16th Annual Seattle Slack Key Festival at Town Hall Seattle

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2. 16th Annual Seattle Slack Key Festival

Kala Koa Entertainment celebrates 16 years of bringing the biggest and brightest names in Hawaiian music to the 2024 Seattle Slack Key Festival returning to Town Hall Seattle on Sunday, November 10, 2024.

The Slack Key Festival takes fans on a Hawaiian musical journey showcasing GRAMMY-winning and Na Hoku Hanohano (Hawaiian Grammy) award-winning Hawaiian kiho’alu guitarists, along with vocal and hula performances.

Taking its name from a finger-picking style of guitar playing indigenous to Hawaii (as heard on the Grammy-nominated soundtrack for "The Descendants"), the Slack Key Festival brings the art of ki ho'alu guitar to Seattle.

This year’s Festival line-up includes George Kuo, Jeff Peterson, Jim "Kimo" West, Kawika Kahiapo, Anthony Pfluke, Pomaika’i and Malie Lyman, and Ken Emerson.

WHO:
George Kuo - Known as one of Hawaii’s premier Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar artists playing in the traditional nahenahe (sweet, soothing) style, bridging today’s generation with the older generations. Kuo has been twice recognized with excellence in recording achievement by the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts; he has won Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, for Instrumental Album of the year in 1995 for Hawaiian Touch and 1996 for "Aloha No Na Kupuna – Love for the Elders". In 1986 Eddie Kamae asked George to join his group THE SONS OF HAWAII and in 2000 performed and recorded with Dennis & David Kamakahi & Martin Pahinui as the HUI ALOHA group. Highlights of George’s performing career include playing on the Garrison Keillor Prairie Home Companion Show with Chet Atkins and Johnny Gimble in 1993 and performing at the Hollywood Bowl with the Honolulu Symphony in 1997.

Jeff Peterson - Born on the Island of Maui and grew up on the slopes of Haleakala where he was introduced to the rich heritage of Hawaiian music by his father, a "paniolo" (Hawaiian cowboy), on the Haleakala Ranch. Recognized as one of Hawaii’s most versatile musicians, Peterson is at the heart of the Hawaiian music scene today, having contributed to two Grammy Award-winning recordings and winner of eight Na Hk Hanohano Awards in Hawaii including Slack Key Album of the Year for "Maui on My Mind" in 2010, "Slack Key Travels" in 2014 and "O’ahu" in 2016 which also earned him Instrumental Song of the Year for the song "Old Pali". His latest release "Wahi Pana" is a full-length performance and documentary film and CD soundtrack.

Jim "Kimo" West - Regarded as one of the world’s foremost “ki ho’alu” or Hawaiian “slack key” guitar artists and his music has garnered over seventy-five million spins on streaming services, Kimo just wrapped up a tour of Europe playing his brand of slack key guitar music. He is a 2021 Grammy Winner for his recent CD, More Guitar Stories and a 2019 Grammy nominee for Moku Maluhia-Peaceful Island. He is also a 2008 winner of the Hawaii Music Awards and four-time Na Hoku Hanohano (the Hawaiian ‘Grammy’) nominee. He is a two-time winner of the LA Treasures Award for his efforts in keeping this important acoustic guitar tradition alive. His numerous CDs feature many original compositions as well as inventive arrangements of the genre’s classic repertoire. His seventh CD, Guitar Stories goes beyond slack key, exploring genres like West African guitar, Middle Eastern Music and Americana. Slackers In Paradise features duets with slack and steel guitar legend, Ken Emerson and his latest CD, Moku Maluhia-Peaceful Island is a mix of “nahenahe” or very relaxing compositions. For his work as long-time guitarist with “Weird Al”, he has earned four Grammy’s and a Billboard #1 CD debut for 2015’s Mandatory Fun. Kimo’s slack key compositions have been used in a number of features, TV spots, cable, web and in many documentaries.

Kawika Kahiapo - On the professional music scene for over 40 years, having been on over 120 recording projects, including 6 of his own. Kahiapo is a multi Na Hoku Hanohano Award recipient, Slack Key Master, and known for his “voice of velvet.” He was also a featured artist on Grammy®-winning CD, “Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key.” Kawika’s passion for music started as a young boy, when his earliest mentors included his own father, and “Pops” Gabby Pahinui. Serving Ke Akua and others are a priority and is reflected in Kawika’s lifestyle and music. Love for the islands, its people, ‘ohana, and Ke Akua “Creator God”, are what inspires him, while staying committed to perpetuating Hawaiian music, the culture, and the art of ki ho’alu.

Anthony Pfluke – A N Hk Hanohano finalist, Pfluke has rapidly become a Maui favorite and recently released his third album, We Will Rise. Anthony performs Hawaiian, contemporary and island style music alongside his original compositions on the ‘ukulele and piano. He has been playing and singing for about eight years and has been involved in many events around the islands including the Concert for Our Lives at the MACC in 2018 as well as the Maui ‘Ukulele Festival, Fleetwood's, and at many of Maui's top resorts. In 2020 he made his debut appearance at the Southern California Slack Key Festival in L.A.

Pomaika'i & Mlie Lyman - Born into a legacy, Pomaika‘i resonates a sound all too familiar in the traditional Hawaiian Music genre, that of her grandmother, Genoa Keawe and a repertoire that embraces a broad range from traditional ha‘i style melodies to romantic Hawaiian songs to contemporary Hawaiian music. Her daughter Mlie is a multitalented singer, hula dancer and musician who got her start playing steel guitar with Alan Akaka in 2013 and jumping onstage to join the Keawe ‘Ohana show at the Waikiki Marriott. Mlie now attends college and performs professionally with her mom and with a variety of Hawaiian entertainers.

Ken Emerson - San Francisco Bay area born, and Hawaiian island bred guitarist who covers many musical genres. He has played his special blend of Blues/Jazz Hawaiian guitar for 40 years and running. His original compositions and performances on 'Slack Key Guitar Vol 2' (Palm Records) helped bring in the first ever 2005 GRAMMY award for Hawaiian music. 'KE' most recently played on Donald Fagen's 2007 GRAMMY winning "Morph the Cat" album.

What is Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Music?
Played from the heart and soul through the fingers and flowing with vivid tropical images, Hawaiian ki ho'alu (slack key) is truly one of the great acoustic guitar traditions of the world. In slack key, some of the strings are "slacked" from the standard guitar tuning, with the thumb playing the bass notes while the other fingers play the melody and improvise in a finger-picked style. A brief history of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar can be found here: https://www.dancingcat.com/section-1-history

Learn more about this beautiful generations-old art form – https://www.dancingcat.com/section-1-history

WHEN:
- Sunday, November 10, 2024; Concert 1:00pm
- Doors open, food and vendors from 11:30am