Faces To Watch

June 23, 2007 / Craig Rosen / Billboard

On The Eve Of This Year’s Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, Billboard Looks At 10 Acts Making Waves On The Islands

For the past two years, compilations featuring the “legends” and “masters” of Hawaiian slack key guitar have been honored with Grammys for best Hawaiian album of the year. Makana isn’t on either of those albums, but he is considered the youngest living master of slack key guitar and part of a new breed of players making noise on the Islands. He has toured with Santana and Sting, and Metallica’s Kirk Hammett has name-dropped him alongside Andres Segovia. Makana’s 1999 self-titled debut album was named best world music album at the Hawai’i Music Awards and best CD by the readers of the Honolulu Weekly. His latest, “Different Game,” on his own label, is available exclusively through iTunes and showcases his acclaimed open-tuning slack key virtuosity as well as his comforting vocals.