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Royal Hawaiian Troubadors

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A true pleasure to share some guitar research with @hawaiian_mission_houses at the Royal Hawaiianʻs Monarch room with string slinger @musicianosullivan in support of music education in Hawaiʻi. Mahalo nui @misspoai and Ms. Julie Cooke! Great to see legends Puamana, @singerstarr and Mr. John Signor ! #kaulapiko #musicalarts #luthiery #royalhawaiianhotel #silentauction #gala #liliʻuokalani #hawaiianmusic #mekiasmartin #nightofsovereignstrings

Mahalo iā ʻoe! Young lads like this fellow here were the gifted young people that made Newspapers a reality in the Hawaiian kingdom. Without their tireless (un airconditioned) work setting type, selling newspapers, investing in journalism and the publishing industry, learning today about much of the past would be nonexistent. Notable newsboys I know of include Johnny Nalanieha Wilson, Mekia and Charles Nakipi Kealakai, and a few years later Eddie Kamae. Any Newsboy stories you have to share? #sonsofhawaii #handcrafted #trades #printingpress #literacy #hawaiiankingdom #theword

Crafting day at the Lins house. Having spent the majority of my life working with my hands building and repairing stringed instruments Im learning that writing feels very much like a crafting process. Envision the shape of the completed work and then find the parts and pieces to make it so. My first apprenticeship in building Instruments was with a Luthier in Berkeley California when I was about 16 years old, I’ll never forget his Zen answer to my question: “How do you build a guitar?” “You start with a piece of wood” he said with a grin, “then you cut away everything that doesn’t look like a guitar.” Writing seems to be a similar process... #makersgonnamake #essaywriting #rootsmusic #soundtracks #lineage

Short doc by NMG Media Group on restoring string instruments and the stories, wisdom and history they have to share. In the video (copy link below or click on link in my bio) I play an old timey version of “Hi’ilawe” by Sam Li’a played on his violin that was in the shop getting a little attention to some loose seams when the film crew stopped in. I learned this from the playing of Lui Thompson the fiddle/violin player in the Honolulu Students and Royal Hawaiian Troubadors circa 1904. Lui was Brother to Duke Kahanamoku Sr., Duke Kahanomoku’s father. Duke Sr. Was a string band musician that played in the Kawaihau Glee Club with Mekia Kealakai, and Jeff Petersons great grandfather who led his own string band orchestra in Honolulu in the 1890’s. Also in the video is the ‘ukulele of Ellen Kekoaohiwaikalani Wright Prendergast, Haku Mele of “Kaulana Na Pua”, this ‘ukulele currently lives in the care of her descendant Doug Po’oloa Tolentino and also chose to visit the shop this day. I am honored that both of these instruments will be in the exhibition I am curating next year at the Bishop Museum. #kaulapiko https://nmgnetwork.com/watch/a-musical-pioneer/?jwsource=cl @singerstarr @jeffpetersonguitar @keolu_music @raiateamusic @musicianosullivan #nightofsovereignstrings #mekiasmartinfilm #hawaiianmusic #nalaniehā #cfmartin #iolanipalace #huliheepalace #konahistoricalsociety #johntroutman #hawaiianfiddle #wiresandwoodwithasoul #bishopmuseum #historyonastring

Manuel Nunes, arrived in The kingdom of Hawai’i’s capital port city of Honolulu in 1879. By 1884 after paying his dues in the Maui sugar fields he had saved enough kala to open his first shop on Nu’uanu, across the street from where Murphy’s pub now stands. He built his native Madeiran instruments and sent them out the door like seeds on the wind, carried today to every distant corner of the globe. One block away on Merchant Street lived a young 16 year old Royal Hawaiian Band musician named Mekia Kealakai, in time his music would circle the globe and leave its mark on the sound and shape of music. #hawaiianmusic #madeira #portuguese #mekiasmartinfilm #nightofsovereignstrings #nuuanu #worldtraveler #cfmartin #dreadnought

Na Hoaloha. #cfmartin #mekiasmartinfilm #nightofsovereignstrings #steelguitar #rootsmusic

KR Strings is Hawai’i's premier restoration studio for fine vintage stringed instruments. Founder Kilin Reece, specializes in the restoration, repair, design, and building of ukuleles, guitars, and mandolins. His work has been featured in Hawaiian Airlines Hana Hou! magazine and the Fretboard Journal and he is currently working as the historical research consultant for a book and documentary film in collaboration with the Martin Guitar Company illuminating the long running history of collaboration between Hawai’i and America’s oldest string instrument company.

KR Strings

150 Hamakua Drive,

Kailua, HI, 96734

808-387-4583 krstrings@gmail.com