Tag Archives: Music

Holiday 2022

From The Editor

Aloha!

Wow! Can you believe it has been an entire year since our last post?

So much has happened. We had a great beachfront retirement party for our friend John who just retired from Apple.  We traveled to The Big Island and Oahu for the first time in years. Kathy had remarkably successful eye surgery and I had major back surgery. I am a new man as a result. Unfortunately, we lost our beloved fur baby, Teddi. He was a beautiful and loving member of our ʻohana. He will be missed.

In spite of inflation and the outrageously high cost of living, Maui is still a great place to live. The weather has been a little strange and unpredictable and drought conditions persist although not as severe as in the last few years.

This time of year is when we should pause, be thankful for what we have, and celebrate with our family and friends.

So, be safe and be well. Health, happiness, and prosperity in the coming year.

In This Issue:                                                                                             

For The Musician                                              

Holiday Recipes:

     – Pizzelle

     – Rugelach

Inspiration

 

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‘Tis The Season 2021

From The Editor

Aloha!

As 2021 comes to a close, now would be a good time to reflect on all that has happened in the last year. From an attempted coup to a resurgence of Covid. As we always do, we hung together and weathered the storm

Here in Hawaii it looked like we dodged a bullet. But alas the Delta variant knocked us for a loop and sent our economy into another tailspin.

This time of year is when we should pause, be thankful for what we have, and celebrate with our family and friends, in person if possible.

So my friends, be safe and be well. Health, happiness, and prosperity in the coming year.

Click to play Auld Lang Syne

 

In This Issue:                                                                                             

–Down The Road     

-It’s Not Over ‘Till It’s Over                                                            

–I Never Knew I Needed This

-Free Stuff

 

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Holiday 2020

A Note From The Editor

Aloha!

The election is over so, let’s kiss and makeup, ’cause the year ahead is sure to be challenging and it’s gonna take all of us to pull together and weather the storm. Good riddance to 2020!

Hawaii has suffered more than most. We have been great in protecting ourselves from “The Virus” but in the process our economy has been ravaged and I am sure many other areas that rely heavily on tourism have also experienced a big setback.

This time of year is when we should pause , be thankful for what we have and celebrate with our family and friends, even if that means doing so from a distance.

So my friends, be safe and be well. Health, happiness and prosperity in the coming year.

We Wish You A Merry Christmas and A Happy New Year

↑Click To Play

In This Issue:                                                                                             

–A Tale Of Two Drones                                                                       

–On Being Mindful

-Traveling To Hawaii

 

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Twelve Christmas Classics

Our musical Christmas card to you, our readers. May your days be merry and bright, your nights filled with stars and wonder and the New Year one of prosperity and dreams come true.

26888405 - close up image of fireplace and wood burning
The Christmas Song-Nat King Cole
santa3
Traditions of Christmas-Mannheim Steamroller
16676842 - nativity scene
The Little Drummer Boy-The Original Harry Simeone Chorale
Christmas Tree
O Tannenbaum-The Mantovani Orchestra
candy-cane
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas-Kenny G
46377173 - christmas gift box. isolated on white background
Silver Bells-Elvis Presley
three-wise-men
The First Noel-The Mantovani Orchestra
23669974 - christmas snowflake ornament on a white background
Adeste Fideles-Nat King Cole
21884632 - dreaming angel
Mary Did You Know-Kenny Rogers & Wynonna Judd
47802121 - poinsettia flower christmas wreath isolated on white background.
Hark The Herald Angels Sing-Mannheim Steamroller
38254082 - christmas stocking with presents isolated on white background.
Silent Night-Elvis Presley
16484535 - red christmas ball with ribbon
Auld Langsyne-Jim Bajor

Peace

 

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Transition & Change

It has been quite awhile since we posted to our blog. And quite awhile since we moved back to Maui.  We are finally settling into our lives here in Hawaii and although we lived here for many years prior to coming back, the transition still proved to be challenging.

One of the most unsettling aspects of living here (and the same was true the last time I lived here) is that you make friends and then they move away. I guess you can say that about any place. But, it’s more pronounced here.

We made a decision to stay in the original home we bought and not move to the larger home we intended to purchase. The first home we bought is much easier to take care of, leaving more free time to enjoy our surroundings. We also made a decision to get off the career treadmill and work part-time. Kathy settled at The Maui Brewing Company as an Administrative Assistant 3 days a week, I went to work with

Maui Brewing Company

State Farm Insurance as a Representative from which I retired on March 15, 2019. I have since returned to my passion of being a Hana Tour Guide. I connected with Temptation Tours and conduct Hana tours 3-4 days a week.

Upper Waikani Falls
Luxury Limo Vans

 

 

 

 

We also retired the Pua Mele Art & Design website and our products are now offered  exclusively on  Etsy.  Give us a visit!

The weather on Maui this last year has been very wet. In fact it has been one of the wettest and coldest ( yes, we even had snow as low as 6,200 feet) years on record. Maui also had a very rare hurricane. Fortunately, the area where we live is protected by some large mountains and what we experienced was not much more than a very rainy and windy day.

Peace, love and happiness in 2019!

In This Month’s Issue

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Henry Kapono & Friends

One of the many draws to the Hawaiian Islands for us has always been the beautiful and inspirational music. Hawaii’s unique and varied sounds embody the aloha spirit

So of course, we jumped at the chance to see in person an array of Hawaii’s greatest musicians at the concert titled “Henry Kapono & Friends” held at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center.

