1 00:00:02,160 --> 00:00:06,840 Speaker 1: Ephemeral is production of I Heeart three D audio for 2 00:00:06,960 --> 00:00:14,160 Speaker 1: full exposure listen was that phones the first electric guitar 3 00:00:15,240 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: didn't sound anything like this. It would have been more 4 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:28,440 Speaker 1: like this is what's called steel guitar today. It might 5 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:32,120 Speaker 1: be most associated with the twang and country music, But 6 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:35,400 Speaker 1: once upon a time, long before the grand old opry 7 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:40,160 Speaker 1: and electric amplification, this modern day stringed instrument was born 8 00:00:40,640 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: on the Pacific Islands of Hawaii. I was very interested 9 00:00:45,479 --> 00:00:48,680 Speaker 1: in their sound. I loved their sound, but I only 10 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:52,199 Speaker 1: knew of their sound and context of country music for 11 00:00:52,240 --> 00:00:56,520 Speaker 1: the most part. MY name's John Troutman. I'm the curator 12 00:00:56,600 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 1: of music at the National Museum of American History. John's 13 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: intrust in the steel guitar began some twenty years ago. 14 00:01:06,959 --> 00:01:09,640 Speaker 1: I was a graduate student at the time in Texas 15 00:01:10,160 --> 00:01:13,880 Speaker 1: writing a book on American Indian dance. I was also 16 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:18,559 Speaker 1: working as a musician in Austin and had recently bought 17 00:01:18,600 --> 00:01:21,000 Speaker 1: a steel guitar that I found in the attic of 18 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:24,040 Speaker 1: the music shop in Tucson, Arizona. This is a pedal 19 00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:30,760 Speaker 1: steel guitar. I ended up taking out to gigs throughout Austin. 20 00:01:31,000 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: When I was playing in different rock bands, learning on 21 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,320 Speaker 1: the fly the fundamentals of the instrument now the time 22 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:40,679 Speaker 1: in the late nineteen nineties, there was very little information 23 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,679 Speaker 1: about the steel guitar save for a few liner notes 24 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,000 Speaker 1: on some Hawaiian music compilations, and it was really at 25 00:01:47,000 --> 00:01:49,200 Speaker 1: the beginning of the internet era, so there weren't a 26 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:54,800 Speaker 1: whole lot of opportunities for studying the history online. For 27 00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: his book Kika Kila, How the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Changed 28 00:01:58,840 --> 00:02:04,000 Speaker 1: the Sound of Modern Music, Seck John worked with Hawaiian scholars, archivists, 29 00:02:04,280 --> 00:02:07,320 Speaker 1: the families of musical legends, and some of the greatest 30 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:11,200 Speaker 1: steel players working today, including the one you're listening to now. 31 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:16,520 Speaker 1: So there's a ninth card right right there at that spot. 32 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: That's a big difference. Yeah. My name is Allen Acaca. 33 00:02:21,360 --> 00:02:24,960 Speaker 1: I've been the teacher for more than thirty years, playing 34 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:29,639 Speaker 1: music ever since I was in elementary school. Taught myself 35 00:02:29,639 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: out of play the kle along with the upright bass, 36 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,480 Speaker 1: the guitar, and my number one love, the Hawaiian steel guitar. 37 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:50,760 Speaker 1: As early as the third century, Polynesian explorers were paddling 38 00:02:50,800 --> 00:02:55,440 Speaker 1: through the Pacific by canoe two thousand miles north around 39 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: the twenty one parallel, they came upon the Volcanic Archipelago 40 00:03:00,080 --> 00:03:03,560 Speaker 1: we know now as the Hawaiian Islands, the most isolated 41 00:03:03,639 --> 00:03:07,480 Speaker 1: land mass on Earth, cut off from the rest of 42 00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:12,400 Speaker 1: the world Cannakamaole. The native Hawaiians developed their own systems 43 00:03:12,480 --> 00:03:18,840 Speaker 1: of worship, governance, agriculture, food, and music. The Hawaiian musical 44 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:22,360 Speaker 1: traditions that had really saturated the islands were really rooted 45 00:03:22,480 --> 00:03:27,760 Speaker 1: in chants and rhythms provided by a variety of percussion instruments. 46 00:03:29,880 --> 00:03:33,400 Speaker 1: Pre colonial instruments like the Ipu gord drum are still 47 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,400 Speaker 1: in use today. But global imperialism would find its way 48 00:03:37,400 --> 00:03:43,119 Speaker 1: to Hawaii eventually, beginning in seventeen seventy eight with Captain Cook, who, 49 00:03:43,320 --> 00:03:47,840 Speaker 1: upon landing in typical fashion for a European explorer, renamed 50 00:03:47,880 --> 00:03:53,400 Speaker 1: the chain the Sandwich Islands. By the fifties and eighteen sixties, 51 00:03:53,760 --> 00:03:56,839 Speaker 1: the islands had become recognized as one of the most 52 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:03,120 Speaker 1: significant cultural and mercantile cross roads in the globe. Ships 53 00:04:03,160 --> 00:04:05,720 Speaker 1: for visiting the islands from all over the world en 54 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: route from or to East Asia, South America, Canada in 55 00:04:10,360 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: the United States. It was a really rich and extraordinary 56 00:04:14,680 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: place in that time, and of course today is one 57 00:04:17,560 --> 00:04:20,479 Speaker 1: of the most diverse populations, not only in the United 58 00:04:20,480 --> 00:04:22,919 Speaker 1: States but in the world. It's been that way for 59 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:27,880 Speaker 1: a very very long time. One trade good entering Hawaiian 60 00:04:27,880 --> 00:04:34,280 Speaker 1: harbors was the Spanish or classical guitar. Eighteen thirties and 61 00:04:34,320 --> 00:04:38,279 Speaker 1: the eighteen forties, not only the guitar, but pianos and 62 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:42,560 Speaker 1: banjos and violence and other instruments are brought to the 63 00:04:42,600 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: islands from ports far away. Native Hawaiians see the guitar 64 00:04:48,120 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: with greater and greater frequency by the eighteen fifties, and 65 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:53,839 Speaker 1: it's really by the next ten or fifteen years or 66 00:04:53,880 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: so where we begin to find accounts of Native Hawaiians 67 00:04:58,480 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: adopting the guitar to suit their own musical purposes. The 68 00:05:04,880 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 1: wine music was always influenced by what was going on 69 00:05:08,600 --> 00:05:12,159 Speaker 1: in the mainland, from the missionaries bringing over their new England. 70 00:05:12,360 --> 00:05:16,520 Speaker 1: Him those two, Henry Berger bringing music from Germany. He 71 00:05:16,680 --> 00:05:20,840 Speaker 1: was from outside of Berlin, then the Hawaiian royalty studying 72 00:05:20,920 --> 00:05:26,200 Speaker 1: under him. By the eighteen sixties and eighteen seventies, photographers 73 00:05:26,279 --> 00:05:30,800 Speaker 1: were taking photographs of Hawaiian musical troops dominated by women, 74 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:35,920 Speaker 1: as the instrumentalists playing percussion instruments indigenous to the Islands, 75 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:42,359 Speaker 1: playing guitars in some cases ban Joe's. Like any musicians 76 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: anywhere in the world, they were going to play instruments 77 00:05:45,000 --> 00:05:48,719 Speaker 1: that were the most exciting to them and that spoke 78 00:05:48,760 --> 00:05:54,400 Speaker 1: most directly to their own interests. An important difference to them, well, 79 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:57,000 Speaker 1: the rest of the world was still using strings wound 80 00:05:57,000 --> 00:06:01,920 Speaker 1: from catgut. Islanders were earlier opters of strings made from steel. 