Kamuela Kahoano is a singer/songwriter and music producer from Honolulu, Oahu

Oahu

Oahu or Oahu , known as "The Gathering Place", is the third largest of the Hawaiian Islands and most populous of the islands in the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state capital Honolulu is located on the southeast coast...

, Hawaii

Hawaii

Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...

. He comes from a family of entertainers, and his music has elements of acoustic, folk, indie, and alternative with Hawaiian influences
. He performs solo and is also the lead singer of the band Analog(ic). He is an accomplished player of both the ukulele

Ukulele

The ukulele, ; from ; it is a subset of the guitar family of instruments, generally with four nylon or gut strings or four courses of strings....

 and guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

, playing both left-handed; he also plays the djembe

Djembe

A djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....

.

Kahoano's debut album, Green Light Go, was released January 2007. His latest, Stream Dreams, was released July 14, 2010.

1980–2004: Early life

Kamuela grew up in the Kapahulu neighborhood near Waikiki, and started playing music at 6 years old on a ukulele given to him by his grandmother.

1994–2004: Education

Kamuela attended Iolani School

Iolani School

Iolani School, located at 563 Kamoku Street in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a private coeducational college preparatory school serving over 1,800 students. Founded in 1863 by Father William R. Scott, it was the principal school of the former Anglican Church of Hawaii. It was patronized by Kamehameha IV...

 in Honolulu, graduating in 1998. He obtained his bachelor's in Music Composition in 2004 from the University of Hawaii at Manoa

University of Hawaii at Manoa

The University of Hawaii at Mānoa is a public, co-educational university and is the flagship campus of the greater University of Hawaii system...

 in Honolulu.

Family

Kamuela's father, Kimo Kahoano, is an entertainer, beginning his career as a top Polynesian fire knife

Fire Knife

The fire knife is a traditional Samoan cultural implement that is used in ceremonial dances. It was originally composed of a machete wrapped in towels on both ends with a portion of the blade exposed in the middle. Tribal performers of fire knife dancing dance while twirling the knife and doing...

 dancer and continuing as an actor, singer, DJ, and emcee. His mother is Lynette Kahoano. Both of his older brothers, Ikaika Kahoano

Ikaika Kahoano

Ikaika Kahoano is an American singer. He was a finalist on the ABC television series Making the Band in 2000, which formed the boy band O-Town. Kahoano left the group to return home to his native Hawaii and was replaced by Dan Miller...

 and Haku Kahoano, have also worked in the entertainment industry.

Musical style and influences

Kahoano claims many influences, citing the sounds of Coldplay

Coldplay

Coldplay are a British alternative rock band formed in 1996 by lead vocalist Chris Martin and lead guitarist Jonny Buckland at University College London. After they formed Pectoralz, Guy Berryman joined the group as a bassist and they changed their name to Starfish. Will Champion joined as a...

, U2

U2

U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...

, and Damien Rice

Damien Rice

Damien Rice is an Irish singer-songwriter, musician and record producer who plays guitar, piano, clarinet and percussion....

 and many others.

Discography

• Green Light Go (January 2007)
• Grumpy (She's Grumpy It's My Fault) (single, 2007)
• Manalani (Ukulele Solo) (single, 2007)
• Stream Dreams (July 14, 2010)

Further reading

• Kamuela Kahoano's Facebook page
• Kamuela Kahoano singing Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version of "Somewhere over the Rainbow"

External links