Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar

Preservation New Jersey is pleased to welcome Bill Wynne back to the 1867 Sanctuary with his special guest Danny Carvalho for an evening of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar in the wonderful acoustics of the 1867 Sanctuary at Ewing!

Singer-songwriter Danny Carvalho has packed more musical experiences into his 25 years than many musicians twice his age. An accomplished slack key guitarist, he began his formal training at age 10 with noted slack key player Ozzie Kotani, who recognized his raw talent and nurtured it, featuring Carvalho in his live performances.

At age 14, Carvalho became the first slack key guitar player to be featured on National Public Radio’s nationally syndicated program From the Top. At age 16, he made the first of two appearances on Garrison Keillor’s A Prairie Home Companion, and released his first album, Slack Key Journey – On My Way. He released his second album, Somewhere, when he was 18 – and was nominated for a prestigious Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award (Hawaii’s GRAMMY® Awards) for Slack Key Album of the Year. Carvalho’s music was also featured in Alexander Payne’s Academy Award-winning 2011 film, The Descendants.

During this time, Carvalho continued to study his craft, both on his own and working with others, most notably one of the most celebrated figures in modern-day Hawaiian music: the iconic, multi- GRAMMY® and Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award winner Dennis Kamakahi, a member of the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame who composed over 500 songs (many of which have become classics). As Carvalho continued to perfect his skills playing slack key guitar under Kamakahi’s tutelage, Kamakahi and others encouraged Carvalho to add his voice to his music. He listened, and eventually studied under Neva Rego, known by many as the Voice Coach to the Stars.

Over the years Carvalho has further expanded his horizons, composing and producing his own songs – all while attending school (he graduated from the University of Hawai’i with a degree in Hawaiian Studies) and furthering his knowledge of Hawaiian culture, history, and language. He draws from his love of all things Hawaiian, which has inspired his song writing and infused it with emotion, heart, and soul. His third album, Ke Au Hou (“a new era”), released in 2013, is a reflection of his growth as a singer-songwriter, but also as lead artist, band leader, arranger (the album included some very intricate and collaborative arrangements), and producer. Along with that growth has come the desire to spread his wings beyond the traditional Hawaiian music he has loved, studied, and played for so long, and Ke Au Hou saw the beginning of Carvalho’s expansion into blending traditional Hawaiian with contemporary Hawaiian while creating some new arrangements, and from there into other genres – including the closely-related folk genre, as well as some acoustic pop.

Carvalho’s new chapter has seen him become a versatile performer with strong musicianship and vocal and writing skills who delves deeply into a variety of musical styles and genres while not losing site of his beloved Hawaiian slack key roots – an artist who appeals to a wide variety audiences, both young and old.

For more information about Danny Carvalho, visit his web site, www.dannycarvalho.com, and his Facebook page www.facebook.com/DannyCarvalhoMusic.

For years before he was born in Philadelphia, Bill Wynne‘s mother and father led a music and dance troupe on the East Coast which performed solely Hawaiian music and hula. He first stepped on stage with an `ukulele before he was three years old. By his teens his obsession became slack key guitar. By his twenties, he was focused on the steel guitar. But his first love has always been the Hawaiian song – the beauty of the Hawaiian language and the way the haku mele (or Hawaiian composer) weaves together words like so many flowers into a precious lei. He learned to sing more than a thousand Hawaiian songs, and specialized in the art of Hawaiian falsetto singing – eventually taking first prize in both singing and Hawaiian language at the 2005 Aloha Festivals Falsetto Contest on O`ahu.

Today, Bill, a resident of Ewing, NJ, performs Hawaiian music up and down the East Coast and occasionally by invitation in Hawai`i. In his spare time, he is the creative force behind Ho`olohe Hou Radio (http://hoolohehou.com), a 24/7 Internet radio station featuring the 100-year history of Hawaiian music and the entertainment industry in Hawai`i.