81 00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:06,680 Speaker 1: Hawaiians are actually responsible for two major innovations on this 82 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: centuries old instrument, the steel guitar, and it's now more 83 00:06:11,080 --> 00:06:15,440 Speaker 1: popular cousin, the slack key guitar. You can hear the 84 00:06:15,440 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 1: steel guitar in the airport, but more often than that, 85 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:20,240 Speaker 1: when you hear a guitar, you hear a slack key guitar. 86 00:06:20,720 --> 00:06:23,800 Speaker 1: The slack key is a special way of tuning the 87 00:06:23,920 --> 00:06:32,480 Speaker 1: Hawaiian guitar. It's essentially a style of playing based upon 88 00:06:32,960 --> 00:06:36,720 Speaker 1: specific tunings that were developed in the Islands that speak 89 00:06:36,880 --> 00:06:41,280 Speaker 1: to specific genres of Hawaiian music making. We find the 90 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:44,400 Speaker 1: first instances of descriptions of this style going back to 91 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:48,680 Speaker 1: the eighties and eight nineties. It involves people beginning to 92 00:06:48,839 --> 00:06:52,400 Speaker 1: in some cases de tune their instruments to slack the 93 00:06:52,520 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: strings to an open chord formation. It's a voice that 94 00:06:57,400 --> 00:06:59,640 Speaker 1: is quite striking and beautiful on its own, even when 95 00:06:59,680 --> 00:07:03,120 Speaker 1: you say police strung the strings without even fretting the instrument. 96 00:07:03,760 --> 00:07:07,880 Speaker 1: But Hawaiians began developing a method of playing on top 97 00:07:07,960 --> 00:07:11,280 Speaker 1: of open tunings of the guitar that would enable them 98 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:16,760 Speaker 1: to create these really lush, vibrant and poetic styles of 99 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:30,600 Speaker 1: guitar playing. Holy The steel guitar is also an instrument 100 00:07:30,640 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: that requires an open tuning, so a lot of the 101 00:07:35,960 --> 00:07:38,440 Speaker 1: same open tunings were developed for both the slack key 102 00:07:38,480 --> 00:07:43,600 Speaker 1: style and the steel guitar. But the steel guitar also 103 00:07:43,640 --> 00:07:47,200 Speaker 1: requires some physical modifications to the instrument and the use 104 00:07:47,200 --> 00:07:49,080 Speaker 1: of a steel bar to be played on top of 105 00:07:49,080 --> 00:07:54,280 Speaker 1: the strings as well. In the case of the steel 106 00:07:54,280 --> 00:07:58,280 Speaker 1: guitar number one, you play it horizontally normally on your 107 00:07:58,360 --> 00:08:03,320 Speaker 1: lap unless it has aids or stand. Then the nut 108 00:08:03,360 --> 00:08:06,320 Speaker 1: is raised so that the strings are not so close 109 00:08:06,480 --> 00:08:09,360 Speaker 1: to the fret board. It has to be that way 110 00:08:09,480 --> 00:08:13,400 Speaker 1: because we use a metal bar to slide across the strings. 111 00:08:13,480 --> 00:08:16,400 Speaker 1: If we use a standard guitar will bump into the 112 00:08:16,480 --> 00:08:24,080 Speaker 1: raised threats with the raised nut I could just glide. 113 00:08:26,680 --> 00:08:31,440 Speaker 1: I'm not structed. In all parts of the world we 114 00:08:31,480 --> 00:08:35,400 Speaker 1: find instances of people developing stringed instruments where they're running 115 00:08:35,400 --> 00:08:38,200 Speaker 1: a bead or some sort of tool on top of 116 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:42,079 Speaker 1: the string to generate sound. But what seems to be 117 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:44,600 Speaker 1: quite unique about the steel guitar in Hawaii is the 118 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:47,839 Speaker 1: fact that Native Hawaiians were the first people to really 119 00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:51,480 Speaker 1: figure out a logic to it the development of the 120 00:08:51,520 --> 00:08:55,160 Speaker 1: first steel bar, which is where the guitar got its name. 121 00:08:55,240 --> 00:08:58,880 Speaker 1: The steel guitar derives from the Kamehameha School for Boys 122 00:08:59,240 --> 00:09:03,120 Speaker 1: on Olwaukee, and there are many different virgin stories of 123 00:09:03,160 --> 00:09:05,960 Speaker 1: the steel guitar. I kind of investigated all of them 124 00:09:05,960 --> 00:09:08,480 Speaker 1: when I was working on this book, but the one 125 00:09:08,520 --> 00:09:11,800 Speaker 1: that seemed most compelling was the story associated with a 126 00:09:11,880 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: teenager named Joseph Kuku, who was a student for a 127 00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: while at the Kama School for Boys in the late 128 00:09:19,480 --> 00:09:26,960 Speaker 1: eighteen eighties and early eighteen nineties. There's one family story 129 00:09:28,160 --> 00:09:31,480 Speaker 1: Kikuku and his cousin samnin Noah. We're sitting on a 130 00:09:31,600 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: stoop in layer Oahu. Joseph was leaning over the guitar, 131 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:39,200 Speaker 1: his cousin Sam was playing violin. He had one of 132 00:09:39,200 --> 00:09:43,400 Speaker 1: those steel combs in his shirt pocket. At some point 133 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:46,120 Speaker 1: the comb literally fell out and pounced on the strings, 134 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:48,280 Speaker 1: and then he got the idea of, oh, well, maybe 135 00:09:48,280 --> 00:09:49,920 Speaker 1: we can actually run this on top of a string. 136 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:53,920 Speaker 1: It worked, it made sound, and it made interesting sounds. 137 00:09:54,280 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: Because his strings were steel. Those three elements, the steel 138 00:09:59,400 --> 00:10:03,679 Speaker 1: bar on steel strung guitars set to open tunings had 139 00:10:03,760 --> 00:10:09,040 Speaker 1: not really manifested themselves elsewhere in the world. He's not 140 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,120 Speaker 1: only able to develop a logic. He walks into the 141 00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:15,160 Speaker 1: command of School for Boys machine shop and builds the bar. 142 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:18,560 Speaker 1: He also makes fingerpicks of the machine shop. These are 143 00:10:18,600 --> 00:10:21,760 Speaker 1: all new innovations at the time, and he develops a 144 00:10:21,800 --> 00:10:27,560 Speaker 1: translatable style of playing such that by or so he 145 00:10:27,640 --> 00:10:32,320 Speaker 1: begins sharing this technique with his classmates. They learn it 146 00:10:32,720 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: on their guitars, then they take it back to their 147 00:10:35,600 --> 00:10:40,080 Speaker 1: own islands that are scattered throughout the archipelago, and that's 148 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:47,319 Speaker 1: where the instrument really begins. While mechanical and stylistic improvements 149 00:10:47,360 --> 00:10:50,200 Speaker 1: have been made along the way. When Alan is beginning 150 00:10:50,240 --> 00:10:54,160 Speaker 1: with a new student, his curriculum recalls the fundamentals Kuku 151 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:59,440 Speaker 1: instigated over a century ago. The first thing is the bar. 152 00:10:59,600 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: The left hand. You gotta learn how to hold the 153 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:06,240 Speaker 1: bar between your thumb and your middle finger and squeeze it. 154 00:11:06,280 --> 00:11:08,880 Speaker 1: What Jerry Bird would say, pinch it and flip the 155 00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,920 Speaker 1: bar over, place it on the strings, hold it down 156 00:11:12,960 --> 00:11:15,600 Speaker 1: and make sure that the bar is even with the frets. 157 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:20,120 Speaker 1: Here's another difference between the guitar and the still guitar. 