Holunape at Aku Bone, Honolulu

Holunape at Aku Bone, Honolulu

That night we went out to a locals bar called Aku Bone where one of Dallas’s classmates, Kekoa was playing with his band Holunape. The band plays traditional Hawaiian music and consists of a ukulele, a guitar and a stand-up bass. Kekoa plays the bass. Actually… er.. here he’s the guy in the middle playing guitar. He was mostly playing bass, though.

Monte, Dallas, BJ :: Aku Bone, Honolulu

Monte, BJ, Kilo, Keone, Dallas :: Aku Bone, Honolulu

We timed our trip this year so that Dallas would be able to attend his Kamehameha Schools alumni week. The event at Aku Bone was not an official Kamehameha reunion event, but many of Dallas’s friends from Class of ’94 were there, as well as many Kamehameha alum from other years. The table next to us was full of Class of 1940-something alumni, which was kind of like drinking with your grandparents, but also very cute because the old-timers got up a lot to hula. Kilo and Monte, from Dallas’s class, did a hula. At one point, the older ladies next to us were kissing Monte and putting money in his pants! It got a little crazy.

Kilo, Brandy, Lani, Hoku, Monte, Dallas, Nalani, BJ :: Aku Bone, Honolulu

This was the first time many of Dallas’s classmates had seen each other in 15 years. Dallas has a special bond with the students from the outer islands because they all had to board in the dorms on campus and spent every waking and sleeping minute together for many years. Dallas says he’s lived with some of his classmates longer than he lived with his own brother and sister. It was neat to see them all together again.

Kamehameha Schools Class of ’94 :: Aku Bone, Honolulu

Kamehameha Schools Class of ’94 :: Aku Bone, Honolulu

Kamehameha Schools Class of ’94 :: Aku Bone, Honolulu

Oh, and I didn’t realize it at the time, but Kekoa’s band Holunape is quite accomplished. The following week when we were in Maui the 32nd annual Na Hoku Hanohano awards were held. These awards are given out by the Hawaii Academy of the Recording Arts and are the equivalent of the Grammys, but for Hawaiian music only. Holunape was nominated in four categories. They won the award for group of the year, and their album “Ahea? ‘Ano!” won for Hawaiian album of the year. You can listen to clips from the album at mele.com. (Mele = Song). Later when we were in Kauai at Borders we tried to buy the winning album but they were all sold out. We did see their previous album on the shelf, though.

Holunape CD at Borders :: Lihue, Kauai

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