Sunday, July 13
The Center for the Arts presents
John Keawe
with Hula Dancers Hope, Shelly & Naomi Keawe
with Rick Cook opening
7:00PM, $18

"...the consistent high quality of his work here reaffirms his stature as a musician and songwriter." - John Berger, Honolulu Star-Bulletin

"John Keawe, despite being a Hoku award winner, is one of the most underrated musicians in the state.." -John Burnett, Hawaii Island Journal

Award winning guitarist John Keawe returns to the Center for an evening of aloha and beautiful Hawaiian slack-key guitar.

John Keawe is a songwriter and slack-key guitarist born on the Big Island of Hawaii. John grew up with rock and roll music and enjoyed listening to singer/songwriters. After a four year tour in the Navy, John returned to his home and was drawn to the sound of Hawaiian slack-key. He listened and watched and taught himself to play this style of music. Through the years, he has developed his own distinct style.

About the same time, John began to perform publicly and also composing his own songs. Two of his early compositions Ka`auhuhu Homestead and Big Island Magic were chosen for album cuts on projects that involved various artists. Through the years, John has released seven recordings under the label of Homestead Productions.

Of all his recordings, six were nominated for Hoku awards. The CD Ho`onanea won that award in 1994 for best instrumental performance. At the 1998 Hawaii Music awards, John won best slack-key artist for his Mana`olana CD. In 2003 , John received a Hawaii Music Award for Aloha Kaikua`ana. He also won a Hoku Award for Ki-ho`alu which is a special award given to an artist for perpetuating the art of slack-key guitar. In 2005, John was honored as a contributing artist on Hawaii's first Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album titled Slack-key Guitar Vol. 2 by Palm Records.