158 00:11:21,000 --> 00:11:24,960 Speaker 1: We place the bar over the line, not between the lines. 159 00:11:25,600 --> 00:11:29,480 Speaker 1: Over the line. When you're sliding the bar, Yeah, keep 160 00:11:29,520 --> 00:11:36,839 Speaker 1: the bar even. You can hear that. Keep it even 161 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,880 Speaker 1: with the frets. And then when you're exercising, going from 162 00:11:40,920 --> 00:11:43,200 Speaker 1: one threat to the other, make sure you stop right there, 163 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:50,200 Speaker 1: right over the fret. Okay, put your bar on string three, 164 00:11:50,640 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: fret three. Okay, Now, slide up to frat five and 165 00:11:57,360 --> 00:12:04,680 Speaker 1: pick on string one, same string, fret three, same string 166 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:13,040 Speaker 1: fret six. The important thing is having that slide between 167 00:12:13,080 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: the two notes. It's like when people sing, you know, 168 00:12:16,880 --> 00:12:20,000 Speaker 1: the great singers, their notes are all connected. We have 169 00:12:20,080 --> 00:12:26,600 Speaker 1: to do the same thing with this voice. By the way, 170 00:12:26,640 --> 00:12:30,160 Speaker 1: that's an opening line for Beyond the Reef, a classic tune. 171 00:12:30,280 --> 00:12:31,800 Speaker 1: Can you give me the next little bit of beyond 172 00:12:31,800 --> 00:12:52,480 Speaker 1: the Ring? I'll play here. Back in the days of 173 00:12:52,559 --> 00:12:56,679 Speaker 1: Joseph Cucku as Hawaiian's all over the archipelago. We're embracing 174 00:12:56,679 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: this new invention. Dark clouds were looming on the horizon, 175 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:19,640 Speaker 1: So that's the first verse. By the early eighties, the 176 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: political situation had grown incredibly tense in the islands. A 177 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,240 Speaker 1: number of merchants from other parts of the world were 178 00:13:27,679 --> 00:13:32,800 Speaker 1: not only leasing lands for their own sugar plantations, pineapple plantations, 179 00:13:32,800 --> 00:13:35,600 Speaker 1: and what have you, but they were also beginning to 180 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: wrestle their way into the governance structure of the Hawaiian Kingdom. 181 00:13:41,679 --> 00:13:46,000 Speaker 1: At the same time, the sons of missionaries who had 182 00:13:46,040 --> 00:13:48,560 Speaker 1: first received invitation to settle in the islands in the 183 00:13:48,960 --> 00:13:55,280 Speaker 1: twenties developed very specific ambitions for expanding their own wealth. 184 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:01,440 Speaker 1: They begin also conniving their way into the governmental structure 185 00:14:01,480 --> 00:14:07,360 Speaker 1: of the Hawaiian Kingdom. By seven, David Kala Kawa, who 186 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:10,000 Speaker 1: is the king of Hawaii at the time, is forced 187 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:13,640 Speaker 1: to sign what's known as the Bayonet Constitution, which stripped 188 00:14:13,679 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: Winian people of their voting rights and begins to significantly 189 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:20,920 Speaker 1: diminish the manner by which Kala Kawa can wield his 190 00:14:21,000 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: sovereignty in the islands. He had seen this coming, and 191 00:14:26,920 --> 00:14:29,400 Speaker 1: one of the methods by which he was pushing back 192 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:41,200 Speaker 1: was through music. He comes to realize, when asserting their 193 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:47,520 Speaker 1: sovereign right to govern themselves, Hawaiians should also recognize that 194 00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:51,800 Speaker 1: sovereignty is constituted in cultural traditions as much as through 195 00:14:51,840 --> 00:15:03,960 Speaker 1: anything else. He begins throwing these huge parties headlining Hawaiian 196 00:15:04,040 --> 00:15:10,840 Speaker 1: music making as a very specific political sovereign practice, so 197 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 1: music was immediately central to these political struggles. At the 198 00:15:35,680 --> 00:15:40,760 Speaker 1: same time, hula dancing was being prohibited because plantation owners 199 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:44,880 Speaker 1: in the islands felt that the dancing was lessening the 200 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 1: labor pool that they could draw from, that Hawaiians are 201 00:15:47,880 --> 00:15:51,600 Speaker 1: spending too much time dancing or performing music, and that 202 00:15:51,720 --> 00:15:54,320 Speaker 1: by prohibiting these things they would be able to gain 203 00:15:54,400 --> 00:15:58,480 Speaker 1: greater control over the labor. The Hawaiians really rejected the 204 00:15:58,480 --> 00:16:00,760 Speaker 1: plantation labor from the very beginning ng which is a 205 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:03,960 Speaker 1: whole other story, but music was implicated in all of 206 00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:15,000 Speaker 1: these things. Fast forward a little bit by three, David 207 00:16:15,040 --> 00:16:18,680 Speaker 1: Kyokawa's sister, Lilio Klani, is now the queen and the 208 00:16:18,720 --> 00:16:23,040 Speaker 1: monarch of the islands, and she's arrested and imprisoned in 209 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:27,120 Speaker 1: her own home by a bunch of these American merchants 210 00:16:27,160 --> 00:16:30,400 Speaker 1: backed by the U. S. Marines and a coup. She 211 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:34,160 Speaker 1: had always been recognized by world governments as the sovereign 212 00:16:34,200 --> 00:16:39,600 Speaker 1: queen of the Islands. Hawaiians reached out to world leaders, 213 00:16:39,800 --> 00:16:43,320 Speaker 1: demanding that that illegal overthrow be rescinded and that the 214 00:16:43,400 --> 00:16:47,320 Speaker 1: monarch could be restored to her kingdom, but these calls 215 00:16:47,360 --> 00:16:51,840 Speaker 1: for justice fell on deaf ears. Under house arrest, the 216 00:16:51,920 --> 00:16:55,120 Speaker 1: queen was left to molder away and her elegant palace. 217 00:16:56,680 --> 00:17:00,840 Speaker 1: Lilio Klani was herself an accomplished composer, and while she 218 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:04,400 Speaker 1: was cut off from the outside world, even denied newspapers 219 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:08,000 Speaker 1: to read, she managed to write songs and sneak them 220 00:17:08,000 --> 00:17:12,600 Speaker 1: out of prison. These became anthems for people who were 221 00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:17,960 Speaker 1: losing their home. The most famous is Aloha Oi, farewell 222 00:17:18,000 --> 00:17:37,960 Speaker 1: to the one becomes clear that the United States is 223 00:17:38,000 --> 00:17:42,639 Speaker 1: going to annex the islands. In Many of these musicians 224 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,440 Speaker 1: who had had their language prohibited from being taught in 225 00:17:45,480 --> 00:17:48,439 Speaker 1: the schools, who have had their dances prohibited by the 226 00:17:48,680 --> 00:17:51,800 Speaker 1: Calvinist missionaries and then the provisional government, and who were 227 00:17:51,840 --> 00:17:54,440 Speaker 1: also quite well aware of how Native Americans are being 228 00:17:54,440 --> 00:17:58,800 Speaker 1: treated on reservations in the us in order to sing 229 00:17:58,880 --> 00:18:02,359 Speaker 1: the songs of Yo Kolani and her family, to sing 230 00:18:02,359 --> 00:18:05,879 Speaker 1: the songs of the monarchy, and to advocate for the 231 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:09,080 Speaker 1: Hawaiian people. But I think they felt their obligation. In 232 00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:12,440 Speaker 1: some cases, their only opportunity, rather than being rested under 233 00:18:12,480 --> 00:18:18,280 Speaker 1: the control of these political authorities, was to leave the 234 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:23,840 Speaker 1: diaspora led away from the islands in all directions. I mean, 235 00:18:23,880 --> 00:18:26,960 Speaker 1: Hawaiians have been traveling to other parts of the world 236 00:18:27,000 --> 00:18:30,320 Speaker 1: for a very long time, but by the eighteen nineties 237 