kokua festival 2007

maybe one year i will be home for the kokua festival but it looks like it is not meant to be in 2007. if your calendar is open at the end of april, celebrate earth day weekend with jack johnson & pearl jam frontman & part-time hawaii resident eddie vedder (fyi - if you have the sundance channel do check out the iconoclasts episode with ev & laird hamilton if you have a chance). all proceeds benefit jack's kokua hawaii foundation which educates island keiki on the importance of being green.

the official on sale date is next week but here's a little info on a few hush hush pre-sales:

• sat, feb 10th - remaining tix from the kokua members pre-sale (which has already ended) go on sale at jack johnson's website.

• thu, feb 15th - myspace members who made friends with the kokua festival await instructions to access their own not so secret sale. how very mission: impossible.

• sat, feb 17th - official ticketmaster sale kicks off at 9am hst and the poor souls who didn't score pre-sale tickets hope for the best.

there is a 4 ticket limit which will hopefully keep the ticket supply in the hands of the fans (and away from the profiteers selling tickets for obscene amounts on ebay & craigslist). more details can be found here.

pearl jam + hawaii '78

i finally talked to my friend the other day after playing phone tag since the holidays and learned that she scored free tickets to the big U2/pearl jam show at the stadium last month. she raved about pearl jam's cover of the makaha sons' classic "hawaii '78" so i went online to have a listen.

of course, someone posted video from the blaisdell show on youtube but if you want a copy of the song hit up pearl jam's website for the official bootleg (which is recorded straight from the board).

makana rocks the hawaiian vote

when you consider how long previous generations struggled to secure the right to vote for everyone who could not be categorized as a white land owning man, it is pretty shameful that voter turnout is so low (fact: only 50% of hawaii voters turned out in the 2004 election). know someone who can be counted amongst the other 50% who were "too busy" to vote? let them in on the little secret of the absentee ballot aka the handy dandy voting tool for time crunched citizens.

there is a long overdue effort underway to rock the hawaiian vote so if you want to support the movement then hit the convention center on friday night for a concert featuring makana, barefoot natives & willie k. tickets are $15 and can be purchased at jelly's - aiea, hungry ear records - kailua & the uh campus center. all proceeds will benefit the hawaiian way fund & 2006 native votes count campaign.

p.s. if you're not familiar with slack key virtuoso makana then check out his latest album ki ho'alu over on itunes.

modern day maestro

he is adored in japan and is just starting to hit the radar on the mainland thanks to one jimmy buffet. need another clue? pick up a copy of ukulele virtuoso jake shimabukuro's latest cd gently weeps which arrives in stores today.

you're in for quite a surprise if your last recollection of someone playing the ukulele is tiny tim on "the tonight show" (click over to itunes to listen to a clip of "shake it up" from last year's dragon for a rockin' introduction).

like what you hear? jake will be returning to hawaii for a show at the convention center at the end of the month and bring his 21st century uke style when he performs with the honolulu symphony pops over thanksgiving weekend.

jack johnson 101

the kids are back in school which means it's time to endure yet another off key attempt of "in the mood" from your favorite band geek. if you would prefer a little more "mudfootball" in your life, grab a copy of the jack johnson anthology filled with guitar tabs and piano accompaniments from brushfire fairytales, in between dreams, and on and on.

your ears will be happier and your aspiring musician can impress their friends with their, ahem, artistic take on "sitting, waiting, wishing".