skip navigation | text only | accessibility | site map
Share
Gary Haleamau (The Kennedy Center)

Gary Haleamau

Gary Haleamau grew up at Hu‘ehu‘e Ranch in North Kona on the island of Hawai’i. Family gatherings included music, and Karin Haleamau, a paniolo (Hawaiian cowboy) and slack key guitar player, encouraged his son to join in. At the age of three he discovered that he could play the ukulele. By the time he was eight years old, and could accompany himself on the slack-key guitar, he was playing and singing at family and neighborhood get-togethers. Hawaiian aunties and uncles inspired his mastery of leo ki’eki’e, an unmistakably Hawaiian falsetto style of singing, and he released his debut album on Poki Records in 1977 at the age of 12.

Images


Additional Resources

Watch Past Performances

Gary Haleamau 8/20/08: Gary Haleamau

This Las Vegas–based Hawaiian folk artist captivates audiences with his slack key guitar prowess and his unmistakably Hawaiian falsetto style of singing – leo ki ‘eki ‘e. Part of the Homegrown: The Music of America concert series, presented by The Library of Congress American Folklife Center.

Gary Haleamau

This Las Vegas–based Hawaiian folk artist captivates audiences with his slack key guitar prowess and his unmistakably Hawaiian falsetto style of singing – leo ki ‘eki ‘e. Part of the Homegrown: The Music of America concert series, presented by The Library of Congress American Folklife Center.

Comments