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: you can see this incredible mapping out of Hawaiian musicians 238 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:40,080 Speaker 1: fanning into the world, playing in Shanghai and various parts 239 00:18:40,119 --> 00:18:46,640 Speaker 1: of Japan, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, throughout the United States, 240 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:59,439 Speaker 1: and in Europe as well. While Hawaiian music encompasses an 241 00:18:59,520 --> 00:19:02,959 Speaker 1: array of long writing traditions, the styles that traveled with 242 00:19:02,960 --> 00:19:08,720 Speaker 1: the diaspora became globally dominant genres. The first wine troops 243 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:13,840 Speaker 1: that really gained success outside of the islands are string bands, 244 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:19,760 Speaker 1: violin les, couple of guitars, often with the banjo, almost 245 00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:24,080 Speaker 1: always playing hula kui music, literally the stitching together of 246 00:19:24,240 --> 00:19:27,879 Speaker 1: new and old musical traditions. They were playing music that 247 00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:31,400 Speaker 1: was written by members of their royal Hawaiian family. They 248 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:34,760 Speaker 1: were very specific in terms of their topics, being centered 249 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:55,480 Speaker 1: upon wine ideas, wine stories, wine places. By the turn 250 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:59,160 Speaker 1: of the twentieth century early d you find other genres 251 00:19:59,200 --> 00:20:02,600 Speaker 1: of music poppy up one much more in the pop realm, 252 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:07,600 Speaker 1: being happa holly music that can combine English with some 253 00:20:07,680 --> 00:20:22,920 Speaker 1: Hawaiian words. That music was much more accessible for non 254 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 1: Hawaiian audiences because they connect with the tim panale musical 255 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,119 Speaker 1: traditions that have become really popular in the US and 256 00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:57,120 Speaker 1: in the Islands. Eventually, this string band has become more streamlined. 257 00:20:57,520 --> 00:21:00,239 Speaker 1: But in nineteen twenties you begin to find you were 258 00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:04,439 Speaker 1: violent and really see banjos anymore. You'll begin to see 259 00:21:04,760 --> 00:21:09,159 Speaker 1: a troupe that consists of an acoustic guitar player, player 260 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:14,440 Speaker 1: probably not bright bass player, and steal player always. That's 261 00:21:14,520 --> 00:21:23,520 Speaker 1: essentially the lineup musical troops far and wide would perform 262 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:30,359 Speaker 1: alongside dancers. Hula remains a domain for male and female 263 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:41,880 Speaker 1: dancers alike. In the nineteenth century, it was in some 264 00:21:41,960 --> 00:21:46,280 Speaker 1: cases dominated by males, whereas most of the photographs that 265 00:21:46,280 --> 00:21:48,840 Speaker 1: I've seen in the nineteenth century Hawaiian musicians are women. 266 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:54,080 Speaker 1: They began to shift to conform with the expectations of 267 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:58,240 Speaker 1: audiences that they were encountering outside of the islands, meaning 268 00:21:58,960 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: by the early nineteen hundreds, men were essentially relegated to 269 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:05,959 Speaker 1: the stage as the technical performers on the instruments and 270 00:22:06,040 --> 00:22:08,960 Speaker 1: women dancing in front of them. Hawaii would not be 271 00:22:09,080 --> 00:22:14,200 Speaker 1: Hawaii without the dancing girls. Touring in the US generally 272 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:18,880 Speaker 1: meant hitching your cart to a particular circuit. The performers 273 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:22,520 Speaker 1: would sign onto a contract and then play town for 274 00:22:22,560 --> 00:22:24,320 Speaker 1: a week and then take the train go to the 275 00:22:24,359 --> 00:22:29,600 Speaker 1: next town. One was the Chautauqua circuit, kind of the 276 00:22:29,720 --> 00:22:33,760 Speaker 1: white middle class antidote to Vaudeville, which they saw as 277 00:22:34,080 --> 00:22:41,640 Speaker 1: low grade, trashy performances. Chautauqua circuit was a speaker's circuit. 278 00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:49,119 Speaker 1: They would provide musical performances, poetry recitations, and actually a 279 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:53,080 Speaker 1: number of Hawaiian musicians, including Kuku, got involved in signing 280 00:22:53,080 --> 00:22:57,439 Speaker 1: contracts with Chautauqua groups because they provided steady pay and 281 00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 1: access to booking that didn't require having your own manager 282 00:23:01,760 --> 00:23:08,400 Speaker 1: to book every booking for every town. The other kind 283 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:14,879 Speaker 1: of circuit was the Vaudeville circuit. Essentially a variety show 284 00:23:15,400 --> 00:23:18,200 Speaker 1: where you could have ten different acts in one night. 285 00:23:19,240 --> 00:23:30,040 Speaker 1: Chinese acrobats, mariachi performers, black faced initial cy troops, and 286 00:23:30,200 --> 00:23:35,560 Speaker 1: Hawaiian musicians as well performing, and they all play a 287 00:23:35,600 --> 00:23:40,919 Speaker 1: handful of songs. The vaudeville circuits were appealing to musicians 288 00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:44,000 Speaker 1: because you're booking is essentially taken care of now. It 289 00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,000 Speaker 1: doesn't mean you to actually get paid, but you'd be scheduled, 290 00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:49,840 Speaker 1: so it provided a really rapid way for them to 291 00:23:49,960 --> 00:23:58,360 Speaker 1: dig into hitting all the markets in the US. One 292 00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:05,720 Speaker 1: market rife with complication was the American South Hawin performers 293 00:24:05,760 --> 00:24:08,159 Speaker 1: playing in the Jim Crow South encountered a lot of 294 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:11,680 Speaker 1: the same hostilities and potential threats of violence as other 295 00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:15,240 Speaker 1: performers of color. One of the women that I interviewed, 296 00:24:15,440 --> 00:24:20,119 Speaker 1: Lonnie McIntyre, was traveling with her father and her uncle's 297 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:24,000 Speaker 1: on tour throughout the United States. She remembers as a 298 00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:26,920 Speaker 1: kid in Memphis, walking down the street and being spent 299 00:24:27,000 --> 00:24:30,359 Speaker 1: on as a six year old. Her dad and her 300 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:33,600 Speaker 1: uncle's would look into a hotel in New Orleans, for example, 301 00:24:33,840 --> 00:24:37,240 Speaker 1: assume a residency performing every night, but they wouldn't be 302 00:24:37,280 --> 00:24:40,960 Speaker 1: able to stay there. Because it was white only, and 303 00:24:41,000 --> 00:24:42,719 Speaker 1: there are boarding houses that were set up all over 304 00:24:42,800 --> 00:24:45,800 Speaker 1: the South, run for the most part by African Americans 305 00:24:45,960 --> 00:24:49,320 Speaker 1: to cater to musicians of color who were touring the 306 00:24:49,359 --> 00:24:53,600 Speaker 1: South and had nowhere to stay. Lonnie McIntyre told me 307 00:24:53,640 --> 00:24:56,560 Speaker 1: at the same time that she recalls these all night 308 00:24:56,640 --> 00:24:59,960 Speaker 1: jam sessions where everybody after their gigs would come back 309 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,919 Speaker 1: these boarding houses and you would again find mariachi performers, 310 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:08,800 Speaker 1: Hawaiians and African American singers, blues singers all playing together 311 00:25:09,280 --> 00:25:17,399 Speaker 1: as a consequence of Jim Crow. It's hard to overstate 312 00:25:17,920 --> 00:25:24,320 