The music of Hawaii includes an array of traditional and popular styles, ranging from native Hawaiian folk music to modern rock and hip hop. Styles like slack-key guitar are well known worldwide, while Hawaiian-tinged music is a frequent part of Hollywood soundtracks. Hawaii also made a contribution to country music with the introduction of the steel guitar. In addition, the music which began to be played by Puerto Ricans in Hawaii in the early 1900s is called cachi cachi music, on the islands of Hawaii.
Althea Rae Duhinio Janairo, known professionally as Tia Carrere, is an American actress, singer and former model who got her first big break as a regular on the daytime soap opera General Hospital.
Keola Beamer is a Hawaiian slack-key guitar player, best known as the composer of "Honolulu City Lights" and an innovative musician who fused Hawaiian roots and contemporary music. Keola Beamer descends from one of Hawaii's most respected musical families.
Philip Kunia Pahinui was a slack-key guitarist and singer of Hawaiian music.
Slack-key guitar is a fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii after Mexican cowboys introduced Spanish guitars there in the late 19th century. The Hawaiians did not embrace the tuning of the traditional Spanish guitars they encountered. They re-tuned the guitars to sound a chord and developed their own style of playing, not using a flat pick, but plucking the strings. Most slack-key tunings can be achieved by starting with a guitar in standard tuning and detuning or "slacking" one or more of the strings until the six strings form a single chord, frequently G major.
Ledward Kaapana is a Hawaiian musician, best known for playing in the slack key guitar style. He also plays steel guitar, ukulele, autoharp and bass guitar, and is a baritone and falsetto vocalist.
Jake Shimabukuro is an American ukulele virtuoso and composer known for his fast and complex finger work. His music combines elements of jazz, blues, funk, rock, bluegrass, classical, folk, and flamenco. Shimabukuro has written numerous original compositions, including the entire soundtracks to two Japanese films, Hula Girls (2007) and Saidoweizu (2009), the Japanese remake of Sideways.
The Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album was an honor presented to recording artists from 2005 to 2011 for quality Hawaiian music albums. The Grammy Awards, an annual ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, are presented by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to "honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency, and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position".
James West, also known as Jim "Kimo" West, is a Canadian guitarist best known for working with "Weird Al" Yankovic. He auditioned for Yankovic after being introduced by Steve Jay and the two have worked together ever since. West can be heard and seen on all of Yankovic's videos, albums, and concerts since 1983.
Dennis David Kahekilimamaoikalanikeha Kamakahi was a Hawaiian slack key guitarist, recording artist, music composer, and Christian minister. He was a three-time Grammy Award winner, and in 2009 he was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.
Peter Moon was an American ukulele and slack-key guitar player.
The Brothers Cazimero was a Hawaiian musical duo made up of Robert Cazimero on bass and Roland Cazimero on twelve string guitar. Robert also played piano as a solo musician. The Cazimeros got their start during the Hawaiian Renaissance with ukulele and slack-key guitarist Peter Moon's band, The Sunday Manoa, on their first recording, Guava Jam. Since that time, The Brothers Cazimero have released at least 36 recordings and three DVDs. For three decades, the group performed at the annual Lei Day Concert. They made their Carnegie Hall debut in 1989.
Kamuela Kahoano is a singer/songwriter, painter/visual artist and music producer from Honolulu, Hawaii. His music has elements of acoustic, folk, indie and alternative with Hawaiian influences. He performs solo and was formerly the lead singer of the band Analog(ic). He is an accomplished player of both the ukulele and guitar, playing both left-handed; he also plays the djembe. Kahoano claims many influences, including Coldplay, U2 and the Beatles.
Stephen M. Sano is Professor of Music, the Harold C. Schmidt Director of Choral Studies, and the Rachford & Carlota A. Harris University Fellow in Undergraduate Education at Stanford University. Using the name Steve Sano, he is also an accomplished kī hō'alu, or slack-key guitar, player.
Gerald Ross is a musician specializing in American Roots Music – Swing, Early Jazz, Western Swing, Hawaiian, Ragtime and Blues. Playing the guitar, lap steel guitar and ukulele he has performed throughout the USA and Europe and has recorded seven solo CDs. Ross currently tours as a solo act performing and teaching ukulele and steel guitar at festivals and music camps.
Makana, born Matthew Swalinkavich, is a slack-key guitar player, singer, and composer.
Patrick Landeza is a contemporary Hawaiian slack key guitarist. He is notable as the first mainland-born Hawaiian to win a Nā Hōkū Hanohano music award. He was born in Berkeley, California on June 23, 1972.
The Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, occasionally called the Nā Hōkū Awards or Hoku Awards, are the premier music awards in Hawaii. They are considered to be Hawaii's equivalent of the Grammy Awards. "Nā Hōkū Hanohano" means "Stars of Distinction" in Hawaiian – "hōkū" means "star", "nā" makes it plural, and "hanohano" means "glorious, worthy of praises". The awards were founded in 1978 by radio personality Krash Kealoha of KCCN-AM, a radio station which focused on traditional Hawaiian music. He launched the first awards with the support of the owner of the radio station Sydney Grayson, and his fellow DJs Kimo Kaho‘āno and Jacqueline “Skylark” Rossetti.
Cyril Pahinui was a slack-key guitarist and singer of Hawaiian music.
Ho'okena is a Hawaiian music trio which consist of the members Horace K. Dudoit, Chris Kamaka and Glen Smith. The group was created in 1986 and remains one of the longest lasting Hawaiian music groups. Ho'okena has been nominated for the Grammy Awards three times and has won multiple Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.
