How I Got Started Playing Slack Key Guitar Part 2

Another thing that really got me going was the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters CD which is still my favorite to this day. Especially when I was living in Japan, I'd listen to that CD a LOT. When I was still attending the University of Hawaii I'd visit the library and check out some of the slack key sheet music they had on hand. Also, my friend Ruth Komatsu let me borrow the Leonard Kwan book that is now unfortunately out of print although after all these years I was finally able to snag it online on Ebay! Ruth is the sister ofJoanie Komatsu, a wonderful musician who I used to always go down and watch in Waikiki. Joanie appears on the "Ki Hoalu Christmas" CD playing "Silent Night" with Ruth on recorder. Ruth was a major influence on me wanting to go into music seriously. When I told her I was thinking of studying guitar in college she told me I'd have to learn classical technique, of course I had no idea what that was. And when another friend said "You know - like Andres Segovia?" I was like, "Who??"

Ruth also let me borrow tablature copies of stuff by Ozzie Kotani and Keola Beamer and these I worked on in Japan since my work schedule really was only 4pm - 9:30pm for most of the time I was there so I had lots of time on my hands - nice eh? I remember it felt a little ironic to be learning "Koko Ni Sachi Ari" arranged for Hawaiian slack key while in Japan. Also had Beamer's "Wi-Ha", "Pua Lililehua" and "Ho'omalu Slack Key" as well as a bunch of slack key Christmas songs which I still have to this day. Only thing about Beamer's first CD is that a lot of it is duet stuff but still, what beautiful arrangements. George Kahumoku told me (I didn't realize this) that Beamer is classically trained and writes out his stuff. Can anyone verify this?

Speaking of Leonard Kwan, last summer when I was back in Hawaii I found a CD with like, 25 of his songs on there, reissued by Cord International. I didn't know that the slack key piece he played on the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Masters CD was unusual in that I think I read once that that was the first time he'd recorded with an acoustic guitar instead of his usual electric hollow-body. Jim "Kimo" West told me that the old amps back in the day had a vibrato setting which would explain how Leonard Kwan and some other guitarists from back then got that sound on their guitar.

Anyone else think I should get a kickback from Aunty Maria at Mele.com?

How I Got Started Playing Slack Key Guitar Part 1

There were many factors that made me want to start playing slack key guitar. Of course, it was something I'd always heard growing up in Hawaii but it was just one of those things you take for granted - I remember Jon Odo playing "Ku'u Home O Kahalu'u" slack key style in the talent show in high school and found that impressive. And around 1990 (I think) I started attending the slack key festival on Oahu when it used to be held at the McCoy Pavilion at Ala Moana Park. Ah, those were the days, just hanging out, eating ono plate lunch with your friends, listening to great music.....

When I entered college and started studying classical guitar techniques, that really opened the door to learning other fingerpicking styles. Went to my professor's recital at Atherton studios and 2 things really stuck with me. She played a Sevillanas with a couple of flamenco dancers - which I loved - and then since she forgot to announce that that was supposed to be the last piece in her program, she did one more: a slack key rendition of "Hawaii Aloha". It was very impressive to me that she would include those styles amongst all the other highbrow classical pieces she performed so beautifully that night. A night that would, sadly, be her last performance before suffering wrist and hand problems.

So at one point she turned me on to playing flamenco guitar accompaniment for flamenco dancers as well as a solo instrument, which I ended up LOVING and was the real reason I moved from Hawaii to California. Then, still in college, my friend asked me if I wanted to play in this talent show thingee at his church that I'd also started attending and I said sure! So that night I did a flamenco piece that I'd been practicing and people loved it. But that night there was also a guy who played a slack key guitar piece which I really liked, though I have no idea what it was. We talked afterwards and as he said man I'd love to learn how you do that, I said the same to him.

So I was really starting to feel it. And then, me and my little flamenco group (with dancers) performed at the Make Music Festival in Honolulu one year in like, 1995 or something, and the next year they invited us to perform on opening night of the festival. That's where I saw John Keawe for the first time. I got there early to the Honolulu Academy of Arts theatre and he was the only one there so I thought he was like, custodial staff or something so I was asking him where the changing rooms and stuff were (had heard his name before but didn't know what he looked like). Not that I was rude to him or anything (I hope). But it was embarrassing when they announced his name to come up on stage to perform and I was like "Eh! Dat's da guy!". He still remembered me almost ten years later when I went up to talk to him after his performance at the Whittier College Aloha Series.

