The Voice of an Angel: Kanani Enos
Kanani Enos grew up in a world of music, Hawaiian rhythm and melody reverberating through generations to create the living song she is today.
“I grew up listening to my dad playing slack key guitar all the time,” she says. “Especially in the evenings or on weekends…there would always be an uncle or cousin stopping by to kanikapila…so I was always surrounded by music.”
“My grandmother, Myra Koai Enos, was well-known in the South Kona area for her beautiful nahenahe (soft, sweet, melodious) voice. She entertained at local restaurants and bars, like the long gone ‘Kona Nightingale,’ and at family parties. She could play the piano as well as the ‘ukulele in addition to singing. “Ālika,” “Kāhealani,” and “Pua Līlia” were some of the songs people recall her singing.”
Kanani never heard that nahenahe voice, however the mo‘okū‘auhau (genealogial succession) is strong; the blood runs true. “She died way before I was born,” Kanani says, adding, “family members say ‘you sound just like your grandma,’ and I feel connected to her when I sing. Although I never met her, I feel like she’s one of my biggest influences and inspirations.”
People new to her name think of Kanani as one of Hawai‘i’s up-and-coming musicians. However, she is hardly new to Hawaiian music. She says, “Most people know me as a hula dancer. I first started dancing hula as a little girl of five years old with Aunty Mahealani Perez, a student of Uncle George Na‘ope. I continued dancing hula all the way up into my teens with different Kona-based kumu hula such as Sheraine Kamakau, Ulalia Berman, and Keoni Atkinson. I then went on to dance for the Lim Family and was 13 when we were entered in the Merrie Monarch competition.”
Kanani attended high school at Kamehameha Schools Kapālama campus on O‘ahu.
“It was there that my love for singing began to grow alongside my hula. We, as boarders, sang beautiful hymns at church every Sunday. I also sang in Concert Glee Club, which taught me appreciation for all kinds of music, and an openness to singing in other languages besides Hawaiian, such as Italian, French, Swedish, German, Tahitian, and many others. I loved it.”
While at Kapālama, she studied four years of ‘ōlelo Hawai‘i (Hawaiian language).
“This opened my heart up to haku mele (compose songs). It was at this time my first mele came to me while visiting home for the weekend and swimming at Ho‘okena. My first experience of words and lyrics flowing through me, capturing a mele that 15-plus years later would be the title track of my debut CD, Aloha I Ho‘okena.”
All throughout her teens she was writing—writing poems and writing songs. It was something that just came very naturally to her. When she began to feel a song coming she would stop and write it down. Her cousin Jeremiah Augustine taught her to play the guitar her sophomore year, and she had fun creating original songs in her dorm room. It was a good outlet for her as a teenager missing her family and home in Kona. Songwriting continues to be her best mode of expressing herself and her soul’s message.
What is it like to be one of Hawai‘i’s rising musicians?
“I consider myself more of a singer/songwriter than a musician because although I can play the ‘ukulele and guitar, I don’t consider myself a skilled player of either. My gifts lay in the receiving of words, lyrics, and poetry, and the melodies that accompany them.”
“I have the privilege of having awesome musicians in my family. There are so many South Kona musicians that I grew up listening to who did not try to enter the Hawaiian music industry. Their soaring voices and slacked guitars filled the nights of my childhood ‘ohana get-togethers and continue to inspire me!” she says.
Two who did move into music as a profession are a pair of Kahumoku men.
“My cousins, Uncle George Kahumoku and his son, Keoki, brought the music out of Kealia—in the style of our ‘ohana—and shared it with the world. I like to think I am following their footsteps, in my own ‘wahine’ kind of way. I strive to honor the women singers and composers of our ‘ohana, including Uncle George’s grandmother, Lottie Koko‘o Haae Kahumoku, who was my great-grandmother’s sister.” She is the composer of Kealia, “One of my favorite songs featured on my CD,” Kanani says.
Kanani carries the responsibility of her heritage with grace and strength, as she must also pass it on to the next generation.
She has three young children, and it is a challenge sometimes balancing the life of music and the demands of motherhood. However, she’s up for the challenge if it means they will be proud of their mom one day and if she can instill a sense of love for Hawaiian music in their hearts.
Teaching is an education in itself, and Kanani found that teaching hula pushed her musicianship to a higher level.
Kanani taught hula in Ho‘okena from 2008-2013. She wanted to provide something cultural for the community to connect to their roots, and to learn and practice their culture together. She also taught hula at her cousin Keoki Kahumoku’s annual Hawaiian music and lifestyle camp in Pāhala from 2009-2013. Kanani taught many original mele she had written, as well as well-known classics.
“It was during these years of teaching hula that I started to pick up the ‘ukulele more and more and began singing and playing songs for the dancers at hula. I needed to make sure the words, music, and timing was on point for them. This forced me to improve my ‘ukulele and singing skills, and I began to love it even more. Our performances in the community connected me with other musicians whom I could learn from and gain musical pointers.”
One such musician was Bulla Kailiwai, a well-known Hawai‘i Island musician, and grandson of Ray Kāne, who offered his help and talents, “becoming the main musician on my debut CD,” Kanani says.
“Uncle Sonny Lim recorded the entire album, and my cousin Jeremiah Augustine mastered it. My CD, Aloha I Ho‘okena was released in October 2013.” The CD features 11 songs, eight are originals.
“The other three are ‘ohana favorites, all about Ho‘okena and Kealia. I really wanted to honor the place and people from where I come from. Our lifestyle and traditions and of course my kūpuna. My CD earned me a nomination for Most Promising Artist at this year’s Na Hōkū Hanohano Awards. It was so exciting and although I did not win I consider it an honor just to be nominated.”
Kanani is currently on tour, playing in various venues and doing community work alongside ‘ohana/musicians, Jeremiah and Blue Augustine. They just returned from Maui and are planning to play on O‘ahu next. ❖
Contact Kanani Enos: kananienosmusic@gmail.com, facebook.com/kananienosmusic
