‘Virtual’ 29th Annual Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival, June 28

The Maui Arts & Cultural Center and  the Kī Hō‘alu Foundation present The 29th annual Kī Hō‘alu Slack Key Guitar Festival on Sunday, June 28th from 1 to 4 p.m.

This year’s event is a live webcast and is dedicated to the late Wille K who will be honored with the music of Hawai‘i he loved.  Artists scheduled to perform include: Tavana, Bobby Moderow, George Kuo, Kamuela Kahoano, Nani & Danny,  Stephen Inglis, Ian O’Sullivan and Dwight Kanae.

The event will be available at the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Festival pages on YouTube or Facebook.

“Kī Hō’alu” – translating literally from the Hawaiian as “loosen the key,” indicating the tuning in slack key guitar technique – is a musical tradition dating back to 19th century paniolo who played around the campfire after completing a day of ranch work.

Slack key has become known as one of the world’s great acoustic guitar methods, especially since the Grammy Awards at one time recognized Hawaiian music as a category all its own.