 and everything in between and beyond. I'm your host, Dr. Rita Forsythe, coming to you from Maui on the Think Tech live streaming network broadcasting from our studio in downtown Honolulu. Today's episode is songwriting with the Grammy Award winner. Joining me from Maui is the Renaissance man who many of you know as Uncle George. George Kahumoku is a multiple Grammy Award winner, Grammy Award-winning songwriter, master Hawaiian, black gigataris and author. George is a world traveling performer, teacher, artist, storyteller, writer, farmer and entrepreneur. Welcome, George. Aloha, Aloha from Kahakalua. Thank you for having me on your program. And I see those Grammys right behind you with shiny, shiny awards. We've been on them seven times and we got four for best Hawaiian music, so those are some of the four of them. We got some Nahukos and all kinds of Hawaiian music awards and all kinds of other stuff. That's a whole lot of pain behind of me. Yes, wonderful. Well, we're so honored to have you on our show. Your dedication in teaching and promoting the Hawaiian way of life extends far beyond your music. So I hope to touch on a few of your many gifts today, but let's start with your slacky guitar. Can you tell us how you got started writing music and then perform a song for us? Okay, what happened is I grew up in a musical family where at least 26 cousins, so we all played instruments and I grew up with my great-grandparents and my grandparents. And unfortunately, all of our dads were working on atomic bombs, so we were raised by our great-grandparents and when they died, the grandparents and so on down the line. So musical songs in our family right across the sheath where we grew up was a place called Anna Church. It's a United Church of Christ. So we sang all the hymns and everything all in Hawaiian and we'd have this thing we call Ohana, we'd sit in circles and share food and share blessings and share songs. So that's how I started, yeah. So I went from a small place in Kona called Pealia and it's in the Ahupua of Kaimalino. And that was my first song that I wrote when I got back from the mainland and it was on my album called The Peaceful Sea with Kaimalino means The Peaceful Sea. So that was the first song I wrote in Hawaiian. So are you ready to go there? You want to ask me another question? No, no, please play for us. I wrote this song in the great friend Kalani Maniki way back in 1970s. Let's get this set. It's a Hawaiian song. It's a Hawaiian song. It's a Hawaiian song. That's what Hawaiians call a bahi panna, a sense of place, a song about a sense of place. That's the first song I wrote in Hawaiian. Oh, beautiful. Just, I could listen to you all day. Oh, thank you. And I wrote many songs, but not all of them in Hawaiian. I wrote all kinds of other songs, you know, from the 60s and 70s, and yeah, crazy songs. Oh, and, you know, I want to also talk about your writing because you're legendary for talking story, for your stories, and your stories are often based kind of on that fine line between very traditional Hawaiian upbringing and a modern Western cultural values where you lived and were educated. So you've written two very humorous books, Hawaiian Life Volume One and Volume Two. And you're one of our viewers wants to know, what inspired you to write your memoirs? Well, first of all, I thought I had these kids most of my life. And, you know, I started in an alternative school in Pono called Halepuapono. And most of the kids were kids were in either one, one, one foot in jail on the other on the banana peel, ready to go to jail. So, so I would, you know, make up lessons from stars that I learned, did my life. And so each one of this sort of like, it's upstate where he has a lesson in each little one. So I thought for over, you know, 50 years. And so I would write. So I actually wrote 40 stories. I have actually over 40 books, but I haven't finished it because it takes me time to do the drawings, too. So that's the, that takes the time. Yeah. So I told my friend Paul kind wise of these stories that we should write them down. So, you know, everything gets filtered through him. So sometimes there's a story about a grandfather. There's actually three different grandfathers or make them into one in the story, you know, stuff like that. So, so that's how I started. I would write really to teach lessons to the kids I was teaching. Each one has a little Hawaiian value, you know, attached to it. Because you are a certified teacher, are you not? And you taught in many different places. Yeah, I actually got my teacher's credential in California College of Crafts in Oakland. I went to school there for six years. But my bachelor's in four year, my fifth year. I think I'm a master's in sculpture and printmaking in my sixth year. So I was there from 68 to 74. Over in, over in Oakland and Berkeley, Berkeley, California, yeah. Talented. Hey, how about another song for us? And maybe a story about what this song is about, huh? Okay, I written many songs that a couple hundred of them. But this next song actually I