John Keawe: Hawai‘i Island-Born Slack Key Master
By Ke Ola Music Correspondent Colin John
It’s a slightly overcast, late summer day in the little town of Hawi in North Kohala—one of those typical Kohala mornings where blazing sunshine mingles with the threat of rain. Clouds march majestically over Pololu Valley, ready to change the sunshine to rain at a moment’s notice. Either way, I am not worried because I will shortly begin an interview with one of Hawai’i Island’s greatest contemporary slack key artists, John Keawe. Lucky for me, the weather holds as I wait under the churning skies in the courtyard of the Kohala Plantation Inn.
I am soon greeted by a friendly, mature man with sturdy features, a striking white beard and hair that make him appear wise but not old. Sitting under the swaying palms, we talk about his chosen career, his Hawaiian roots, his family, musical influences and what it means to be a traveling ambassador of the sweet Ki Ho’alu-slack key guitar style.
Early Life
“I was born and grew up here. I sang in the church and my Dad played organ and was into the Big Band sounds. Joseph Keawe Ua’lani was his name and he was a good guy. He just recently passed. I was into rock and roll when I was in high school and played electric guitar and songs by the Ventures, Beatles, Rascals. I enjoyed surf music too, as well as what people now call singer-songwriter stuff.”
John did not encounter the instrument used for slack key style—the acoustic guitar—until after high school, when he began a four-year stint in the Navy. “I couldn’t take an electric guitar with me, so at some point I got an acoustic guitar to strum on and play around with during my tour of duty.”
Planting the Seeds
Upon his return to Hawi, he was drawn to the slack key style after hearing Gabby Pahinui’s seminal “Brown Album,” one that influenced and continues to inspire many slack key artists. “I listened to that album over and over and started learning the style through listening and practicing and watching others,” says Keawe.
Among the “others” was his lovely wife Hope’s father, Marciel Emeliano, from whom he learned different tunings. These tunings, which John still uses today, are Taro Patch, and Wahine C and D, alternate tunings used in the slack key style that generate different tonalities and moods.
John chuckles at the memory of these early woodshed sessions: “I practiced using these tunings, both instrumentally and vocally, and threw in paniolo marches and the turnarounds (the six-to-seven-note musical phrase heard at the end of each line in the slack key style) until Hope would call down, ‘That sounds nice, but it is starting to drive me crazy!’”
Growth and Fruition
The mark of many great guitarists is that the listener may be able to hear them and quickly identify the player through their sonic expressions. A great instrument, like great teachers, can inspire the guitarist to new levels of originality and distinctiveness. Around 1981, John asked fellow Hawi resident David Gomes—a great guitarist in his own right and a fine luthier—to create a custom koa, eight-stringed guitar, one which has provided hundreds of hours of inspiration for John to this day. The eight strings give the guitar a rich sonority that has helped to evolve his style into something unique and readily identifiable. “I started to really get serious about slack key around that time. One thing I noticed was that the solo guitarist was not prevalent like you see today. Most people were playing in groups and this guitar helped give me a big sound.”
John’s solo acoustic proclivities started to blossom and he decided to go into the studio of Kohala’s Palm Records to capture some of his ideas on tape, recorded casually over a number of sessions. He had no intentions of making a record but after hearing the results decided to release what became 1993’s “Ho’onanea” a collection of beautiful instrumentals that garnered John an unexpected Na Hoku award. “I was pleasantly surprised and thought that I might be onto something with this.” Indeed.
Harvesting and Looking Forward
Since that auspicious debut in 1993, John has released nine CDs as well as several instructional DVDs. He continues to tour with recent excursions to Seattle, Oregon, Arizona and Japan. You can often catch John solo and with Hope, gracefully and beautifully dancing the hula on Hawai’i at The Bamboo in Hawi, Blue Dragon in Kawaihae and Kona Brewing Company. The remainder of 2010 and the beginning of 2011 will find John working on and releasing a new album, a combination of both instrumental and vocal pieces.
“For me, I am grateful to play my music and evolve the slack key tradition,” says the eight-string musical virtuoso. “It’s about writing new songs and melodies, while keeping it honest and a reflection of me”. ❖
For further information including album releases, instructional materials and performance schedule, please visit www.johnkeawe.com.
Contact Colin John at transpacificblues@yahoo.com.
Photos courtesy John Keawe.
