One point I raised at the membership meeting is that I felt that there should be a separate category for slack key guitar, and that releases should not included with other instrumental recordings. HARA president Alan Yamamoto stated that in the nomination papers, there is a blank line below all of the genre listings. Artists can write in their own category, and if there are enough releases, HARA will consider establishment (or reestablishment) of that category. I’m pretty sure that there will be enough slack key releases (minimum 5) for this, and there may be enough for a separate ‘ukulele category as well. There are three issues though:

1. If there are separate ‘ukulele and slack key guitar categories (and there is already a Jazz category), would there be enough eligible releases that don’t fit these categories to warrant a separate Instrumental category? There will be the occasional steel guitar or other release that doesn’t fit in those categories, and if there not enough of those kinds of releases, there might not be a catch-all Instrumental category for them to fall in.
2. It was pointed out that some slack key guitarists in the past have insisted that their releases not be put in the slack key category, but put into the instrumental category. The only reason I can see for that is that they are trying to avoid the competition, and think that their chances of getting a Na Hoku Hanohano are better if they avoid heavyweights like the Beamers, Pahinuis, Led Ka’apana, John Keawe, etc.
3. Some releases are a mix of slack key, new age, jazz and other acoustic guitar styles. Will there need to be a quantum on how much truly traditional slack key elements are contained in the recording? This one is a can of worms.

Anyway, for ‘ukulele and slack key players – here’s your chance. If you want to see a separate category for these instruments, write in ‘Ukulele or Slack Key in the blank line found in the categories section of the nomination form. If there are enough of you, there may be a separate category for them. If not, they’ll default back to the overal Instrumental category.

One of the touchy issues tackled at the HARA membership meeting was eligibility of deceased artists for some awards, particularly Most Promising New Artist. Last year, three of the five nominees for Male Vocalist of the Year were deceased as well. HARA looked at the policies of the national Academy, as they often do. It is interesting as the late Ray Charles won big at last year’s Grammy Awards, and this is how it will work for the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards:

• Any artist nominated for “Most Promising New Artist” must be alive as of Dec. 31, 2005. If somone who was nominated happens to pass away between January 1 and the awards ceremony, they remain eligible for the award.
• In order to be eligible for any of the “personality” awards, such as Male Vocalist, Female Vocalist and Group of the Year, eligible releases must include previously unreleased tracks, and must have been recording within five years of the release. For example, as Bruddah Iz passed away more than five years ago, he can no longer be eligible for Male Vocalist as he obviously has done no recording in that time.

Personally this policy makes sense to me, give families and labels more than sufficient time to put together CD which include previously unreleased material and properly honor the work of deserving artists.

It was a quite a busy Saturday. I flew to Honolulu for the HARA membership meeting and music conference at the Outrigger on the Beach in Waikiki. There were about 20 members in attendance and about 4 board members. The membership meeting lasted about a half an hour, covered the 2006 HARA calendar. Add deadlines are set and I’ll get them posted later, but the date and location for the 2006 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards have not yet been determined. There was also a discussion about some category issues and concerns, such as the nomination of deceased individuals in various categories. I’ll post these a bit later as well.

The “conference” turned out to be three one or two-person panels. Gaylord Holomalia discussed preparation for a recording session, Lanai and Mahlon Moore discussed alternative distribution, and Jodi Brotman and Tim Ryan discussed the impact of the Grammy Award win on Palm Records, their stable of artists and Hawaiian music in general. The discussion was quite lively and informative. A planned panel on song writing failed to materialize, and the entire gathering wrapped up a bit after noon.

I particularly enjoyed getting to meet people that I’ve known by email for year, but never had the chance to meet face to face, in particular Pali Ka’aihue, Billy V. as well as Darrell Aquino and M. Kalani Souza from SugahDaddy. It’s particular interesting since I worked with Darrell and Kalani on a Hawaiian language interpretation of one of the songs on their new release, but it was done entirely by email. Great meeting you all, as well as renewing acquaintance with other members.

I flew back late in the early evening, just in time to take a quick shower and make it to the Barefoot Natives gig at the Naniloa Resort. It was awesome. Willie and Eric sound incredible together, and I’m really looking forward to their upcoming release. In addition to their incredible musical talents they have a great onstage relationship, not unlike Willie and Amy’s “Sonny and Cher” routine where there is a lot of all-in-good-fun put downs and banter.

I’d like to offer a big tip o’ the hat to Kawehi Stevens, who put on both this show as well as Brittni Paiva’s release party. Kawehi has been working hard to bring Hawaiian music to Hilo, and doing a great job. I hope the turnout contines to be enough for him to keep bringing great music to East Hawai’i. Bravo, Kawehi.

When: Saturday, Nov. 12, 9:30AM to 12 Noon (registration starts at 9AM)
Where: Outrigger Waikiki On The Beach, 2335 Kalākaua Ave.

The meeting will cover the 2006 calendar, board election results, and the nomination process for the 2006 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. The music conference will run from 10AM and feature sessions on recording session preparation, non-traditional music distribution, songwriting and Hawaiian Music Album Grammy Awards. The meeting is free for all members who pre-registered; non-members (and members not pre-registered) cost is $25. For more information and reservations call Bonnie Ryder at 808-235-9424. Validated parking for $3 can be found at the Ohana East Hotel.

I’ll be there tomorrow, if you’re a NahenaheNet reader and we’ve never met, come say hi!