Speaker 1: just how popular this music became. My nine Hawaiian guitar 313 00:25:24,400 --> 00:25:27,680 Speaker 1: music was out selling every other form of recorded music 314 00:25:27,720 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: in the US. A lot of his popularity came down 315 00:25:39,200 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: to the fact that it was seen as different and 316 00:25:41,160 --> 00:25:46,840 Speaker 1: quite novel, elevated through the relentless touring. Hawaiian steel guitars 317 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,840 Speaker 1: are really the first guitars that are popularizing the guitar 318 00:25:49,880 --> 00:26:01,040 Speaker 1: as a lead instrument. With still guitar on parade, manufacturers 319 00:26:01,160 --> 00:26:05,480 Speaker 1: were always looking to improve the instrument's design. The biggest hurdle, 320 00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:11,840 Speaker 1: especially for live settings, was the guitars low volume. The 321 00:26:11,880 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: turn of the century twenty century, they were on acoustics 322 00:26:18,760 --> 00:26:22,840 Speaker 1: a lot more picking right. They probably use a different 323 00:26:22,880 --> 00:26:35,800 Speaker 1: tuning too. It would do rows like they would just 324 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:40,359 Speaker 1: pick more, you know. Later on Nationale came out with 325 00:26:40,400 --> 00:26:45,639 Speaker 1: the track one. There was a Wise in Bound company, 326 00:26:48,920 --> 00:26:54,880 Speaker 1: though Brow of Cars came out Worth Theirs that acoustically 327 00:26:55,160 --> 00:27:00,240 Speaker 1: amplified the sound to a degree. And the thirties the 328 00:27:00,280 --> 00:27:05,480 Speaker 1: electric amplifier was developed, and then the electric guitar, and 329 00:27:05,520 --> 00:27:15,880 Speaker 1: the first electric guitar was a still guitar. In one 330 00:27:16,280 --> 00:27:20,040 Speaker 1: the Rick and Backer Company began mass manufacturing its electro 331 00:27:21,640 --> 00:27:24,840 Speaker 1: an aluminum lap steel with a tiny body and long neck, 332 00:27:25,359 --> 00:27:37,760 Speaker 1: better known by its nickname the fry pan. A big 333 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:52,199 Speaker 1: difference with one amplification to sustain still guitars. Today you 334 00:27:52,240 --> 00:27:57,520 Speaker 1: can make each note sing more, especially the lisandos. No 335 00:27:57,640 --> 00:28:10,480 Speaker 1: instrument can do lisando like a steel guitar. As Hawaiian 336 00:28:10,560 --> 00:28:14,359 Speaker 1: music took the world by storm, virtuosos of the steel 337 00:28:14,400 --> 00:28:20,359 Speaker 1: guitar became international celebrities. It's on gospel music interpretive in 338 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:27,440 Speaker 1: the Hawaiian style by Hope. In terms of players, Saul 339 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 1: Hopie is the player to listen to. He stowed away 340 00:28:34,800 --> 00:28:37,440 Speaker 1: on a ship leaving the Islands to arrive in the US, 341 00:28:38,200 --> 00:28:40,640 Speaker 1: worked as a boxer for a little along in San Francisco, 342 00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:43,760 Speaker 1: trying to make ends meet, made his way down the 343 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 1: l A and then redefined how people play steel guitar. 344 00:29:00,880 --> 00:29:03,680 Speaker 1: Great players have come on since then, but he really 345 00:29:03,720 --> 00:29:06,440 Speaker 1: set the bar high in terms of his musician ship. 346 00:29:18,320 --> 00:29:21,920 Speaker 1: Allen's influences, many of which he studied under or shared 347 00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:24,920 Speaker 1: the stage with, read like a who's who of still 348 00:29:24,920 --> 00:29:28,920 Speaker 1: guitar fame. I was very lucky to be at the 349 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:31,960 Speaker 1: end of an era where I could play with so 350 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:43,000 Speaker 1: many different still guitars. So many my influences were like 351 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:55,120 Speaker 1: David feg Rogers, then his uncle Bennie Rodgers, of course 352 00:29:55,200 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 1: Jerry Bird, and then Jewels. I'll see from what You Calls. 353 00:30:10,680 --> 00:30:21,080 Speaker 1: There's a Call from Hawaii. How about You Calls was 354 00:30:21,120 --> 00:30:24,960 Speaker 1: a show that was broadcast for about forty years, from 355 00:30:25,080 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 1: pre war all the way to about nineteen seventy four. 356 00:30:28,400 --> 00:30:31,400 Speaker 1: It was a showcase of the talent in the Islands 357 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:38,680 Speaker 1: out for the park. Every week. Stations across the United 358 00:30:38,720 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: States and even in Japan would er what You Calls. 359 00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 1: Of course it probably would be one week later. America, Canada, 360 00:30:54,760 --> 00:30:58,960 Speaker 1: Oh pretty nice and I remember a friend saying he 361 00:30:59,040 --> 00:31:02,280 Speaker 1: would run home just in time to sit in front 362 00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:19,040 Speaker 1: of the radio to listen to What You Calls? Oh, 363 00:31:19,560 --> 00:31:23,320 Speaker 1: how are you Calls? Featured the great voices Alfred the PoCA, 364 00:31:24,120 --> 00:31:35,320 Speaker 1: Danny Kinni Lau, great singing, great music arrangements by Benny Callama, 365 00:31:35,480 --> 00:31:39,320 Speaker 1: still guitar, Oh yeah, lots of still guitar. And they 366 00:31:39,400 --> 00:31:42,960 Speaker 1: had the best Jossie Barney, Isaac's Eddie Pang for a 367 00:31:43,000 --> 00:31:46,000 Speaker 1: little while, Danny Stewart, j K Lee caud he had, 368 00:31:46,080 --> 00:31:53,280 Speaker 1: David Killy, Joe Costino, Jerry Bird, Ohio born. Jerry Bird 369 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:58,600 Speaker 1: was especially influential in Allen's life. Hello, you know, video 370 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:01,840 Speaker 1: tape is a great engine and a medium for us 371 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 1: to get together on a more personal basis. I met 372 00:32:06,680 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 1: Jerry for the first time in the What You Cause Office, 373 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:13,520 Speaker 1: of all places. He sat me down, he says, play 374 00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:17,920 Speaker 1: me something. I was holding the skinny bar and I 375 00:32:18,000 --> 00:32:39,440 Speaker 1: was playing the still guitar. At the end of the song, 376 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:43,200 Speaker 1: he says, give me that bar. Sorry, handed it to 377 00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:46,760 Speaker 1: him reluctantly, of course. And then here under wrapped this 378 00:32:47,000 --> 00:32:50,240 Speaker 1: brand new bar. Now here is the most important two 379 00:32:50,480 --> 00:32:56,400 Speaker 1: of all. It was wider, and it was to his 380 00:32:57,200 --> 00:33:01,640 Speaker 1: specs two and five as long, three quarters of an 381 00:33:01,680 --> 00:33:05,120 Speaker 1: age of diameter. He says, here, I'm going to show 382 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:07,480 Speaker 1: you how to hold this down. I use this and 383 00:33:07,600 --> 00:33:10,360 Speaker 1: all of my teaching, and that was a start of 384 00:33:10,400 --> 00:33:18,240 Speaker 1: my lessons with Jerry. He was an incredible teacher. Don't 385 00:33:18,280 --> 00:33:20,360 Speaker 1: just play what's on the paper. I want you to 386 00:33:20,360 --> 00:33:23,920 Speaker 1: play what's not on the paper. That's most important. He 387 00:33:24,040 --> 00:33:28,800 Speaker 1: taught me musicality, which to me is the most important 388 00:33:29,200 --> 00:34:02,400 Speaker 1: how to play musically rather than plain notes. The steel 389 00:34:02,440 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: guitar had made its way from a distant chain of 390 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:10,040 Speaker 1: islands onto the global stage, and then America went Hawaii crazy. 391 00:34:10,640 --> 00:34:14,320 Speaker 1: Who I'm saying, By the twenties and nineteen thirties, everybody 392 00:34:14,320 --> 00:34:27,080 Speaker 1: knows what Hawaiian guitar is. In the US, nine lounges 393 00:34:27,239 --> 00:34:31,240 Speaker 1: were opening, There were Hawaiian themed venues. This is real Hawaiian, 394 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:34,520 Speaker 1: even the Macaroni sal in Hollywood, New York. Into the 395 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:40,680 Speaker 1: parts of the country. Now let's stay on the same 396 00:34:40,719 --> 00:34:43,560 Speaker 1: two strings and slant the bar and a forward slant. 