wrote for my niece at the time. You know, like I said, I grew up with 26 cousins in the same household. So I had a huge family. Unfortunately for me, by the time I was 27, I was diagnosed with, you know, cancer. So I couldn't have any more kids. So I taught it a bunch. And this, I had a little niece before she was born. Her mom was, you know, in those days, you're going to, you know, get an abortion. I thought, look, here I am trying to have all these kids and you got one kid. So let me take care of it and everything like that. So we made an agreement. I went to the Lamont's classes with her. And when this baby was born, she was born on Valentine's Day. So we wanted to name her Oloha. But there's so many things named Olo. Like, you know, at the time we had a lot of airlines, then Aloha rent the car, a lot of things like that. So I went to my opponent who was my mentor at the time. I think he did Kanaka Oli. And did you know that they were going to mint a Hawaiian coin? The person with the Kanaka Oli's picture on it. So anyway, she rented me and she said, I said, isn't the name with this more Aloha than just paint? Aloha, she said there's an old Hawaiian saying that goes Kebanina. Aki aloha. Needless to say, this baby was born. I held her in my, I caught her in my arms and I shook her. Worst thing I ever did was to show her mom her own baby because when she she popped a smile at her mom right there, my daughter turned back into my niece. Mama decided she's going to keep the baby. But I got to, but I got to name her. And that's a song called Kebanina Aki aloha. I wrote her. I wrote this song for Kebanina. She was only six weeks old. I was rockin' there in the rockin' chair. And this song and the feeling came to me. It's a song called Kebanina Aki aloha, which means the soul, the essence of love. Where'd it go? You are soft eyes. You're so pleasing. And your cheeks, they're so nice and chubby and rosy. It makes me want to just squeeze them. But alas, you smile. It's toothless. My sweet essence of love. Precious one, Kebanina Aki aloha. Aki aloha, Kebanina Aki aloha. Aki aloha, Kebanina Aki aloha. Kebanina is now 54 years old. I wrote this song for her when she was only six months old. Beautiful song and a beautiful story behind it. Yeah. That's how the thing goes like that. Anybody got any other questions? Oh, I should tell you about Snacky Guitar. Okay. So, you know, it was a Spanish cowboys who brought the guitars to Hawaii and they brought nothing, guitars directly. They came to help Hawaiians loop off the cattle on the big island of Hawaii. But then at night they'd share the music, the Spanish music, and that's something that the guitar on the bass. They didn't have a 16 cat that they played the rhythm. And they had a four string piano guitar that they played the lead. So they three guitars that make the wonderful Spanish Marachi song. When Hawaiians, they give the gift of the instruments to Hawaiians. Hawaiians remember all of the playing, but they combine three guitars into one. They didn't learn the tuning. So they always developed their own tunes by slacking and loosening the strings and open tuning as Snacky was born. And here's another song by the league, a song called Moani Keala. See if you can figure out the bass and the rhythm and the lead. This is a traditional song, passed on by a brand from Generation Scum. Oh, hey, oh, Moani, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Oh, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey. Bass and thehas played the lead like guitar and loosening the strings. guitar, listening to streams. Now is that one of your songs? No, that's a traditional song passed on through our family. It's written by one of the Dalí, the holy world, that song called the Lake Green Fragrance, Mónicaela, the fragrance of the leaf board seaweed coming up across the way there. That's one of our family songs. You know, that fragrance, I've been off island for a month and I got back and I got on the airport and I smelled the air and the flowers and that there's something about the air here in Hawaii. Yeah, yeah. Way different. Way different. Hey, and you've got a week-long, slack-key guitar and ukulele workshop coming up, don't you? Yeah, we've been doing this at a workshop, would have been 26 years, but because of COVID, it's our 24th year that we've been doing it. Yeah, we teach ukulele guitar, Hawaiian language, songs, or songwriting. We also teach Hawaiian cuisine. Most everything comes from our farm, you know, from our farms and we also teach lay-making and Hawaiian low-hello artsy crafts. And sometimes we make tapafee and also we do some artwork, we do some print making off of the fish that we catch. We also do fishing. We also do hunting when we have to get away with that. But it's an all-culture experience, an immersion experience, you know? Sounds wonderful. You talked about a little bit about people who want to become songwriters, so I wanted to see what was your advice to them, to our viewers who aspire to become a songwriter? Well, I think the thing about it is that