Guitarist, singer, composer and Grammy Award-nominee Makana comes to the Big Island on April 7 for a performance at the Aloha Theatre in Kainaliu. ADVERTISING Guitarist, singer, composer and Grammy Award-nominee Makana comes to the Big Island on April 7
Guitarist, singer, composer and Grammy Award-nominee Makana comes to the Big Island on April 7 for a performance at the Aloha Theatre in Kainaliu.
Makana is an internationally acclaimed guitarist, singer and composer known for lending his musical talent for social change.
He is considered to be one of the greatest living players of the rare and complex art of slack key guitar. A protege of Hawaiian sack key guitar legends, including Bobby Moderow Jr. and the late Uncle Sonny Chillingworth, Makana is perpetuating and evolving the art of slack key to new frontiers.
His “Slack Rock” style infuses the traditional slack key sound with elements of bluegrass, rock, blues and raga and his playing has garnered critical acclaim. Guitar Player Magazine ranked him as one of the top three guitarists in America, and the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts recently gave him the Slack Key Guitar Legacy Award.
As a child, Makana was recognized for his talent, soon learning/honing his craft under the guidance of Chillingworth and Raymond Kane. He began his professional career in 1993 at the age of 15 performing at Duke’s Canoe Club. He was once billed as “Ki Ho’alu Kid” before adopting Makana, a word meaning “gift.” Makana feels music is a gift and it is a gift he gives in turn to audiences around the planet.
Makana’s guitar playing has been featured on three Grammy Award-nominated albums, along with the Hawaiian Slack Key Masters Albums and also including the soundtrack of the Academy-Award winning film “The Descendants.”
He has performed worldwide in venues ranging from Tianjin Opera House to Bumbershoot in Seattle to WOMAD in England to The White House. Makana has shared the stage with Jason Mraz and Jack Johnson, Sting, Carlos Santana and Elvis Costello.
General admission tickets for the April 7 show are $25 to $35 with Gold Circle premium seating tickets costing $48. Doors open at 7 p.m. for the 7:30 p.m. show.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.lazarbearproductions.com or by calling (808) 896-4845. They are also available at Kiernan’s Music, Aloha Theatre, Kona Music Exchange, and Sound Wave Music in Kona; Waimea General Store in Waimea; Taro Patch Gifts in Honokaa; and Hilo Guitars, CD Wizard and Hilo Music Exchange in Hilo.
Info: www.lazarbearproductions.com. ■
