Ledward Kaapana

About

Renowned for his slack key guitar style and falsetto voice, Ledward Kaapana is a Hawaiian singer/songwriter and musician who grew up in the black sand village of Kalapana, an electricity-free town where the main form of entertainment was playing music. After getting his start playing professionally in different formations with his family, most notably Hui 'Ohana with his twin brother Nedward Kaapana and his cousin Dennis Pavao, he released his debut solo album Lima Wela, in 1983. A critically acclaimed instrumental effort, the record showcased his multi-instrumental talents on steel guitar, ukulele, autoharp and bass guitar on top of his signature slack key guitar. He followed-up the album with 1988's Simply Slack Key, before signing with his long-time label Dancing Cat Records and dropping Led Live in 1994. He would go on to release several more records with the label and eventually took his act to the mainland where he captivated country and rock guitarists with his distinctive style.