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The Hawaiian Islands are home to some really spectacular pickers! Mahalo for your support of these fine musicians. Bands are listed in alphabetical order by island. (If you're looking for information about recurring events on each island, visit our EVENTS page.)
Celtic Waves plays a lively blend of traditional jigs and reels with a sprinkling of slow airs and songs that lend an Irish pub feel to the music. Performed on acoustic instruments, their repertoire ranges from rollicking, newly composed tunes to lyrical 17th-century harp compositions. Band members include Clark Ratliffe on Irish flute and whistles; Katie McClellen on harp, mandolin, whistle, and vocals; Lawson Cannon on guitar and vocals; Susan Reinhart on bodhran and vocals; and Audrey Knuth and Kevin Craven on fiddles. Visit their website at http://celticwaves.net/. For bookings, contact Clark Ratliffe at clark@celticwaves.net.
He's a local folk troubadour... a guitar slinging songwriter, storyteller, historian... and a world-traveled sailor. Gordon's music reflects a sincere joy in the spirit of aloha, and deep pleasure in sharing his island culture with the rest of the world. He can invariably be caught flying solo, in a duo or with close musical friends in a group he calls Local Folk.
Gordo swings from traditional Hawaiian to classic folk & rock, but he loves bluegrass and welcomes any opportunity to kanikapila (play music)!
Visit http://gordonfreitas.com to learn more about Gordo, his songs and schedule, and email him at ainafolk@aol.com.
Formerly known as the Hawaii Contradance Band, this ensemble still plays for the Second Saturday Evening Contradances each month, and they also have regular gigs in Waikiki. Regular band members are Wilson Pang on mandolin, tenor banjo, guitar, and bodhran; Hazel Twelker on guitar, Benedict on tin whistle and mandolin; Maggie Brown on fiddle, Mary Landolt on flute, whistle and vocals; Dennis Suyeoka on mandolin and mandocello; and Hewett Madigan on fiddle. Wilson and Maggie also play piano for contradance events.
Their contradance sets include jigs and reels, with occasional polkas and hornpipes and a few waltzes; their repertoire also consists of Irish, Scottish and American old-time/roots music, and is played at brisk dance tempos. They are increasing their stock of vocal numbers both for the pub and the dance, and, according to Maggie, they aren't too proud to sing sentimental favorites like "Danny Boy" and "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling," or typical pub songs like "Whiskey in the Jar". They've played for weddings, baby luaus, special dances, and parties. Check out their performance schedule and recurring gigs at http://www.sls.hawaii.edu/contra/#oahu
The Saloon Pilots are: Lesley Kline on fiddle, Paul Sato on banjo, Kilin Reece on mandolin and guitar, and Alex Morrison on upright bass. All are seriously talented instrumentalists, and they have worked up spectacular harmonies and truly astonishing new arrangements of the most surprising material. This band never, ever disappoints!
Here is the band's take on what they play: "How do you define progressive Bluegrass music? Well, in our case you could call it American roots music performed on traditional bluegrass instruments...but plugged-in with a driving beat. (Well, that's not entirely true; we often perform acoustically as well, depending on the situation.)"
The Saloon Pilots have developed some impressive credits, including opening performances for Laurie Lewis and Tom Rozum, Pete and Joan Wernick and Ken Emerson, and Rob Ickes, Tim Stafford, and Ledward Ka`apana, the Alison Brown Quartet, and--in 2007--a fantastic performance with the Honolulu Symphony Pops, opening for Wynonna Judd at Honolulu's Blaisdell Concert Hall. They have also appeared live on the wildly popular Lanai and Augie radio show on Island 98.5 FM, a Clear Channel station. They made their first band trip to the Mainland this past summer, playing for delighted audiences all over North Carolina!
Before moving to O`ahu in 2003, fiddler Lesley Kline played bluegrass and mariachi music in Paris for a decade. Paul Sato has been a mainstay banjo picker in the Hawai'i bluegrass scene for many years, and was even one of Bill Monroe's Bluegrass Boys for a couple of days. Mandolinist/guitarist Kilin Reece, who has worked with legendary fiddler Byron Berline, is a well-known, versatile musician who played in bluegrass bands in Oklahoma and California before relocating to Hawai'i. Bill Griffin of California's legendary Cache Valley Drifters (and now a Hawai`i resident) has joined the band on mandolin and vocals. Alex Morrison is one of Hawai`i's most talented upright bass players; he's equally proficient playing jazz as bluegrass, and can hold his own in any genre.
