Slack Key ʻOhana album ‘Hawaiian Cowboy’ tops iTunes chart in debut

Slack Key ʻOhana’s latest album “Hawaiian Cowboy,” impressively lassoed the No. 1 spot of the iTunes world music albums chart upon its release last Friday.

The storied collection depicting the rich culture of the paniolo (“Hawaiian cowboys”) was produced by Chris Hobson, writing nine new songs for the set along with interpretations of four Hawaiian classics to pair Hawaiian island sounds with country and Americana music.

‘Ohana means family in Hawaiian, fitting for Slack Key ‘Ohana, a family band that prominently features three- and four-part vocal harmonies from Kamaka Mullen (guitar and vocals), Brian Witkin (guitar, lap steel and vocals), Carol Witkin (ʻukulele and vocals), and Joe Witkin (bass, piano and vocals), who performed at the original Woodstock as a member of Sha Na Na. The band is completed by Sean Witkin (drums and percussion) and pedal steel player Rand Anderson.

San Diego-based Slack Key ‘Ohana recorded “Hawaiian Cowboy” at the invite-only recording studio owned and operated by Foo Fighters and Dave Grohol, Studio 606, where they tracked the record live.

“Hawaiian Cowboy” also features contributions from ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons, four-time Grammy Winner George Kahumoku Jr. and three-time Nā Hōkū Hanohano award winning ʻukulele player Brittni Paiva, who appears on the first single, “One More Day.”

Pondering “What would Johnny Cash sound like if he was Hawaiian?” inspired the album’s title track, “Hawaiian Cowboy.”

“Hawaiian cowboys invented slack key guitar,” said Mullen, one of the band’s founders.

Their song, “Hawaiian Cowboy,” features one cowboy from Texas (Gibbons) and one from Hawaiʻi (Kahumoku Jr.).

“The song is about what Hawaiian cowboys feel like and what they go through,” Mullen said. “Take the verse ‘People look at him like he is strange.’ I’ve had actual Hawaiian cowboys say they can relate to everything in this song, which is our hat tilt to the origins of slack key, but we modernized it and made it hella country.”

Key radio outlets in both Hawaiian and country music have swiftly embraced “Hawaiian Cowboy,” with airplay coming from Hawai’i Public Radio and Nashville’s WMOT Roots Radio. The San Diego-based Slack Key ‘Ohana won the Best World Music Album at the San Diego Music Awards in 2022 and is nominated this year for Best World Music Song for “Nahenahe Ka Leo O Ka Wahine Uʻi.” The local media has championed the band with a cover feature in the San Diego Union-Tribune, a review in the San Diego Troubadour, and an upcoming morning show performance booked on Fox 5 KSWB-TV set for April 18.

To support the release of “Hawaiian Cowboy,” Slack Key ‘Ohana has concert dates in the coming months that include Duke’s La Jolla on April 12, Tiki Oasis Arizona (April 26 & 27), Tiki Caliente in Palm Spring (May 4), Pono Hawaiian Grill in Santa Cruz (June 7), and Humphrey’s Backstage Live in San Diego on June 26 for the Jake Shimabakuro concert after party.

Slack Key ‘Ohana’s video for “Nahenahe Ka Leo o Ka Wahine Uʻi,” a song from “Hawaiian Cowboy,” will be a finalist in the Hawaiian Music Video of the Year category for the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, the Hawaiian equivalent to the Grammy Awards. The track is also on the first-round ballot for Hawaiian Single of the Year. The Hawai’i Academy of Recording Arts will hand out the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards on Aug. 3, 2024.

The band will play at the Shops at Wailea on Maui in August around the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards and again in September.