If you make it to Southern California it’s well worth it to check and see what Mitch Change is presenting during your visit.
Kick off the New Year with the 12th annual Southern California Slack Key Festival featuring award winning musicians George Kuo, Jeff Peterson, Jim “Kimo” West, Kawika Kahiapo, Sonny Lim, Kunia Galdeira, Ikaika Marzo, Teresa Bright and Bobby Ingano – get your tickets now for the biggest Hawaiian music event of the year!
If you’ve been to the islands or simply have a love for Hawaiian music, you already recognize slack key – “ki ho’alu” – as the quintessential sound of Hawaii. It’s a very interesting story, how this guitar style came to be: it’s a story set as far back as the late 1700’s involving a king, his cattle, Mexican cowboys (vaqueros), campfire crooning and open tuned (“slacked”) guitars.
In ki ho`alu (“loosen the key” in the Hawaiian-language), the strings (or “keys”) are “slacked” to produce beautiful open chord tunings, each one producing a characteristic resonance with the fingers playing the melody while the thumb plucks a simultaneous alternating bass pattern. Visit the festival website and discover/rediscover this beautiful music and meet this year’s artists.
Friday January 18: George Kuo Slack Key guitar 7:00 PM
Saturday January 19th:
Jeff Peterson Slack Key guitar 10:00 AM; Bobby Ingano Steel Guitar 1:00 PM
$40 each class at a private residence in Manhattan Beach, limited space. To reserve your spot, contact Nancy surferdiver@verizon.net 310-545-6393