397 00:34:43,800 --> 00:34:46,880 Speaker 1: There's Hawaiian guitar schools set up all over the country, 398 00:34:47,120 --> 00:34:49,920 Speaker 1: with hundreds and hundreds of boys and girls enrolled in 399 00:34:50,000 --> 00:34:53,440 Speaker 1: the schools go to any seventh chord reversal land. At 400 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:59,040 Speaker 1: one time, Oahu Publishing in Cleveland, Ohio actually gave certificates 401 00:34:59,040 --> 00:35:03,680 Speaker 1: of completion to two hundred thousand of the still guitar students. 402 00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:17,520 Speaker 1: That's incredible, very easy, not difficult at all. We begin 403 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:22,200 Speaker 1: to find recordings by don Hawaiians adopting the steel guitar style, 404 00:35:26,200 --> 00:35:33,400 Speaker 1: whether it's into the blues or into jazz. There's a 405 00:35:33,440 --> 00:35:37,640 Speaker 1: transitional period where you actually do hear quite clearly these 406 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:45,760 Speaker 1: Hawaiian music motifs being integrated into other genres, most notably 407 00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:54,319 Speaker 1: in country music. And Yacoff was kind of the king 408 00:35:54,400 --> 00:35:58,400 Speaker 1: of the grand o opera. But before his rise to fame, 409 00:35:59,120 --> 00:36:03,920 Speaker 1: his steel guitar artist, Bashful brother Oswald was literally stalking 410 00:36:04,440 --> 00:36:07,400 Speaker 1: Hawaiian musicians trying to learn how to play the steel guitar. 411 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:17,640 Speaker 1: So if you listen to the Cuff records from the 412 00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:20,600 Speaker 1: nineteen forties and you listen to Oswald's playing of the 413 00:36:20,680 --> 00:36:25,600 Speaker 1: dough broke, you actually hear him taking all of these 414 00:36:25,719 --> 00:36:29,359 Speaker 1: techniques from Hawaiian music making and adopting them to this 415 00:36:29,800 --> 00:36:32,200 Speaker 1: country music sound. Did they say that if I ever 416 00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:33,960 Speaker 1: came back and you show what they won't gold ring 417 00:36:33,960 --> 00:36:46,400 Speaker 1: o w yes. The kika kila's application and what was 418 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:50,080 Speaker 1: then called hillbilly music led to the development of the 419 00:36:50,120 --> 00:36:54,040 Speaker 1: pedal steel guitar, which rests on a stand outfitted with 420 00:36:54,080 --> 00:36:57,279 Speaker 1: foot pedals and knee levers that raise or lower the 421 00:36:57,320 --> 00:37:09,440 Speaker 1: pitches of particular strings. Finly, I'm falling more in love? 422 00:37:09,840 --> 00:37:15,120 Speaker 1: What do you The steel guitar totally overtakes country music 423 00:37:15,200 --> 00:37:18,920 Speaker 1: by the late nineteen forties as the pivotal central weed instrument. 424 00:37:20,120 --> 00:37:25,640 Speaker 1: Ladies and gentlemen Sam Juel and Johnny. In the nineteen sixties, 425 00:37:25,960 --> 00:37:39,399 Speaker 1: you see steel guitar and rock and roll music. Ironically, 426 00:37:39,960 --> 00:37:43,080 Speaker 1: the wide scale endorsement of the steel guitar is why 427 00:37:43,120 --> 00:37:50,160 Speaker 1: it's Hawaiian roots have been obscured as it's adopted into 428 00:37:50,200 --> 00:37:52,840 Speaker 1: other traditions of music making in the US, and the 429 00:37:52,880 --> 00:38:00,560 Speaker 1: steel guitar becomes dissociated from Hawaiians. Music making the Islands 430 00:38:01,160 --> 00:38:06,600 Speaker 1: remains fiercely Hawaiian, but younger native Hawaiians they're listening to 431 00:38:06,719 --> 00:38:10,640 Speaker 1: rock and roll, They're listening to the Beatles, They're listening 432 00:38:10,640 --> 00:38:14,840 Speaker 1: to all this other music. If you fast forward to 433 00:38:14,840 --> 00:38:18,239 Speaker 1: the Hawaiian Renaissance movement of the nineteen seventies, half a 434 00:38:18,280 --> 00:38:20,920 Speaker 1: Hallowe music and hula kui music becomes a side of 435 00:38:21,000 --> 00:38:36,880 Speaker 1: consternation for younger Hawaiians. They actually came to see that music, 436 00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:40,760 Speaker 1: which was composed by Hawaiian people and performed by Hawaiian 437 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:43,120 Speaker 1: people in the early part of the century as being 438 00:38:43,680 --> 00:38:47,279 Speaker 1: not politically mindful enough for really the realm of the 439 00:38:47,320 --> 00:38:54,880 Speaker 1: tourist industry that they saw as wrecking the islands, destroying 440 00:38:54,920 --> 00:39:03,520 Speaker 1: them literally. During the Renaissance, many Hawaiian musicians decided to 441 00:39:03,560 --> 00:39:09,120 Speaker 1: avoid the steel guitar altogether. It never disappeared, but people 442 00:39:09,120 --> 00:39:12,480 Speaker 1: didn't really know what to do with it. You hear 443 00:39:12,600 --> 00:39:14,960 Speaker 1: some of the up and coming acts disparaging the steel 444 00:39:15,000 --> 00:39:19,399 Speaker 1: guitar saying we're not into that kind of music because 445 00:39:19,440 --> 00:39:22,719 Speaker 1: they've seen it so closely associated with tourist music and waikiki. 446 00:39:24,800 --> 00:39:30,360 Speaker 1: So they began pursuing this acoustic music, embracing the slack 447 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:35,880 Speaker 1: key guitar. The folk music movement in the nineteen sixties 448 00:39:36,160 --> 00:39:38,920 Speaker 1: is happening in Hawaii just as it is happening elsewhere 449 00:39:38,960 --> 00:39:41,319 Speaker 1: in the country. That was you know, they hate ash 450 00:39:41,480 --> 00:39:46,120 Speaker 1: very days Vietnam War. Things were changing in America, so 451 00:39:46,280 --> 00:39:49,640 Speaker 1: was the style of music, and I could hear it 452 00:39:49,640 --> 00:39:54,160 Speaker 1: in the islands. Here some recordings that are considered classics today, 453 00:39:54,719 --> 00:39:56,880 Speaker 1: they're from that era. In those days, I didn't want 454 00:39:56,920 --> 00:40:00,120 Speaker 1: to listen to them. I couldn't relate to them. They 455 00:40:00,160 --> 00:40:02,719 Speaker 1: were not the traditional Hawaiian music that I grew up 456 00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:08,759 Speaker 1: with and love. There are, however, some notable exceptions when 457 00:40:08,760 --> 00:40:11,560 Speaker 1: you listen to some of those foundational earlier recordings by 458 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:15,560 Speaker 1: Gabby Pahnui and others, actually still guitars all over the 459 00:40:15,560 --> 00:40:19,440 Speaker 1: place on this record. Feet Rogers was one of the 460 00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:23,200 Speaker 1: steel players most associated with the Renaissance period of the seventies, 461 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:25,920 Speaker 1: and he had a very different, more subtle style of 462 00:40:25,960 --> 00:40:28,879 Speaker 1: playing than what you did here with the Ape Alley music. 463 00:40:32,920 --> 00:40:36,560 Speaker 1: David Fete Rogers was actually my first teacher. Off of 464 00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:40,640 Speaker 1: his LP, the Five Faces album by the Suns Up 465 00:40:40,880 --> 00:40:43,000 Speaker 1: You are what many of us called the Red album 466 00:40:43,160 --> 00:40:46,080 Speaker 1: because of the cover. It was a new sound. It 467 00:40:46,160 --> 00:40:50,719 Speaker 1: wasn't like the older traditional groups. It was different, but 468 00:40:50,960 --> 00:40:54,000 Speaker 1: they were all traditional songs. But it was something about 469 00:40:54,000 --> 00:40:57,520 Speaker 1: the steel guitar. It was such a simple style. It 470 00:40:57,600 --> 00:41:03,080 Speaker 1: fits right between the cracks musically. I just loved his 471 00:41:03,200 --> 00:41:08,600 Speaker 1: playing and followed him through the years. Every now and then, 472 00:41:08,680 --> 00:41:11,760 Speaker 1: depending on the style of Hawaiian music, I'll kick into 473 00:41:11,880 --> 00:41:16,920 Speaker 1: his style whatever fits, especially with the more contemporary Hawaiian music, 474 00:41:17,520 --> 00:41:21,680 Speaker 1: because it's so simple strumming of the guitar they used 475 00:41:21,680 --> 00:41:25,920 Speaker 1: to dole the melody of the songs. Even the lyrics 476 00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:32,160 Speaker 1: in Hawaiian are different from before, different times, and so 477 00:41:32,320 --> 00:41:34,319 Speaker 1: with the still guitar, you know, scaling back is a 478 00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:39,560 Speaker 1: good idea. Are you gonna do something like this that 479 00:41:39,680 --> 00:41:43,480 Speaker 1: might not fit? But if I do this, just a 480 00:41:43,560 --> 00:41:49,279 Speaker 1: simple try at an archego that might fit better for 481 00:41:49,360 --> 00:41:52,640 Speaker 1: a musician and artists, it's not just squeezing in but 482 00:41:52,800 --> 00:42:05,320 Speaker 1: fitting in. Within the twentieth century, the steel guitars profile 483 00:42:05,520 --> 00:42:12,719 Speaker 1: shifted from global ubiquity to relative obscurity. Today you hear 484 00:42:12,719 --> 00:42:20,319 Speaker 1: steel guitar all over the place. It's an instrument that's 485 00:42:20,360 --> 00:42:24,000 Speaker 1: become adopted widely for use and soundtracks because it's so 486 00:42:24,120 --> 00:42:28,440 Speaker 1: evocative of the vocal of a human voice and talking 487 00:42:28,960 --> 00:42:39,239 Speaker 1: guitar that is put to use in many different contexts. 