Maui kumu hula and songwriter Kamaka Kukona never thought of himself as a singer or recording artist, but when no one was interested in recording his songs, he decided to record some of them himself.
It took almost four years off and on, recording as his time and financial resources allowed, to finish the album. When he did in 2013, the most he was hoping for was to sell enough copies to make back the money he had spent to do it.
In record industry terms, Kukona’s album, "Hanu ‘A‘ala," was a "sleeper." Friends gave it to friends who gave it to their friends. A Maui radio station started playing it. Someone introduced him to a distributor. Demand skyrocketed.
In 2014, "Hanu ‘A‘ala" was one of the big winners when the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording Arts presented the 37th Annual Na Hoku Hanohano Awards. Kukona became only the sixth person in the history of the Hokus to win most promising artist and male vocalist of the year with their debut album.
In December he was the only Hawaii artist to be nominated in the regional roots album category for the 57th Annual Grammy Awards, honoring recordings released between October 2013 and September.
The 37-year-old Kukona will be in the Staples Center in Los Angeles when the winners in all 83 categories are announced Sunday — most of them during the nontelevised portion of the ceremony that will be live streamed at www.grammy.com starting at 10 a.m.
"I’m not expecting to win or anything, but the experience of being all up in that glitz and glamour and gala-ness is kind of exciting," Kukona said shortly after the list of Grammy nominations was announced. "You watch that your whole life on TV and it’s hard to comprehend that you’re part of it now."
"I’m not a singer," he added, "but I can sing."
"Hanu ‘A‘ala" is up against albums by three Cajun acts — Bonsoir, Catin; the Magnolia Sisters; and Jo-El Sonnier — and Native American Joe Tohonnie Jr. Based on previous Grammy results, the odds favor the Cajuns. In the three years since the separate award categories for Hawaiian, Native American and Zydeco or Cajun music were merged into the regional roots category, the Grammy has gone to Cajun or New Orleans-based "roots" artists.
Past Hawaii nominees in the category were George Kahumoku Jr. in 2012, Keola Beamer and Weldon Kekauoha in 2013, and Big Island octet Kahulanui in 2014. None have won.
Whatever the results Sunday, Hawaii is well represented. The songs on Kukona’s album betoken Hawaiian music old and new. There are standards ("Hole Waimea" and "Waika") and originals ("No Uka Ke Aloha" and "Eo Hana"), modern singing and traditional chanting.
Kukona sings lead, does all the harmony parts and accompanies himself on pahu and ipu. The musical arrangements represent several styles of Hawaiian music and are played by top studio musicians. Kukona reaches out to mainstream music listeners with liner notes that provide the lyrics of the Hawaiian songs, their English translations and the background information.
"Besides going through my uniki (training to become a kumu hula), doing the album was the hardest thing I’ve ever gone through," Kukona said. "Being someone who has never done it, has no backing, but has a little group of people who has faith in me — it got done. There was a vision, and whatever I had to do to get it done, I got it done."
Born on Maui, Kukona moved to Oahu to attend Kamehameha Schools as a seventh-grader, then continued his education at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. His cultural roots go deep. He grew up in a home where Hawaiian was spoken, and he studied it in a more formal context at Kamehameha Schools and then at UH. He began studying hula when he was 5.
Looking back, Kukona says he was never much of a musician, but loved music and immersed himself in Hawaiian language, singing, chant and poetry.
After he graduated from UH, a job singing with "‘Ulalena," a visitor-oriented show in Lahaina, took him back to the island of his birth. A one-year contract stretched into a long-term commitment. He still lives on Maui and travels to Japan almost monthly to teach hula.
His Halau o ka Hanu Lehua celebrated its 10th anniversary in 2014.
"I find that I’m more focused on Maui than I was on Oahu. … Being home, I not only get to focus on my music, ’cause that’s been a passion since childhood; I also got to rebuild my halau. Hula has become my livelihood, and now music as well."
