Songs & Stories

For over 30 years Honokaa High and Intermediate School band teacher Gary Washburn has been inspiring students to produce outstanding music. Washburn estimates he has taught three to four thousand students in his tenure at the school. Although he is reaching an age when retirement would be a consideration for most, Washburn maintains, “As long as it’s fun, I’m going to keep at it.” In this podcast you'll hear selection from BANDemic, the Honoka‘a Jazz Band's new release.

If you have a podcast show suggestion or guest interview recommendation, give Big Island Music Magazine a call at (318) 500-3582, and leave us a message on the request line. If we like what we hear, we might air it on a future podcast episode. Thanks for listening and Aloha!

This episode features an interview with the multi-talented music couple of Michael Surprenant and Sarah Bethany. Sarah's a singer-songwriter, producer, arranger, and Michael is a producer, drummer, and studio engineer.  Tracks: "The Uncomfortable Truth" and "Illuminate."

The Songs & Stories podcast is a production of Big Island Music Magazine, and available for free on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Be sure to subscribe. Catch up on previous episodes here: https://anchor.fm/bigislandmusicmagazine.

Sarah Bethany: https://www.sarahbethany.com

Michael Surprenant: https://www.manamusicstudio.com

Rapper, singer, songwriter Higgs is our guest for this episode. He shares two original songs plus a sneak peak at his upcoming album. The Songs & Stories podcast is a production of Big Island Music Magazine, and available for free on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Be sure to subscribe. Catch up on previous episodes here: https://anchor.fm/bigislandmusicmagazine.

Higgs: http://higgsmusic.com

RJ Kaneao is an award winning recording artist, producer and session guitarist who’s played and/or recorded with many amazing A-list musicians and artists. You can find his music on iTunes, Spotify, Amazon, and on his own Pandora station (RJ Kaneao).

Songs & Stories is a production of Big Island Music Magazine, and available for free on Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. Be sure to subscribe. Catch up on previous episodes here: https://anchor.fm/bigislandmusicmagazine.

Show notes: Dirty Cello started eight years ago when Rebecca Roudman, a tenured member of both the Oakland and Santa Rosa symphony orchestras, met guitarist Jason Eckl while attending college. He’s now her husband. Dirty Cello has since toured China, Italy, and even Iceland, all while paying their musical dues along the way.

In this episode, Roudman talks about several unusual shows the band played during the past nine including a nudist colony, serenading animals at the zoo, and appearing in a commercial about being productive during the time of Covid-19 with Hangover actor Ken Jeung.

Fans of the podcast will hear two unreleased Dirty Cello tracks "Don't Tell My Shows," and the Jimi Hendrix classic "Purple Haze."

Show Notes: Widely praised for his mastery of the Hawaiian slack-key guitar, Oahu singer/songwriter Makana built a reputation around the turn of the millennium for his dynamic playing style that infuses indigenous guitar styles with rock, blues, and world music. Following his award-winning 1999 debut, he delivered a string of solo albums that mixed traditional slack-key instrumentals with original songs, later gaining wider notice for his contributions to the Grammy-nominated collections Hawaiian Slack Key Kings I & II as well as the soundtrack to the film The Descendants.

Makana also has the distinction of being the last artist to perform at the Kahilu Theatre before the pandemic shut things down. Fans of the podcast will be treated to two originals songs by Makana, “Aloha-Ka Manini,” and “Stressed.”

Connect with Makana via his website.

Show Notes: Normally this this time of year, Musical Director Trever Veilleux would be preparing the UH Hilo Jazz Orchestra for its annual double-dose of Frank Zappa tribute concerts, however, the pandemic prevented that. Although folks won’t be lining up outside of the Performance Center to hear their interpretations, Veilleux appears on this podcast with his thoughts on Zappa and the UHJO.

In this episode you'll hear UHJO  recordings of “Uncle Remus," Outside Now," and new material from Professor T & The East Side Shredders. Some listeners may object to the explicit lyrics found in these songs. To quote Zappa, "This album contains material which a truly free society would neither fear nor suppress."

Show Notes: Blues guitarist Tomi Isobe celebrates his 10-year tenure on the Big Island of Hawaii with a new album called Ko'u Huaka’i (My Journey). It’s a different musical path for Isobe and he’s joined by the legendary Sonny Lim on guitar.

Isobe joins host Steve Roby, and they play three tracks from the new release. You’ll hear “Big Island Blues,” “Na Vaqueros,” and “Sukiyaki-Ue Wo Muite Arukou.” The guitarist also takes on the challenge of singing in in English, Hawaiian, Japanese and Spanish. Fans can preview and purchase the album here.

Tomi Isobe: http://www.tomiisobemusic.com

Show Notes: We asked John Burnett, staff writer for the Hawaii Tribune Herald, for his Top 5 Tunes and he came up with picks from Ledward Kaapana,

Burnett has been in Hawaii media for almost four-and-a-half decades, three of those in radio. He's also written extensively about Hawaii music and entertainment -- first in the late 1990s for the former Hawaii Island Journal, then for the Hawaii Tribune-Herald starting in 2006, where he's now the police and courts reporter and handling general assignments during the pandemic. 

The Big Island Beat podcast is available for free on all major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. Thanks for listening and Aloha!

Our guest on this week’s podcast is two-time Grammy Award-Winning recording artist Kalani Peʻa. He talks about his two new singles that drop this week, and an upcoming performance on Kahilu TV. Plus, he’ll share some info on his third album due out in 2021.

The Big Island Beat podcast is available for free on all major podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Podcasts. If you have a podcast show suggestion or guest interview recommendation, give Big Island Music Magazine a call at (318) 500-3582, and leave us a message on the request line. If we like what we hear, we might air it on a future podcast episode. Thanks for listening and Aloha!

Connect with Kalani Peʻa: https://www.kalanipeamusic.com