LIHUE — Don’t be surprised if you walk into HA Coffee Bar on any given Saturday morning and hear the Beatles song, “Octopus’s Garden” or Hank Williams Jr.’s song “Jambalaya Bayou” being sung live. Every week, a local group named The Red Peppers performs their original arrangements of legendary folk and country songs from the past at the coffee co-op from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
“We must be the only musicians up at this time of the morning on a Saturday playing music,” joked one of the band members, Ben Benamati, who has a signature singing voice similar to John Prine’s.
Benamati, also the group’s guitarist and humorist, says his musical style has been influenced by a mix of the sounds he grew up listening to in Pennsylvania.
“It was pretty much all country music, Appalachian Folk and Polka,” said Benamati whose stage name is Khyan Plaid.
Johanna Hose, the female ukulele player and vocalist of the group is originally from Holland. She was a preschool teacher experiencing burnout while living on the Mainland and found a sense of peace when she picked up the ukulele and started to play.
“Since moving to Kauai after my divorce, I have found a sense of healing that comes from playing and listening to music,” said Hose, whose stage name is Belle Paisley.
She believes playing music opened up a joyful world of creativity and has drawn her out of her shell. A songwriting music workshop at the Steelgrass Recording Studio in Kapaa was where she hooked up with Benamati, her partner off and on stage.
“Ben tries to ring the sadness out of every song and I’m the one on the happy side,” said Hose.
The group’s band name, they say, comes from delivering a sweet and spicy kind of experience, like the red pepper itself. When talking about the stuffing in the peppers, they refer to the third member of the trio, Jason Knouse, a former surf music guitarist and singer, with 15 years of performing experience.
The Red Peppers play 7 to 9 every Wednesday night at The Enterprise in Kapaa .
“Honestly, our dream is to own a flatbed truck we can convert to a moveable stage so we can travel around the island and plug in anywhere we want,” said Hose.
In the meantime, the trio performs on the first Saturday night of the month at the Art Walk in Kapaa.
• Lisa Ann Capozzi is a features/education writer and can be reached at lcapozzi@thegardenisland.com.
