Jump to: In other news  |  Upcoming Events

“Somewhere in Kohala, there is an old man sitting on his porch with old songs playing in his heart and in his mind. If we fail to sit down with him and other kūpuna like him and revive these songs, when he goes away, these songs go away.”

So says musician and artist Boots Lupenui, who was inspired to tell Hawaiian stories after seeing the films of Eddie and Myrna Kamae. This inspiration has bloomed into The Kohala Mountain Music Project, a research and video documentary effort to find, understand, and share what Lupenui calls “heirloom songs” of Kohala. He recruited a few buddies—Danny “Kaniela” Akaka Jr., Chadd ‘Ōnohi Paishon, and Keola Grace—to form The Kohala Mountain Boys, a band of established Hawaiian musicians, cultural practitioners, artists, and storytellers who bring with them regional heritage that includes paniolo, navigators, kumu hula, healers, and artists. The band has tapped well-known Hawai‘i Island musician and producer Kihei Nahale-a of Project KULEANA fame to direct and produce the video.

In partnership with The Kohala Center, the project seeks to discover two heirloom songs and arrange, perform, and record them in the beautiful Kohala settings in which they were composed.

Sharing a love of old Hawaiian music, each of the band members has long-established ties to Kohala and a deep commitment to sharing cultural wisdom for future generations. “Music has gone through many, many changes in Hawai‘i and I feel myself yearning for the music of old,” Akaka says. “That’s what I feel [this project] is. It takes me back to that time, it takes me back to the stories that my aunties and grand-uncles used to talk about. It just reconnects me with this place.”

Boots Lupenui and Danny “Kaniela”Akaka Jr.

“We not only want to document the history to ensure it isn’t lost, but to recall the easy grace of old Hawai‘i and the aloha felt for our honored homeland,” Lupenui says. “Reclaiming our heirloom songs strengthens our ancestral ties to our homeland, and we hope this project will bring out other Kohala families and their kūpuna and inspire them to share their gifts as part of this preservation effort. For all of us involved in this project, it’s an honor to be caretakers of these heirloom songs. It’s our hope that people all over the world see this documentary and think about what it means to be of their community, what treasures they have in their own communities, and maybe begin to see that their entire community might be a treasure.”

Chadd ‘Ōnohi Paishon

Hawaiian music evolved from a tradition of oral expression in oli, or chant, with memorization passed down from generation to generation. Unlike popular music of today, it carried both family histories and descriptions of wahi pana, or sacred places. Kohala, like many other regions of Hawai‘i, is a storied place with a unique musical heritage, and Lupenui wants to ensure the older musical treasures of Kohala don’t vanish.

“The older generations listened to a different kind of music than today, played by musicians with incredible skill and virtuosity on a variety of instruments,” says Lupenui. “We would love to introduce our children to this excellent music.”

For the band members, the project is about going much deeper than just identifying and performing unrecorded or unknown songs: they seek to understand the historical, environmental, and familial conditions that influenced their creation. “Our interviews with the composers or their surviving family members will chronicle the lyrics and provide context to our understanding of the songs and the intentions behind them,” Lupenui explains. “Some may only have lyrics, and we want to honor the composer and be respectful and understanding of the spirit in which they were written.”

Keola Grace

Lupenui notes that families are often protective of their unique songs and sometimes reluctant to share them. “So we are starting with our own family connections, hoping to be lucky enough to discover some hidden gems and save them. Maybe there’s an old shoebox filled with scraps of paper, or a tūtū who remembers the lullaby her own grandmother hummed to her. What strains still survive of these faint, fleeting tunes? What might they remember from a time when paniolo still rode their horses home after a long day of work to sit by a wood stove and serenade sleepy little ones before bedtime?”

Following the journey of discovery, The Kohala Mountain Boys will arrange and rehearse the songs, culminating in a documentary film and live performances—complete with vintage-style musical instruments and clothing from the eras in which they were composed—to honor what these mele originally looked, sounded, and felt like.

If you’re a Kohala family interested in contributing a song to this effort, Contact Boots Lupenui at boots.lupenui@gmail.com or 808-887-6411.

The Kohala Mountain Boys are donating their total time and considerable effort to this undertaking. Support provided by Hawai‘i Tourism through the Kūkulu Ola Program will help cover filming and production expenses. Acquiring historical clothing and the appropriate vintage-styled instruments remains a challenge. Visit koha.la/music if you’d like to support this project.

↑ Back to top

Upcoming Events

August 17
Food Safety and Good Agricultural Practices
9 a.m. to 3 p.m. • Hāwī, Hawai‘i Island

August 24
Hoa‘āina Stewardship Day
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. • Waimea, Hawai‘i Island

August 28
Story-Based Marketing for Hawai‘i Farm Products
5 to 8 p.m. • Hilo, Hawai‘i Island

August 29
Story-Based Marketing for Hawai‘i Farm Products
5 to 8 p.m. • Honalo, Hawai‘i Island

September 17–20
Accounting and QuickBooks for Farmers
5:30 to 8:30 p.m. • Kahului, Maui

September 21
Hoa‘āina Stewardship Day
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. • Waimea, Hawai‘i Island

September 28
Hawai‘i Island Meteorology Network Educator Workshop
9 a.m. to 4 p.m. • Hilo, Hawai‘i Island

October 26
Hoa‘āina Stewardship Day
9 a.m. to 1 p.m. • Waimea, Hawai‘i Island

↑ Back to top