Although born on the Big Island, slack-key guitar legend George Kahumoku Jr.’s roots run deep on the island of Maui in a variety of ways.
Besides performing every Wednesday night with a panoply of local performers young and old at the Napili Kai Beach Resort, running the annual Maui Slack Key Guitar and Ukulele Workshop and lecturing at the University of Hawaii at Maui Institute of Hawaiian Music—where he keeps the traditional music and dance flame burning bright—the Grammy-winning artist also operates a working farm in Kahakuloa, about eight miles upcountry from Wailuku Town.
When Meetings Focus West caught up with Kahumoku he was just returning home from his farm after tending to a newborn filly, and was brimming with enthusiasm regarding a Maui music scene that he is a leader in.
"It’s almost like a mini Nashville," he says, tracing the resurgence of traditional Hawaiian music there to artists such as Eddie Kamae and The Sons of Hawaii in the 1970s and ’80s, whom he cites as his mentor, and Robert Nelson, who penned the swooning ballad Hanalei Moon. "There’s so many great artists that came out of Maui. And at one time this island was the capital of all the islands; that’s another reason why everything started here."
His roots now well established in the Maui soil, Kahumoku also offers tours of his farm.
"Groups can take tours, and see goats, sheep…and a jam session," he says. "It’s more of a country experience, and in mid-morning we take a break to eat, and then we just jam for a couple of hours and send them home about 3."
Kahumoku rose to acclaim after being "discovered" by contemporary jazz pianist George Winston, who launched the Dancing Cat record label featuring top slack-keyers.
"George Winston took us from the back porches to the Carnegie Halls and other performing arts venues of the world, with about 20 of us traveling," Kahumoku says. "Even though we traveled as soloists, each of us learned different tunings from different islands. The way you could tell where different guitar players came from is how they tuned their guitars."
And Maui itself resonates in a key all its own, according to Sherry Duong, director of meetings, conventions, incentives & international sales for the Maui Visitors & Convention Bureau, which handles tourism promotion for Maui proper and the neighboring Maui Nui islands of Molokai and Lanai.
"Honolulu gives you a sense of being in a big city, but we have the best of both worlds here, with a laidback feeling," Duong says. "You can actually be on Maui and take day trips to both of the other islands during the day and come back and sit on the beach and have a luau. I think that’s what sets us apart from the other islands."
Popular activities on Maui—apart from indulging in a cuisine scene that rivals Honolulu’s—include deep-sea fishing, phenomenal scuba and snorkeling, tours of the Hana Coast, mountain biking down Haleakala volcano, visits to lavender and organic farms, and even a burgeoning wine industry. Duong added that one of the newer activity options is a zip-line operation in Kapalua.
Maui, it seems, offers a little something to please every palate, but at a slow and sometimes sophisticated pace.
"We’ve never really been over-developed—we’re fortunate in that aspect," Duong says. "We have the four major resort areas, but then if you go outside of that you still get the feeling of being in Hawaii. You have the fine dining, restaurants and museums; there are plenty of things to do on Maui, but when you really want to be left alone, there are still lots of hiding places to hide away."
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