Over Three Decades of Performing in Waikiki

I grew up in Honolulu, Hawaii. While attending Royal Elementary on Queen Emma St. near Punchbowl, I joined our school’s Bell Choir, Chorus, and Hula Troupe from 1993-1996. I initially only joined the Chorus, but later found myself in both the Bell Choir and Hula Troupe as well. We met up at 7:00am on weekdays before class began to rehearse and stayed after school until 4:00pm under the direction of Dr. Mary Ellen Neumann. She had us performing at different hotels in Waikiki twice a week, instilling a sense of work ethic known by musicians: equipment preparedness, material preparedness, the ability to pack up, load up and get on stage on time as well as break it down efficiently, costumes, hair, make up, etc.

From 6th grade on, I attended University Laboratory School and played the trumpet in the Symphonic Wind Ensemble. Performances were much less frequent but now I was aware of a certain gravitas to performances I hadn’t noticed before.

While there, I began gigging as part of an acoustic duo named Schemes and Consequences with songbird Kristel Yoneda and from 2002-2011, I played gigs in various forms of acoustic duos with another guitarist, Joshua Jessel, and another songstress, Rhiannon Cornell in acts named Burning Lola, the Poet and the Beat, and Good Bingo.

In 2012, a fateful phone call introduced me to playing the bass as I was an emergency hire to the well-established Waikiki cover band, Master of Oz. From 2012-2020, I would play with another Waikiki cover band staple, Elephant, as well as Dinosaurus X and Funkee Monkee.

Covid Enters the Chat.

For the first time since, 2002, I wasn’t playing live music due to the pandemic shutdown. Slowly, things opened back up and I started back at my roots, playing acoustic gigs, however now I was behind a shower curtain and everyone was seated and wearing masks. And mid-2021, things really started opening back up and I managed to piece back together some great musicians and friends to play with me in the bands The See You Next Tuesdays and PsychoTropical.

Currently, acoustic gigs with my wife, Annie, and my band PsychoTropical keep me playing music in Waikiki and loving it.