Sonny Lim
Encyclopedia
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...
an musician and slack key guitar player from Waimea (Kamuela) on the Big Island of Hawaii. Sonny is part of the musical Lim Family, which is also famous in the 50th State.
Sonny's father, Elmer Lim Sr., who was a Paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) on the famed Parker ranch and later worked for the ranch himself. In this respect, Sonny carries on the slack key tradition born amongst Waimea Cowboys over a hundred years earlier. Like Ledward Kaapana
Ledward Kaapana
Ledward Kaapana is a Hawaiian musician, best known for playing in the slack key guitar style. He also plays steel guitar, ukulele, autoharp and bass guitar, and is a renowned falsetto singer.-Early life:...
, however, Sonny learned primarily from Kaapana's uncle, Kalapana slack key master Fred Punahoa
Fred Punahoa
Fred Punahoa was a Hawaiian musician and slack key guitar player from Kalapana, Hawaii. Though only two known recordings exist of "Uncle Fred," he remains one of the most influential slack key artists of all time....
, who moved in with Sonny's family for several weeks to teach him.
In addition to playing with the Lim Family, Sonny played with the Makaha Sons of Ni’ihau (using the stage name "Kohala") in the late-1970s, and he has shared the stage with many other Hawaiian artists such as Cyril Pahinui.
He can be heard on the Grammy Award-winning anthology album, "Slack Key Guitar Volume 2", as well as his solo debut album, "Slack Key Guitar: The Artistry of Sonny Lim," which was a Grammy Award finalist although it did not win.
Both albums available on Palm Records
Palm Records
Palm Records is a multi-award winning record label based in Kamuela on the Big Island of Hawaii. It is known for its acoustic guitar trio Kohala, its catalog of slack key guitar recordings, and as the first recipient of the Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Music Album: "Slack Key Guitar Volume 2",...
.