What’s in a name? When it comes to Na Wai ‘Eha, the name four young musicians from Maui chose for their quartet, there is a lot to talk about. The group — comprising brothers Kamalei and Kama‘ehu Kawa‘a and Kahikina and Kalanikini Juan — will learn next weekend if their second album, “Lovely Sunrise,” will take home their first Grammy Award.
Na Wai ‘Eha refers to “four great waters” that flow through the district where they grew up. But there’s much more to it than that.
“Na Wai ‘Eha is (the place) we come from,” Kamalei Kawa‘a explained recently. “It’s our home, and in that home and in the name also it represents our family, our friends, our loved ones who grew up in this area with us, and then ultimately it trickles down to the water itself in Na Wai ‘Eha (the four great waters). When we get asked the question, ‘What does Na Wai ‘Eha mean to you?’ our answer is, ‘It means everything to us.’ Without water, the plants won’t grow, without plants, we won’t be able to sustain ourselves, so it also means sustainability to us.”
For generations uncounted, the four rivers irrigated one of the largest and most productive taro-growing areas in the islands. Then the water was diverted to irrigate sugar plantations. Hawaiian Commercial & Sugar Co. processed its last crop in 2016 but it continues to divert the water. Hawaiian groups have worked for years to end the diversion and get the water returned to its original mauka to makai flow.
“Our name carries that struggle as well,” Kalanikini Juan added. “It is the four river waters of the ahupuaa of Wailuku. Back in the day they (produced so much taro), it was such a crucial aspect to the entire island and to Hawaii. We hope to amplify or exemplify what is going on with Na Wai ‘Eha, and to bring that notice and that struggle forward. So that when people look at us, not only will they see us as a band, but they’ll also see the struggle for the water that we’re still fighting today with our own state (government). The whole stream flow from mauka to makai is another big thing, and so Na Wai ‘Eha is a very ‘mana-full’ type of name.”
The quartet introduced themselves at the end of 2018 with the release of their self-titled album “Na Wai ‘Eha.” They won the Na Hoku Hanohano Award for most promising artist(s) in 2019.
Na Wai ‘Eha’s second album, “Lovely Sunrise,” won three Hoku Awards — group of the year, Hawaiian music album and Hawaiian language performance — at the 2020 Hoku Awards in October.
A month later, Na Wai ‘Eha learned that “Lovely Sunrise” was a finalist in the regional roots music category for the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.
The winners will be announced in a virtual ceremony to be broadcast March 14 on CBS. No awards will be given in person.
This year’s other regional roots finalists are “My Relatives ‘Nikso Kowaiks’” by the Black Lodge Singers; “Cameron Dupuy and the Cajun Troubadours” by Cameron Dupuy and the Cajun Troubadours; “Atmosphere” by the New Orleans Nightcrawlers; and “A Tribute to Al Berard” by Sweet Cecilia.
The regional roots music category was created in 2011 as a catchall and lumps Hawaiian music together with the music of Native Americans, the zydeco and Cajun music of Louisiana and others.
Louisiana-based recording artists dominated the category both in the number of finalists and winners until Maui’s Kalani Pe‘a won in 2017. Pe‘a won the category for the second time in 2019. Ranky Tanky, a quintet from Charleston, S.C., was the winner in 2020.
Win or lose, Kalanikini Juan describes being on the final ballot as a “dream come true.”
“To be nominated for the Grammys is (reaching) a totally different audience,” he said. “I feel like it’s an accomplishment already to be nominated and recognized by that audience of artists. I’ve never even thought about being nominated for the Grammys. But dreams come true.”
His brother, Kahikina Juan, says that the dreams came out of a shared heritage.
“It goes back to when the two Kawa‘a brothers’ mom, our mother and (their) grandmother danced in Pukalani Hula Hale for our grandmother, (kumu hula) Nina Maxwell. Fast forward maybe 30 years later and we basically met at a party. We all knew that we played music, however we didn’t really play music until about four years ago — for fun. We started hanging out more, playing at little parties, and then we all came together and decided to take it to the next level.”
The foursome had a shared knowledge of the Hawaiian language; they grew up speaking it at home and then studied it at school. Speaking individually they’ve found inspiration in many places.
“My auntie Ho‘omanawanui Apo (inspires me),” said Kama‘ehu Kawa‘a. “I’ve grown up listening to her, sitting next to her, singing and just watching her play was really inspirational to me — and still is inspirational to me, to better myself in music and every instrument I play.”
Contemporary Hawaiian trio Akoni & The Palapalai Patch “were definitely an inspiration” for Kahikina Juan, “and I’m sure for my brother as well. Some really fond memories are our grandfather picking us up in the car in elementary (school) and we would mimic whatever they would say and sing.”
“The Ho‘opi‘i Brothers always come to mind as people who inspired me and who continue to inspire me,” Kamalei Kawa‘a said. “Uncle Sol and Uncle Richard Ho‘opi‘i. The reason for that for me is these are two Maui boys, born and raised in a little town of Kahakuloa, Maui, who took their music that was taught to them by their kupuna and shared it to the world. To me that’s inspiring and that’s something that I aspire to do as a musician.”
Kalanikini Juan said George Helm “inspires me through my music by sharing the meaning of the mele of the songs that we share. In the beginning of some of his recordings you can hear him explain the mele before he begins to play, and many of us Hawaiian musicians do that. But I tie it back to him as being one of the originals who would share with those who may not know what the song is about or may not know our Hawaiian language.”
Looking past the Grammys, the group hopes to resume touring and take their music to audiences outside Hawaii.
“We definitely feel that we have kuleana (responsibility),” Kamalei Kawa‘a explained. “Kuleana to perpetuate our culture, to perpetuate Hawaiian language, to perpetuate Hawaiian music and also through our music to perpetuate hula. We understand that kuleana and we carry that as well with us in all that we do.”
—
WATCH IT
The 63rd Annual Grammy Awards
Airs at 2 p.m. March 14 on CBS; re-airs at 7 p.m.