488 00:42:39,960 --> 00:42:43,759 Speaker 1: Even though nobody knows what the instrument is, nobody knows 489 00:42:43,800 --> 00:42:46,239 Speaker 1: what they look like, nobody knows what they're called. The 490 00:42:46,280 --> 00:42:50,120 Speaker 1: steel guitar has fallen out of the popular imagination. The 491 00:42:50,160 --> 00:42:54,040 Speaker 1: sound is everywhere still, but the idea of it as 492 00:42:54,080 --> 00:43:01,600 Speaker 1: an instrument and its connection to Hawaii is totally gone. 493 00:43:02,160 --> 00:43:06,280 Speaker 1: The Hawaii legislature proposed a bill declaring the state instrument 494 00:43:06,880 --> 00:43:10,200 Speaker 1: as the ukulele. I got wind of the meeting so 495 00:43:10,320 --> 00:43:13,319 Speaker 1: late I ran down to the state capital where they 496 00:43:13,320 --> 00:43:17,160 Speaker 1: were having the meeting. Members of Ukulele Company were just 497 00:43:17,239 --> 00:43:19,759 Speaker 1: walking off the dark and they said, oh yeah, they 498 00:43:19,800 --> 00:43:22,520 Speaker 1: just gave the testimony, and I went, damn, I better 499 00:43:22,600 --> 00:43:26,280 Speaker 1: run in there. I got in there and he said, okay, 500 00:43:26,320 --> 00:43:28,000 Speaker 1: you know, we're going to vote on this now, and 501 00:43:28,000 --> 00:43:33,800 Speaker 1: they said, wait, may I say something. You know, the 502 00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:37,920 Speaker 1: still guitar is only string instrument modern day string instrument 503 00:43:38,000 --> 00:43:43,239 Speaker 1: invented here in Hawaii. The kalle was adopted and adapted 504 00:43:43,560 --> 00:43:48,239 Speaker 1: in Hawaii from a Portuguese instrument. Although the kal is 505 00:43:48,400 --> 00:43:52,840 Speaker 1: well known more than the still guitar today, it was 506 00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:55,600 Speaker 1: a still guitar that actually learned a lot of people 507 00:43:56,280 --> 00:44:00,520 Speaker 1: to the islands, and in some cases it's still does 508 00:44:01,800 --> 00:44:04,440 Speaker 1: still guitars, most of them here in Hawaii play Hawaiian 509 00:44:04,480 --> 00:44:07,719 Speaker 1: music the uk You see it at festival, as you 510 00:44:07,760 --> 00:44:10,719 Speaker 1: see it in videos. A lot of the locals playing 511 00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:16,680 Speaker 1: non Hawaiian music. So the motion was, maybe we'll ask 512 00:44:17,640 --> 00:44:20,120 Speaker 1: the students in the schools. I said, wait a minute, 513 00:44:20,960 --> 00:44:23,719 Speaker 1: they only know the uk ell they probably don't know 514 00:44:23,760 --> 00:44:28,000 Speaker 1: the still guitar. The chairman says, you know what, Okay, 515 00:44:28,000 --> 00:44:31,000 Speaker 1: we're gonna table it. Then let's do a little more research. 516 00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:36,480 Speaker 1: A lot of people rolled in in favor of the 517 00:44:36,520 --> 00:44:43,600 Speaker 1: still guitar. Well, the next year came about, they had 518 00:44:43,640 --> 00:44:47,120 Speaker 1: another meeting and they made uk elli the state instrument. 519 00:44:48,239 --> 00:44:58,439 Speaker 1: And it's like wow, Casai said. After the uk elea 520 00:44:58,520 --> 00:45:01,520 Speaker 1: became the state instrument, you it was like this fire 521 00:45:01,760 --> 00:45:04,920 Speaker 1: was burning inside of me. I wanted to do whatever 522 00:45:04,960 --> 00:45:08,120 Speaker 1: I could to bring the still guitar back to prominence. 523 00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:13,680 Speaker 1: I was attending it was called the Henry Allen Still 524 00:45:13,719 --> 00:45:17,680 Speaker 1: Guitar Festival at the time. The hotel approach me and 525 00:45:17,719 --> 00:45:21,719 Speaker 1: asked me would you take over the festival, which I did, 526 00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:25,080 Speaker 1: and so I renamed it the Maui Still Guitar Festival. 527 00:45:25,280 --> 00:45:29,880 Speaker 1: That same year, I was approached by one of the senators. 528 00:45:30,360 --> 00:45:34,840 Speaker 1: He says, could you do one in Waikiki? What do 529 00:45:34,920 --> 00:45:38,640 Speaker 1: you see? So all of a sudden I was running 530 00:45:38,680 --> 00:45:41,799 Speaker 1: two still guitar festivals, and that's when I started my 531 00:45:42,400 --> 00:45:46,240 Speaker 1: nonprofit hide Mela, which is the Hawaiian Institute for Music 532 00:45:46,400 --> 00:45:51,799 Speaker 1: Enrichment and Learning Experiences. So it's Himeli that coordinates and 533 00:45:51,880 --> 00:45:57,839 Speaker 1: operates all of these still guitar festivals. Him Mela now 534 00:45:57,840 --> 00:46:01,200 Speaker 1: puts on eight festivals a year throughout the Eleans. Alan 535 00:46:01,239 --> 00:46:04,680 Speaker 1: also travels the world doing workshops and conventions from New 536 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:09,680 Speaker 1: York to Yokohama, Japan. Kakola Mela Allen's music school on 537 00:46:09,719 --> 00:46:13,840 Speaker 1: Oahu focuses on Hawaiian music, and he offers steel guitar 538 00:46:13,920 --> 00:46:20,400 Speaker 1: lessons to anyone with an Internet connection, and so little 539 00:46:20,440 --> 00:46:22,920 Speaker 1: by little we're reaching out. First thing you gotta know 540 00:46:23,239 --> 00:46:26,960 Speaker 1: is how to hold the bar still. You times more visible. 541 00:46:28,160 --> 00:46:33,240 Speaker 1: We have people playing that home or going to backyard parties, 542 00:46:37,719 --> 00:46:41,640 Speaker 1: and then we have all these cake cake our youngsters 543 00:46:41,680 --> 00:46:52,800 Speaker 1: in Hawaiian cake or playing still guitar and seeing adults 544 00:46:52,800 --> 00:46:58,160 Speaker 1: in the audience with their jaws dropped. If you can 545 00:46:58,280 --> 00:47:02,520 Speaker 1: imagine just a jam featuring kids and adults, we call 546 00:47:02,600 --> 00:47:07,280 Speaker 1: it Conney Kapila in Hawaiian Conney Coppela strike the band. 547 00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:14,960 Speaker 1: So we're doing this jab session, switching musicians, switching the instruments. Ah, 548 00:47:14,960 --> 00:47:17,520 Speaker 1: this is so nice. This is hawai eat to me. 549 00:47:17,840 --> 00:47:21,160 Speaker 1: And that's what many people told me. After all the 550 00:47:21,160 --> 00:47:25,440 Speaker 1: steel guitars and signature sound of the Islands, signature sound. 551 00:47:31,880 --> 00:47:34,759 Speaker 1: The steel guitar has come to be more greatly embraced 552 00:47:34,760 --> 00:47:38,560 Speaker 1: by young Hawaiians today as they come to see it 553 00:47:38,640 --> 00:47:41,360 Speaker 1: once again as part of the extraordinary constellation of Hawaiian 554 00:47:41,400 --> 00:47:45,440 Speaker 1: music making due to the concerted efforts of Alan Akaka, 555 00:47:46,600 --> 00:47:49,600 Speaker 1: who has really played a fundamental role in reintroducing the 556 00:47:49,640 --> 00:47:54,759 Speaker 1: steel guitar to people throughout the islands. And then and 557 00:47:54,760 --> 00:48:03,719 Speaker 1: then it might be putting in volunteer work to coordinate 558 00:48:03,760 --> 00:48:06,640 Speaker 1: and operate these still guitar festivals. It's a start. So 559 00:48:06,719 --> 00:48:10,600 Speaker 1: satisfaction for me really is the start of joy. I mean, 560 00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:12,759 Speaker 1: you know, I come back and I'm like ready to 561 00:48:13,040 --> 00:48:16,160 Speaker 1: not for twelve hours. But we're making the still guitar 562 00:48:16,239 --> 00:48:20,319 Speaker 1: more visible. We're exposing many people to it. Have you 563 00:48:20,360 --> 00:48:26,360 Speaker 1: ever tried? And the great thing is his free and 564 00:48:26,480 --> 00:48:31,280 Speaker 1: open to the public. The workshops, the concerts, the jam session, 565 00:48:31,880 --> 00:48:34,759 Speaker 1: they're all free. So little by little we're bringing the 566 00:48:34,800 --> 00:48:41,360 Speaker 1: still guitar back to the Islands. Today. There's professional steel 567 00:48:41,400 --> 00:48:45,240 Speaker 1: players in every kind of major music market of the country. 