Sometimes pooled talent creates the kind of band that just wants to have some fun. Enter the “Malama Pono All Stars,” a self-described band that is “Americana and ‘maukabilly,’” and made up of several radio personalities and random raw talent
Sometimes pooled talent creates the kind of band that just wants to have some fun.
Enter the “Malama Pono All Stars,” a self-described band that is “Americana and ‘maukabilly,’” and made up of several radio personalities and random raw talent from here and there.
Self-dubbed as Kaua‘i’s only “String-pickin,’ saw-bowin,’ washboard-rubbin,’ harp-blastin,’ Americana and mountain blues band,” the unique band got a unique start.
True to form, bandmember and community activist Jimmy Trujillo recalls when the band began by using the controversial Hawai‘i Superferry arrival as a point of reference.
“We started it was when Superferry was coming,” Trujillo said. “Our first real show that we got was when we got the EIS (environmental impact statement) rally.”
A number of the Malama Pono All Stars band members had been playing with a popular band already at the time, the Happy Enchalata.
According to Trujillo, part of the band regrouped following the rally and renamed themselves the Malama Pono All Stars, in 2006.
“We came up with that name for the band because so many out there call themselves ‘all stars’ of some kind,” he said, adding, “And ‘malama pono’ is a solid salutation, and we’re a community-member-oriented band with a rag-tag collection of players.”
Though it might seem connected to the nonprofit hui Malama Pono, it’s not, he added).
Those members taken from Happy Enchalata included KKCR Kaua‘i Community Radio Deja Blues host Steven “Red Brick” Meredith, Throne of Tone host King Zor (on bass) and Homegrown Garden Island Bluegrass host Ya Kaduce, who Trujillo affectionately called a “washboard player extraordinaire,” and “jack of all trades” when it comes to playing instruments, which have included the “bull ringer” and “funky jaw harp.”
“The Happy Enchalata is our parent band, if you will,” Trujillo said.
For Trujillo, interest in music dates back to his high-school days, when music started becoming a big part of his life.
“I had the opportunity to travel to the Appalachian Mountains and got turned onto blue grass music — penny whistles and string instruments — that was my first exposure,” he said. Once he was on Kaua‘i, the love for that music was further cultivated with friends at KKCR. Adept at obscure references, Trujillo said the band has been likened to “Old Crow Medicine Show,” an old-time string band out of Nashville, Tenn.
Formerly of the band “No Grammy,” guitarist Joe LaMore, a somewhat-latecomer to the “Malama Pono All Stars” who joined the band two years ago, kidded that the All Stars are “just like one big, dysfunctional family.” LaMore added that though many of the others in the band are community activists, he’s “a wannabe-actvitist” who aspires “to be like them.”
LaMore called the band’s style Americana with a gaiety of disposition, adding, “We’re just lighthearted and happy. If we’re not having fun, we shouldn’t be doing it.”
Full of simple philosophies, LaMore humbly said the band has “no virtuosos,” and does everything from obscure covers to ample originals.
But for those who want a taste of what the band is like, the best option is to simply call into the radio show and make a request, or to catch them at any number of Art Nights on island, whether in Hanalei or Kapa‘a. Times to call KKCR are on Tuesdays from 2-4 p.m. at 826-7771.
The All Star players are: Jimmy Trujillo, dobro; Joe LaMore,guitar; Paul “Polihale” Crowe, guitar; Doug Gates, mandolin; MikeCosmann, banjo and mandolin; Doug Gates, Stever “xman,” sound;Steven “Red Brick” Meredith, cajon; Ya Kaduce, saw; King Zor, bass;and Pickin’ Pat Gmelin on guitar, mandolin, banjo, looper andanything with a string.
Go to myspace.com/malamaponoallstars, or attend the next HanaleiArt Night, Nov. 13.
