He’s been playing since he was 6 years old. But in the humble opinion of Kyle Furusho, there’s still much to learn.
An ‘ukulele talent, Furusho is almost young enough to be considered a prodigy of sorts — the almost-19-year-old said he picked up the instrument when he was still at Wilcox Elementary School because “everyone was playing it” and he wanted to be “cool.” But since that fateful day, Furusho has certainly taken the ball and run with it.
While classmates were listening to ‘NSync and Backstreet Boys, he was emulating Frank Sinatra’s cover of Bart Howard’s “Fly Me to The Moon,” he said.
It was his grandfather’s influence that got him to appreciate sounds like that of Sinatra, he said, or Dean Martin, which he’d listen to when his grandfather babysat him.
“I grew up liking the old stuff,” he said.
After he got his first ‘ukulele — around the age of 8 — he was able to teach himself how to play much of what he heard, and play by ear.
But it wasn’t until he was in middle school at Chiefess Kamakahelei and began playing in the school band that he began to take home his lessons for the trombone and apply them to his ‘ukulele practice.
“Trombone is in key of C, so reading trombone music worked for ‘ukulele, it was just an octave higher,” he said.
Once he figured that out, he added, he began playing jazz music on his ‘ukulele as well.
“I was like, ‘alright, now I can start,’” he said. “At that time I was just myself.”
Other influences for Furusho included Christian music, which he was exposed to at his church, the Hanapepe Church of the Nazarene.
Furusho played ‘ukulele at times with the pastor of his church as a child, he added.
It was there that Furusho was introduced to other musical influences: modern contemporary Christian rock music, such as Chris Tomlin and David Crowder.
But it’s local influences such as local ‘ukulele greats Aldrine Guerrero and Jake Shimabukuro that set Furusho apart. Guerrero and Shimabukuro came in particularly handy when Furusho was going through his “I’m-not-going-to-play-anything-unless-it’s-Hawaiian-music” phase.
Furusho said he especially appreciates Guerrero’s ability to be emotional in music, something he hopes to accomplish someday as well.
“(Guerrero) can play slow songs and be expressive, then other times pick it up and just play at lightning speed,” he said. “You can tell it’s like when he wants a song to be angry, he can hit it.”
Though he doesn’t like to compare his skill level to that of Guerrero’s — calling it a “whole other level” — Furusho has paid tribute to Guerrero (which can be found on YouTube) and Shimabukuro. But he is working to do more than covers. Furusho recently began taking a stab at writing his own music.
“It still needs work,” he said.
Also on his horizon is pursuing another one of his grandfather’s influences: church hymns, he said.
“I would really like to be playing for my church in five years,” he said.
For now, Furusho likes to focus on his accomplishments, though he does so modestly. “I guess after how many years of trying to be good, I got to a point where I could play a lot of songs I listen to — it wasn’t easy,” he said. “I’m not sure when it was exactly, but when I started to be better it was one of the happiest times. It all paid off. I thought, ‘You can be taught!’”
Lunchtime Thursdays at Kalapaki Joe’s in Lihu’e or early eveningat Joe’s on the Green at Kiahuna Golf Course in Po‘ipu.
