs, or me for just watching it all come together to make him so happy. 2- Ray Kane had a tradition of always bringing a student to the slack key guitar festival every year to perform with him, to share what they learned. I played twice with Ray and they were great memories. When I got my first invite to play the festival on my own, I didn't know if I'd ever get the chance again, maybe they'd invite someone else next year...whatever. I invited my first graduate student Dwayne Corpuz who played like he was sitting in the clouds somewhere; he was so happy and proud to be there, as was I. He still wears that years Ki Ho'alu Festival shirt constantly. Hope he never wears that old shirt out.
Ray
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slackkeymike
Lokahi
440 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2006 : 03:04:52 AM
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Hmmmm, this may be a stretch, though after reading the Hi'ilawe thread, maybe not. I had just discovered slackkey (Ray Kane, Punahele). My wife and I were going to Hawaiia (kauaii) to celebrate almost 4 years of trying to get pregnant (and finally adopting a chiled). Really a tough time, very emotional. A few "successes" that ultimately ended in failure. Really tested our marriage, in the end brought us closer. The final attempt resulted in a pregnancy that also failed. The due date was to be in February 1999. As fate would have it, about one month from that date, we were informed that we had been selected to adopt a brand new baby boy that, you guessed it, would be born on almost the exact same due date. Caleb came into our life on Feb 13, 1999. 1 and 1/2 years later we took him to Kauaii. I have a video of him sitting on the grass near the waves (at a resteraunt near the Spouting Horn) throwing little rocks into the waves at sunset. Hi'ilawe is playing in the background, sun (big as a dinner plate) is setting in the west. Very beatiful, very poignant, just perfect. I will never forget that. Perhaps I will post that video one day.
Mike |
Aloha, Mike |
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thumbstruck
Ahonui
USA
2168 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2006 : 04:33:55 AM
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| I was a kid a couple years out of high school, living far away from home. The only thing I owned was a cheap mandolin. Another guy I worked with had just moved to the mainland from Kaua'i. We were talking bout fun things to do and music came up. I was really into Bluegrass then. He said that he played Slack Key. I went over to his place and he showed me. I asked if he could teach me and the "t'ree lessons" began. It took all the homesickness away and gave me insight into another culture. Since then, Ki Ho'alu has let me meet some incredible folks, make great friends, and lower my stress level. |
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JimC
Lokahi
USA
135 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2006 : 06:39:05 AM
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32 years ago my girlfriend (now my wife of 25 years) introduces me to Hawaiian music and culture.
Hearing my daughter play ke aloha.
Ozzie Kotani writing his book
But my best Slack Key moment was when I did a google search and typed in the words "Slack Key" and Taropatch.net appeared. So many slack key memory's and friends have happened since that time . Mahalo Andy |
Jim
http://www.ohanahulasupply.com
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Edited by - JimC on 06/08/2006 08:38:40 AM |
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Auntie Maria
Ha`aha`a
USA
1918 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2006 : 07:20:56 AM
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Andy -- having just read all these wonderful posts, I know there is no way you'll be able to choose just one winner.
So I'm donating 4 more DVDs to your effort...and will mail them for you, too. Send me the names/addresses when you've made your selections, 'kay?  |
Auntie Maria
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My "Aloha Kaua`i" radio show streams FREE online every Thu & Fri 7-9am (HST)
www.kkcr.org - Kaua`i Community Radio
"Like" Aloha Kauai on Facebook, for playlists and news/info about island music and musicians!
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Lawrence
Ha`aha`a
USA
1597 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2006 : 07:23:14 AM
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My favorite slack key memory would be being able to remember what
my favorite slack key memory actually was! 
My oldest memory was hearing "slack key swing" by Peter Moon back
in the seventies, and liking it a lot. Did not know then what the
title meant and also that Peter was not actually playing slack key.
(He was using a flat pick on an electric guitar and simulating some
of the alternating finger-picked notes found in slack, along with
Drums, Bass and full "pop" treatment)
Later in the seventies, hearing the real stuff at my soon-to-be
father-in-laws house, as played by Kwan and Kane (B&W album).
Later still, in the eighties, calling Harry's in Honolulu (desperate
to find sheet music and lessons) and ordering Loo's and Kwan's
materials. Still later in the Eighties, calling Ozzie and getting
him to tab-out Ledwards "Slack Key Number One", which Oz quickly
did and sent to me.
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Mahope Kākou...
...El Lorenzo de Ondas Sonoras |
Edited by - Lawrence on 06/08/2006 1:50:20 PM |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2006 : 08:01:40 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by Auntie Maria
Andy -- having just read all these wonderful posts, I know there is no way you'll be able to choose just one winner.
So I'm donating 4 more DVDs to your effort...and will mail them for you, too. Send me the names/addresses when you've made your selections, 'kay?
Whoa, thanks Auntie! I'm having fun reading too.
Choosing a winner is too tough. I was going to pick by random drawing.
Thanks for your generosity Auntie Maria! With a total of 5 DVDs for this giveaway, people should come out of the wood work and share their stories. |
Andy |
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Admin
Pupule
USA
4551 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2006 : 09:55:13 AM
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quote:
Originally posted by JimC
But my best Slack Key moment was when I did a google search and typed in the words "Slack Key" and Taropatch.net appeared. So many slack key memory's and friends have happened since that time . Mahalo Andy
Ah, flattery will get you everywhere except in a random drawing.  Thanks though. My slack key memories and friends have indeed accelerated in the past 4 years. |
Andy |
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Menpachi Man
Lokahi
274 Posts |
Posted - 06/08/2006 : 5:48:45 PM
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Long time ago. Yeah, real long time ago (in da 70's), when I was in college (UHawaii), I was living with a few friends. Then one day, one guy brought home some music sheets. I said, "wat dat?" He said, "Azz slack key". I said, "Slack key. Wat dat?" He said, "Instrumental Hawaiian music". I said, "Oh okay, I go try". Played some simple tableture. I said "oh, some nice yea? Azz wat dey play on da Hawaiian Radio!" Ever since den, I tried to pick up whatever slack key I could. But I still junk! Azz aright, anykine kanikapila when drinkin beer wit ohana.
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