Click here for a February 2007 article about the Saloon Pilots from Honolulu Weekly. And visit their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/saloonpilots for information about their gigs. Please contact Paul Sato at paulsato@hotmail.com for booking information.
Meet FIELDS OF FIRE, East Hawai`i's bluegrass band! They deliver straight-ahead standards and originals, peppered with popular tunes arranged in bluegrass style. Roger Hawney, from Orchidland, plays upright bass, is also a member of the group Into Wishin' and is the engineer at Stone River Studio. Jim Bunton (guitar) and Sharon Umbaugh (vocals) also live in Orchidland. John Oliver from Paradise Park plays mandolin and is a former member of Tropical Grass. Steve Ryan plays banjo, lives in Honoli`i, is a former member of Tropical Grass, and plays piano with the HiloBillies contra dance band.
Fields of Fire was started seven years ago by Roger and Jim, and the band has had its current lineup since late 2004. They have performed at parties, special occasions, and coffee houses.
For bookings or information about upcoming performances, call Roger at (808) 966-6595 or Sharon at (808) 966-4075, or e-mail Ssumbaugh@aol.com.
The Voggy Mountain Ramblers is a Big Island bluegrass band that includes our good friend Jan Willis. Band members are: Maggie Lobo on guitar and vocals; Jan Willis on upright bass and vocals; Lorenzo Carlson on `ukulele and vocals. Randy Holland from O`ahu joins them on mandolin whenever he can! They've recently added Michael Riopel on guitar and vocals. Michael is a retired pro who played for years on the Mainland with the McLains and other groups. The band features several original songs written by Maggie and Michael as well as a blend of Hawaiian, traditional and contemporary folk, country, bluegrass, rock-n-roll and Americana music.
The Ramblers are presently searching for a regular gig at a restaurant/bar and will keep us posted. Visit their MySpace and hear a tune at http://www.myspace.com/voggymountainramblers!
The Happy Enchalata Band is a quartet of mild-mannered, hard-working souls by day, transforming into happy, toe-tapping, bluegrass lovin' musicians by the time they hit the stage, day or night. The band was started by two pickers from upper Michigan in 1985. Current members of the band are Marty Sheffer (mandolin, banjo, guitar and vocals), Denice Sheffer (vocals and percussion), Bill Dick (fiddle), and Larry Heller (bass). They have played at the Taste of Hawaii for the past three years, and have been playing at the KokeĠe Banana Poka Festival for over a decade. The Happy Enchalata band can also be heard on alternating Wednesdays at the Waimea Brewing Company.
Email HappyEnchalata@yahoo.com or visit http://www.TheHappyEnchalata.com.
They're also on www.youtube.com; search on "Enchalata" to find 'em! And remember, you gotta be HAPPY to be a Happy Enchalata!
This band has a great time! Personnel includes Paul Crowe on guitar and vocals; Steven Meredith on harp, cajone and washboard; Jimmy Truillo on dobro, harp and vocals, Ya Kaduce on jaw harp, saw, vocals; Doug Gates on mandolin and sound; Mike Cosmann on banjo, mando and vocals. They make regular appearances in Kapa`a, so check out their website (complete with a few very fun tunes!) at http://www.myspace.com/malamaponoallstars.
If you're going to be on Maui, be sure to catch gigs by Gypsy Pacific! Fiddler Willy Wainwright has an extensive bluegrass/country background and has toured the United States with musicians like Patty Loveless and Ricky Van Shelton. Detroit native Tom Conway is a guitarist living on Maui; his album, Hot Gypsy Nights, is filled with splendid musical treats. Bassist Marcus Johnson and rhythm guitarist Phil Benoit round out the lineup. Visit the band's website at www.gypsypacific.com.
Vintage Guitar magazine says Gypsy Pacific "may just be the hottest Hot Club-style band in the U.S." Their repertoire includes classic material from Django Reinhardt and Sonny Rollins, as well as modern Romane compositions. If you like Django, Stephane Grappelli, and David Grisman's 'Dawg' music, you'll love Gypsy Pacific!
The Haiku Hillbillys are a Maui band that play regularly at several locations. As guitarist Randall says, "We travel into many different styles but do some real serious bluegrass within The Haiku Hillbillys." Their material includes plenty of originals, as well as covers of tunes from Old and In The Way, the Grateful Dead, Bob Dylan, and old folk traditional tunes as well as their own originals.
To check out Randall's site, click here. Or email Randall and ask him to put you on his mailing list, because the Hillbillys make frequent regular appearances each month at various Maui venues!