Kahumoku and Mars Garner GRAMMY Award Nominations

By Wendy Osher

Grammy Award-winning musician George Kahumoku Jr. performed after the tie-breaking putt at the Hyundai Tournament of Champions in Kapalua. File photo by Wendy Osher.

Two musicians with Hawaii ties are among the list of GRAMMY Award nominees this year.

Both Bruno Mars and George Kahumoku garnered nominations for the 54th Annual Grammy Awards that will be held on Sunday, February 12, 2012 at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles.

Mars holds the six nominations in key categories including Album of the Year and Best Pop Vocal Album for Doo-Wops & Hooligans; and Record of the Year, Song of the Year and Best Pop Solo Performance for the song Grenade.

Meantime, George Kahumoku was nominated as the lone Hawaiian in the category for Best Regional Roots Music Album. The nomination was for the album Wao Akua – The Forest Of The Gods, from Daniel Ho Creations.

Bruno Mars performed live on Maui in December 2010. File photo courtesy HarperSmith/Tom Moffatt Production.

The category was created this year to accommodate around 30 categories that were dropped after last year’s awards as part of a restructuring effort.

The new, broader category includes traditional music recorded regionally from Hawaii, Native Americans, polka, zydeco, and Canjun genres.

The list of winners from the former Best Hawaiian Music Album category (2005 to 2011) were as follows:

• 2005: “Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Masters Collection, Volume II,” produced by Charles Michael Brotman.

• 2006: “Masters Of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Vol. 1,” produced by Daniel Ho Creations

• 2007: “Legends of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar: Live From Maui,” produced by Daniel Ho Creations.

• 2008: “Treasures of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar,” produced by Ho, Kahumoku, Konwiser, and Wong.

• 2009: “Ikena” featuring Tia Carrere and Daniel Ho, produced by Daniel Ho Creations.

• 2010: “Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Volume 2,” produced by Daniel Ho Creations

• 2011: “Huana Ke Aloha,” featuring Tia Carrere

Also of interest this time around was the nomination of Eddie Vedder to the Best Folk Album category for his album, Ukulele Songs.