you, number one, you have to have something to say or to tell. You know, you have to have a story. So, you know, and a story that's as interesting to you. And in Hawaiians, we have this thing, it's called huna, the secret. And that's why if you're a kahu or kahuna, of course, of fishing, you hold the secrets of fishing. Same thing like our school teacher, so I was a kahuna of teaching, you know? So we have these secrets of teaching. So, first thing I think I'd ask a writer to do is, number one, have a vision. Have a vision of what you want to, what's important to you. And not only that, you've got to be able to smell it, taste it, hear your vision, you know, see your vision, and everything like that. That's sort of my tutu called the huna. And then once you can do that, then you can do it. And then if you have a hard time creating a vision, well, go to the newspaper or magazine, cut off pictures. So you can remember what you, you know, the vision you might have. It might be a house, a car, you know, a whanauhini or whatever it might be, so you can, but make sure that you use all your senses, the sense of smell, your sense of taste, and all of that to, you know, to have your vision going. And then, and by all means, get out and write, you know, I try to write every, every day, you know, but I don't get to write every day. I probably write once every other day, but sometimes I get into writing then I write for eight hours straight, but I write every day. Yeah, that's the secret to writing, isn't it? Yeah, you gotta get it. And here on Maui, we are so lucky that we can go to your live concerts. What are they every Wednesday at the Nipili Kai Beach Resort? Yes, and we're gonna, we have another one this Saturday coming, a special one, but it's mostly every Wednesday, starts at 6.30 and goes to 8.30. You can go to kahumoku.com to register, you know, for the book, for our shows. And you can also register for a workshop coming up, yeah, June 1st to the 8th, yeah? Yeah. And we're listening in, yeah. Yeah, if you want to better the thing is get out and the other thing too, I'm trying to get back into drawing, you know, so it's really hard for me. So I'm trying to find the balance between farming, music, drawing, doing artwork, and also trying to, you know, ranch and all that stuff that I do and I stay alive, you know, like that. Not enough hours in the day for all of your talents. Can you play us another song? Okay, I don't know if you want to hear another grand. Here's a song I wrote for Auntie Edith Kanakaole. And it's a song about her favorite kind of varieties of color for Carol. And it says... I like this one, I like this one, yeah. Papa used this my song as part of this thing. And then there's a variety called oahia peli, that's a smoker peli. And then we go to another one, another one is called apii. Now that apii taro, Auntie Edith Kanakaole used to grate it, you know, taro, and it's taro grated when it's raw, it's very itchy. Then you add coconut milk, then you squeeze them, and then you add honey or, and then you make it on the ground of it in an emu, which is surrounded by tea leaves. And then we get what we call kululu. And then there's a variety called elipio, the elipio bird is flying over the taro patch to go crap. And then they saw its splatter thing, it looks like the taro got some elipio. And another one called kaii vali. Yeah, he's an artist and a lehua. It's the one most everybody, a lehua poichu, it lives on a purple or the pink side. And her favorite though is the variety called mana ulu. Now I have about 120 varieties of poichu vegetables. I mean, just taro alone. So this is one of my favorite, the yellow ulu. Tastes like ulu, smells like ulu. So, and I wrote a song, I wrote for Kekuhi Kuhi. It's a Hawaiian name for at the Elip. Okay, so here we go. Ready? I wrote that on Hatties and it took that year. I love that one. Oh man, there's so much more to talk about. We'll have to have you back again. I wanted to talk about your farm, your farm to table cooking, your farm tours, your documentary, your seeds of aloha. Oh my gosh, so we got to have you back. And I want to say mahalo for Grace today. And can we close with one more song? And I'll say aloha and mahalo again. Okay, we'll close with a song that I wrote for my granddaughter, Li Li Naia. And I just wanted to say too, we also have farm visits. You go to kahungoku.com and check this out. And mahalo for you know, having us over here too. Anyway, here's a song that I wrote for my granddaughter. I wanted my 34 grandkids. So I'm called Li Naia. It's soft on the hair, tiny toes, tiny fingers, so on just right. Always, always searching, so clear and white, bringing the whole family together. Li Li Naia. Yeah, so that's, that's, I adopted, between Nancy and I, we have 15 kids, one child with birth son and she has two for a previous marriage, then we adopted 12. So 15 kids all together, 34 grandkids. So that's one of the songs I wrote for one of my grandkids, Li Li Naia. And she now lives in Luxembourg. Oh, thank you so much for being here. Aloha.