He later told me, when we were hanging out at my Southern California Slack Key Festival that was when he was first getting started on recording and I think he'd just won a Hoku award for his music. Anyway, that night, he played such a beautiful rendition of "Amazing Grace" that inspired me so much that I went home that night, tuned my guitar to open G (just guessed at it) and started trying to figure it out on my own, trying to emulate all the little slack key licks that I'd heard over the years that had, unbeknownst to me, subconsciously seeped into my brain. And now, it's one of my favorite things to play and was planning to play it at this last slack key festival until I painfully ripped off my nail on my middle finger. Probably could have still done it if it had been my ring finger, but the middle finger is too important!

More to come....

Jeff Peterson Reflects on 2008 Aloha Falsetto Festival

With the 2nd Annual Aloha Falsetto Festival coming up in Redondo Beach this July, I wanted to share some of my experiences from the first concert.

I had a wonderful time performing in the "house band" with featured artists including Steven Espaniola, Gary Haleamau and Raiatea Helm. Each artist had their own unique style and dynamic on stage and the music felt very fresh and exciting because each group was essentially playing together for the first time. We were already familiar with the songs and had rehearsed on our own, but putting it all together backstage then sharing the music with such a receptive audience was amazing. I had already toured with Steven and Raiatea but it was my first show with Gary. What an incredible musician - a fantastic singer and a great guitarist whose talent really inspired the band to open up at let loose - what a rush!

I also enjoyed many of the spontaneous moments like the groove we broke into with Steven Espaniola on his original song "Hokulani" that got everyone dancing in their seats and Raiatea's idea to do "At Last" extra slow and bluesy. The energy of the crowd can really influence a performance and the reception we got pushed us to play our best.

I have to say that after being a part of both the Southern California Slack Key and Aloha Falsetto Festivals, the audiences have always been outstanding, the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center is the perfect venue for these festivals with its phenomenal sound in the theater. The performers get the chance to meet the audience at each show in the huge lobby during intermissions and it seems the Hawaiian community in the area really supports each other and the artists who come up from Hawaii to perform. We also have had wonderful receptions before each festival at Duke's in Malibu or at the theater where the musicians can kani ka pila and talk story with the guests. That has been one of the highlights for me: just being together with so many of my friends and peers up there has been great.

I look forward to many more festivals at the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center - it's like a home away from home for musicians here in Hawaii.

Mahalo nui loa to all those who have supported the concerts and have given their kokua.

A hui ho,

Jeff Peterson

To view a photo slideshow of the 2008 Aloha Falsetto Festival, please click here.

2009 Festival Video Highlights

I have been so lucky to continually have the opportunities to meet the most wonderful people in the world. After last year's Aloha Falsetto Festival, Jeff Peterson stayed a few extra days in town so he told me about a new friend he'd met just a couple months prior and how, if we have time, we should go hang out with Steffanie Borges. He explained to me that she was really cool and is the daughter of jazz crooner Jimmy Borges who's been entertaining in Hawaii for like, forever. Jeff met her when he was invited to perform at the Romance Festival that I think Matt Catingub is heavily involved in and said she also works as a videographer with her husband Randy.

So we decided to combine a trip to Spazzio's, a great jazz restaurant in the valley, with dinner with Steff and Randy. As we ate and enjoyed great music by John Pisano, we all hit it off and they have since turned into the most wonderful friends anyone could have. Back in the day, Steff and Randy used to play in rock bands and it's through them that I met the guys in Tesla (almost got to see WAR) and attended a fundraiser that featured artists such as Kevin Cronin, the lead singer from Three Dog Night, drummer Greg Bissonette and even had guitar lessons with Carlos Cavazo as a silent auction prize. I "won" Doug Marks' Metal Method, something I've read about in heavy metal guitar magazines like Circus since I was a kid - funny huh?

Randy and Steff shot the Festival from 2 handheld cameras while their friend Louis operated the jib which is that big boom arm with the camera attached at the end which allows for those wide sweeping shots and extreme closeups without having to actually be on stage right in the performers' faces. Check it out and tell me what you think!

Click here to watch video highlights of the 2009 Southern California Slack Key Festival