These concerts are part of Henry’s passion to perpetuate his love of local music and musicians. In addition to the Island-wide concerts, Henry has established the Henry Kapono Foundation to support music programs for keiki (children), and provide career guidance and performance opportunities for emerging musicians, as he states on his site.

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Kalani Pe’a

So what’s new in Hawaiian music?  Kalani Pe’a, is what’s new. This Grammy winning artist takes Hawaiian music and some pop covers, adds some unusual chords and progressions and creates something beautiful and different.

Kelani Pea
Kalani Pe’a

Usually when going to listen to Hawaiian artists perform, I expect great musicians, maybe sitting, playing and talking story. Kalani, however, adds a touch of Broadway to his performance. His stage presence is amazing, and the Hawaiian language just flows effortlessly made more beautiful by his powerful voice. The backup musicians, vocalists and hula dancers that perform on stage with him just make his performance that much better. Each of them an outstanding talent in their own right.

Maui Arts
At The Maui Arts and Cultural Center

One of the things we were looking forward to when we moved back to Maui was the wealth of great talent. Little did we know that we would be living next door to this amazing Grammy winning artist.

Aloha nui

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September 2016

Wow! It’s already September and the year is almost gone. Is time flying or what? Here in Arizona the heat is finally starting to break. We hope all of our readers had a fantastic summer.

We are now in the final phase of selling our condo and expect to be back home in Hawaii by May 2017 no matter what. This process has been a long haul but we never took our eye off the prize. When all is said and done and we are re-settled, I plan on writing a special post on what it took to achieve our goal of returning to Hawaii. If you already live in Hawaii, don’t leave! Going home is harder than you think.

We are subscribed to the group “Hawaiian History and Culture” and some inspiration for this month’s posts is from the group.

Hawaiian Royal Family
Hawaiian Royal Family

We hope you enjoy our blog magazine.

Happy Labor Day!

In This Month’s Issue

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Editors note

On Sunday, September 11th, please take a moment to remember all of our brothers and sisters who were lost that day.

Memorial Ribbon

 

 

RainSong Guitars

 I have been playing guitar for quite a few years now and have owned many different guitars. I stopped playing electric guitars years ago and now have two acoustic guitars and a ukulele. One of those guitars is a wahine slack key tuned Guild, which was the first really good guitar I ever owned. That was back in 1970 (she’s 46 years old). The  other is a RainSong  WS1000, my basic rockabilly instrument.

I first encountered this beautiful and unusual RainSong guitar while on The Big Island. I stopped into a music store and saw this guitar hanging on the wall. The store owner asked if I would like to play and handed the guitar to me.

The sound was amazing! But I couldn’t wrap my head around a carbon fiber guitar. After all, a fine guitar had to be made of fine wood. Right? I thought anything else was sacreligious. Over the years I sampled this guitar whenever I was in a shop that carried  RainSong. I didn’t know that I was falling in love. And then the day came for me to take the bride home.

The complete review follows.

Rainsong Pers View
RainSong WS1000

Excerpted from a review written by Guy Little August 17, 2015

Unedited

RainSong Guitars began on the Hawaiian island of Maui when a fledgling classical guitarist John Decker witnessed a torrential downpour while attending a wedding. The guitar player performing for the guests had a bit of a dilemma: carry on playing and risk being drenched by the tropical shower, which would cause irreversible damage to his treasured guitar, or run for cover and risk the wrath of the bride. That day, John Decker was inspired to create a new kind of instrument, one that would play beautifully while enduring life’s summers and winters, bumps and bruises – and, well, most things life could throw at it (save for, say, a brick).

The instrument that John Decker created became the world’s first all-graphite guitar, known as theRainSong guitar (get it?), and it now comes in all shapes and sizes, from a parlour travel guitar to a boom box of a dreadnought. But that’s about where the similarities to a conventional guitar ends – these instruments are packed with forward-thinking technology that means you could submerge it into the Arctic ocean and it’d still sing beautifully for you. Or, if you fancy, you could drag it through the Sahara strumming it on the back of a camel without worrying about the neck warping or soundboard splitting.

Since the mid-’90s, RainSong guitars has been building high-end graphite guitars that deliver a clear, balanced tone while remaining unaffected by humidity and temperature changes – for this reason alone these guitars were/are a big hit with travelling guitarists. Along the way, the company, now based in Washington State, USA, has refined its designs and construction techniques, notably developing apatented Projection Tuned Layering process that allows the body to be built with no bracing whatsoever – and let me tell you, this takes a little getting used to. Just don’t look inside the soundhole; it’s a trippy and uncomfortable experience. Not because it’s some wormhole to a Manchester nightclub in the ‘90s, but because it just doesn’t seem right without any kerfing or soundboard braces. Continue reading RainSong Guitars

Contemporary Hawaiian Music

Contemporary Hawaiian Music, Hawaiian Pop and Jawaiian have their roots, arguably, in the 1970’s, and have become a big part of the ever growing music scene in Hawaii and on the mainland . Listen to some of the artists below from then and now and then click on the links to their sites for more information about them and many more great Hawaiian artists.

Aloha

Olomana
Jerry Santos and Kamuela Kimokeo

Anuhea
Anuhea

The Green
The Green

Peace
Maluhia

 

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