Keola Beamer

[dbirchett]

Just got back from Tucson where I spent 2 hours hearing Keola Beamer sing and play.

An outstanding concert! Keola plays slack key and is my absolute favorite in this style. I had 2 of his CDs before the concert: Soliliqy and Tales of the Dream Guitar. Both are instrumental and are fabulous. I was surprised that most of his songs in concert were vocals in both Hawaiian and English.

Had a chance to visit with him a little afterwards and he was extremely personable. I asked him if tab for a particular song was available and he offered to send it to me. Great guy. He has a music camp in Hawaii every year. I think it is on Moloka'i this next year.

Any way, a great time was had by all.  

[unclrob]

Seeing him live must make listening to his CD's more fun. :)  

[dbirchett]

My mind now adds the video.  

[poki]

That must have been a great experience.  Keola has been a favorite of mine since the 70's and it's so nice to hear he continues to perform on the mainland.  i wonder what ever happened to his brother kapono?  they were a great duo performing together back in the 70's.   by the way, did keola use the nylon and steel string koa guitars with the two sound holes on either side of the upper bout?  i've seen him with thoughs guitars (made by a local luthier Steve Grimes) seems like forever.

[dbirchett]

He used two guitars, both of which were Grimes. As you indicated, one was nylon, one was steel stringed. Kapono is still around. Both have their own websites.