Aloha International convention is July 12-14

By BILL RICHMOND

City editor

The 21st annual Aloha International Steel Guitar Club convention is July 17-19 at Willard Elementary School, Winchester. Thirty steel guitar players are scheduled to perform. Participants will include many noted players as well as some up and coming steel guitar professionals. This year's guest artists from Hawaii are Eddie Palama and Paul Kim.

Palama started playing steel guitar late in life. He found a steel guitar in a public trash can, took it home and cleaned it up, added strings and taught himself how to play. After a year of extensive practicing, he joined the musician's union and became a professional steel guitar player. He has played with some of the great legends of Hawaiian music and recorded with artists such as the Peter Moon Band, 'Olomana, Theresa Bright, Kihei Brown, Keith and Carmen Haugen, The Sandwich Isle Band, the Pahinui Brothers and Hawai'i Loa.

He is currently a member of the band Hawai'i Loa which performs regularly at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, the Halekulani Hotel and other venues in Waikiki.

A returning guest artist, Kim started playing the ukulele at age nine.

"I concentrated on learning to sing in the falsetto style," Kim said in an interview with the Aloha International newsletter. "One day, while listening to the song, 'You are so Beautiful' by Nohelani Cypriano, I heard the sweet sounds of the steel guitar being played by the master, Jerry Byrd. This started my quest to learn how to play this beautiful instrument."

Kim started taking steel guitar lessons from Fred Barnett, a former student of Byrd's. As his musical abilities improved, he began taking lessons from the master himself.

"I was so thrilled and honored to be learning from the master of touch and tone," Kim said. "I owe him all of my success as a professional musician and steel guitarist. Jerry, indeed, is a treasure of Hawaii and without him, the steel guitar may have faded away into the past."

Kim was also special guest artist at the 2006 steel guitar convention in Winchester.

This year's annual convention will include steel guitar performances from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily (until 4 p.m. on Saturday). Single day performance admission is $10 per person and is payable at the door. Many musicians will have recordings of their work and/or instruments for sale.

The 3-day convention will conclude Saturday, July 14 with a traditional luau to begin with pre-luau music from 6:30 to 7:45 p.m. the luau and show will continue until 9 p.m. Advance payment of $20 per person is required for the luau. Luau tickets will be available at the registration desk during the convention.

Musicians participating in the steel guitar convention regularly perform at local restaurants, churches and nursing homes in between convention dates. They are also known to hold impromptu jam sessions during the evening in the garage at the Overpass Motel. Steel Guitar Hall of Fame member Leonard T. Zinn will conduct a special seminar on the fundamentals of steel guitar playing June 16 at the Randolph Inn and Suites.

The Aloha International Steel Guitar Club is a non-profit organization formed to promote the steel guitar with an emphasis on Hawaiian-style playing.