568 00:48:45,760 --> 00:48:48,680 Speaker 1: Elsewhere in the world, I mean, there are steel players everywhere. 569 00:48:49,040 --> 00:48:52,640 Speaker 1: They all congregate to really nerdy internet forums. That's kind 570 00:48:52,680 --> 00:48:54,560 Speaker 1: of how you find them, how you track them down. 571 00:48:55,880 --> 00:49:01,480 Speaker 1: But there are brilliant steel players, incredibly talented steel players, 572 00:49:01,960 --> 00:49:07,600 Speaker 1: obsessed steel players. I mean. The reason why I started 573 00:49:07,640 --> 00:49:09,919 Speaker 1: playing steel guitar originally before I even thought about where 574 00:49:09,920 --> 00:49:12,480 Speaker 1: the steel guitar came from, was that I moved to Austin, 575 00:49:12,520 --> 00:49:15,360 Speaker 1: Texas thinking I'd be a guitar player and make money 576 00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:17,920 Speaker 1: while I was in grad school, coming to realize that 577 00:49:17,920 --> 00:49:20,760 Speaker 1: there were literally ten thousand other guitar players in Austin, 578 00:49:20,800 --> 00:49:23,560 Speaker 1: Texas at that time. So I realized that I had 579 00:49:23,600 --> 00:49:27,120 Speaker 1: to diversify and come up with other things that I 580 00:49:27,120 --> 00:49:29,640 Speaker 1: could offer to bands, and so I took up the 581 00:49:29,640 --> 00:49:37,719 Speaker 1: steel guitar. Steel guitarists are scarce enough such that they 582 00:49:37,760 --> 00:49:40,759 Speaker 1: can be the go to players for all kinds of 583 00:49:41,000 --> 00:49:45,080 Speaker 1: bands in their communities, but they're also growing in number. 584 00:49:46,280 --> 00:49:48,120 Speaker 1: So I think the future is bright for steel guitar. 585 00:49:48,280 --> 00:49:51,440 Speaker 1: But it's a fragmented story and it's one that doesn't 586 00:49:51,480 --> 00:49:54,839 Speaker 1: really have much impact. And major conversations and popu war 587 00:49:54,960 --> 00:49:56,839 Speaker 1: music today. They're they're kind of on the fringes, they're 588 00:49:56,840 --> 00:50:07,399 Speaker 1: on the sidelines, but they're there. But who's to say 589 00:50:07,560 --> 00:50:11,520 Speaker 1: the steel guitar will stick around this time. Alan feels 590 00:50:11,800 --> 00:50:15,040 Speaker 1: the most vital contribution he can make is to inspire 591 00:50:15,080 --> 00:50:22,200 Speaker 1: the next generation. Kickula Millery was started because I could 592 00:50:22,200 --> 00:50:25,480 Speaker 1: see that other schools we're not really teaching Hawaiian. You 593 00:50:25,520 --> 00:50:28,480 Speaker 1: were teaching everything else using the lookal l as a 594 00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:32,759 Speaker 1: primary instrument. Maybe they're learning some rock and roll song 595 00:50:32,840 --> 00:50:37,440 Speaker 1: that has four chords one, six, four or five and 596 00:50:37,600 --> 00:50:41,799 Speaker 1: that's it. I want to bring back some of the 597 00:50:41,880 --> 00:50:45,920 Speaker 1: old songs, some of the songs that talk about the islands. 598 00:50:47,440 --> 00:50:49,680 Speaker 1: So in my class, I teach him about the islands, 599 00:50:49,680 --> 00:50:53,480 Speaker 1: about the lifestyle, about the culture, even history through the 600 00:50:53,600 --> 00:50:58,520 Speaker 1: songs like being power points of the past, especially for 601 00:50:58,560 --> 00:51:00,680 Speaker 1: the young ones. You have no clue, so I can 602 00:51:00,719 --> 00:51:05,680 Speaker 1: show them. I have a lot of baloo students. I 603 00:51:05,719 --> 00:51:09,120 Speaker 1: have a lot of still guitarist students around the world, 604 00:51:09,200 --> 00:51:12,440 Speaker 1: true skype and I have many different levels from you know, 605 00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:16,040 Speaker 1: beginner all the way to a pretty done good able 606 00:51:16,080 --> 00:51:22,960 Speaker 1: to take the stage that good. I'm teaching my student 607 00:51:23,080 --> 00:51:26,440 Speaker 1: Malias some of the songs her great grandmother sang and 608 00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:37,160 Speaker 1: she has the same range. Whenever I hear her saying, 609 00:51:37,480 --> 00:51:41,080 Speaker 1: we say over here, you know chicken skin. Chicken skin 610 00:51:41,239 --> 00:51:50,320 Speaker 1: is like goose pimples. And then I have another girl 611 00:51:50,520 --> 00:51:53,920 Speaker 1: in elementary school and I'm teaching her songs. That's her 612 00:51:54,200 --> 00:51:58,960 Speaker 1: great great grandfather wrote Alvin Isaac's and he wrote a 613 00:51:59,000 --> 00:52:03,000 Speaker 1: lot of class tunes a lot. And her great grand 614 00:52:03,080 --> 00:52:06,600 Speaker 1: uncle was on Hawaii cause was a famous steal guitarist, 615 00:52:06,719 --> 00:52:09,480 Speaker 1: Barney Isaacs. And yet she's the only one in the 616 00:52:09,480 --> 00:52:16,320 Speaker 1: family playing still guitar. We know, mom Now, I said, Okay, 617 00:52:16,440 --> 00:52:19,640 Speaker 1: these are all your family songs. We're going to learn them. 618 00:52:19,680 --> 00:52:23,640 Speaker 1: So she is, she's learning them. I said, yep, you 619 00:52:23,760 --> 00:52:27,600 Speaker 1: gotta keep this going no matter what. You are the 620 00:52:27,680 --> 00:52:40,359 Speaker 1: link to the past, Momocome. It's started like my contribution 621 00:52:40,800 --> 00:52:45,520 Speaker 1: to society, especially for Hawaiian society. I mean there's a 622 00:52:45,520 --> 00:52:49,279 Speaker 1: lot of teachers, you know, teaching language, teaching hula, teaching protocol, 623 00:52:49,760 --> 00:52:53,440 Speaker 1: or even teaching slacky or teaching singing and so on. 624 00:52:54,080 --> 00:52:57,920 Speaker 1: But for me, it's solo, working ensemble with the still guitar, 625 00:52:58,360 --> 00:53:01,359 Speaker 1: with songs that I grew up with, our played with 626 00:53:01,480 --> 00:53:06,000 Speaker 1: these old timers, these legends bringing out those songs because 627 00:53:06,040 --> 00:53:09,359 Speaker 1: if I don't, you know, it might die, it might 628 00:53:09,520 --> 00:53:48,320 Speaker 1: fade away. M H m hm m H. Ephemeral is 629 00:53:48,360 --> 00:53:52,759 Speaker 1: written and assembled by and produced by Matt Frederick, Trevor Young, 630 00:53:53,160 --> 00:53:56,440 Speaker 1: and Max Williams. With special thanks to this episode to 631 00:53:56,560 --> 00:54:01,960 Speaker 1: Daniel Tremblay, Laura Duff, Toby Nova, Ronald Young Jr. And 632 00:54:02,040 --> 00:54:06,200 Speaker 1: to callin Troy for his ukulele rendition of k Sara Sara. 633 00:54:07,560 --> 00:54:11,200 Speaker 1: John Troutman's book is Kika Kila, How the Hawaiian steel 634 00:54:11,200 --> 00:54:14,759 Speaker 1: Guitar Changed the sound of modern music. And to find 635 00:54:14,760 --> 00:54:17,120 Speaker 1: out what Alan Acock is up to and sign up 636 00:54:17,120 --> 00:54:21,440 Speaker 1: for lessons via Skype, visit Kakola Mela dot com. K 637 00:54:21,680 --> 00:54:25,600 Speaker 1: E k u l A m E l e dot com. 638 00:54:25,719 --> 00:54:29,919 Speaker 1: Links to these and more at our website dot show 639 00:54:52,840 --> 00:54:56,920 Speaker 1: Next Time on Ephemeral. Honestly, if it wasn't from my neighbor, 640 00:54:56,960 --> 00:54:59,799 Speaker 1: I would be dead. It was one o'clock in the 641 00:54:59,800 --> 00:55:05,040 Speaker 1: more earning. The phone rang and everything was going fast. 642 00:55:05,160 --> 00:55:08,600 Speaker 1: The phone lines were going down, the electric lines, we're 643 00:55:08,640 --> 00:55:12,400 Speaker 1: going down. And she said, the firest jumped the freeway. 644 00:55:13,080 --> 00:55:17,240 Speaker 1: We haven't much time, and that's when I packed everything. 645 00:55:17,680 --> 00:55:21,680 Speaker 1: And she's absolutely right. We didn't have much time. When 646 00:55:21,680 --> 00:55:23,759 Speaker 1: I got down to the end of the driveway or 647 00:55:23,800 --> 00:55:32,040 Speaker 1: the road there, it was just blazing. Support ephemeral by 648 00:55:32,080 --> 00:55:35,560 Speaker 1: recommending an episode, leaving a review, or dropping this a 649 00:55:35,640 --> 00:55:40,400 Speaker 1: line at ephemeral Show. More podcasts from my Heart Radio, 650 00:55:40,880 --> 00:55:44,720 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 651 00:55:44,760 --> 00:55:48,839 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows, and learn more at 652 00:55:48,880 --> 00:55:50,680 Speaker 1: ephemeral dot show.