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Can't Daniel Ho get a little aloha here? Daniel Ho takes another stab
at reaching Hawaii audienceBy Gary C.W. Chun
gchun@starbulletin.comGranted, the Kaimuki-born guitarist got a promotional push from Oceanic Cable for his previous CD "Finding My Way," courtesy of a televised concert. And he'll be a guest with the Honolulu Symphony early next season. But beyond that, why can't you hear his music on most local radio stations?
It's been a long road since he built up the courage to belt out Steve Perry's "Oh Sherrie" at a Brown Bags to Stardom contest back in 1986, the year he graduated from St. Louis School. Over the years, Ho has tried mightily to make a name for himself here in Hawaii, and while he enjoys a higher profile on the mainland and Japan through his several recordings, it's been a little tougher to feel any love locally.
His latest attempt to reach the public's ear happens tomorrow night at the Academy Theater. He'll be joined by the rhythm section of Noel Okimoto and Dean Taba, and singer Andrea Tukuafu, the former UH volleyball star who will be making her last concert appearance with Ho before moving on to pursue other interests.
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Taba and Ho met when Ho, straight out of high school, was a student at the now-defunct Grove School of Music in L.A., where former local boy Taba was an instructor. They would later be colleagues in the band Kilauea, for which Ho was keyboardist and main composer."I plan to do a couple of the more popular Kilauea songs with the band, like 'Waimea Bay' and 'When You Grow Up,' as well as the song I did the video for with Andrea, 'Stronger and Stronger,' from 'Finding My Way.'
"But the concert will start on a more intimate note, where I'll do some solo slack-key guitar, doing songs like 'Hawaii Aloha,' 'Lia,' something I wrote for my 5-year-old daughter, and 'Simple as a Sunrise,' co-written with Lehua Kalima of Na Leo."
After spending a year-and-a-half at Grove, Ho flew back to Honolulu when his dad had a stroke and, since his father's recovery, Ho regularly commutes between home and L.A. Even though his ex-wife in San Francisco has custody of their young daughter, Ho still likes the adventure of travel and the possibility of change it affords.
"Because of my musical diversity, I've set aside the time to record the music I like, from slack-key, ukulele and smooth jazz," he said.
Ho just finished mixing an album that will feature what he calls adult contemporary-styled vocal music, something he hasn't done in public since his Brown Bags appearance. (He assures he'll sound a lot more mature and confident.)
Looking at a release date of sometime in August or September, "the new album is an acoustic, alternative rock album, with songs co-written with Faith Rivera (a Sacred Hearts grad, now an L.A. session vocalist), Hope Sato (who also worked on "Finding My Way") and a St. Louis classmate of mine, Corwin Hee."
With Noel Okimoto, Dean Taba and Andrea Tukuafu Daniel Ho
Where: Honolulu Academy of Arts Theater
When: 7:30 p.m. tomorrow
Cost: $15
Call: 532-8700
Ho also recently reclaimed rights to the Kilauea name and plans to record, with the old band, a CD of new material, along with "unplugged" acoustic versions of past favorites.
"Music has always been my obsession, ever since grade school. But I've never worked as hard in my life as I have over the past two months. Now that I'm single, I can spend upward of 15 to 16 hours straight in the studio, seven days a week.
"I consider every stage of the recording process as a little victory. Short of the birth and growth of my daughter, I get such a sense of gratification in the recording, designing the artwork, and then cutting open the shrink-wrap on a newly printed CD and listening to it in the car on the way home."
Ho also enjoys performing and, with the help of his business partner Kenn Yuen (an '83 St. Louis grad), plans a concert to promote the upcoming CD release.
While he admits he could opt to give local radio stations what they want, "the island rhythm sound is not my style," he said.
"My efforts to do original, new material, while it's good for me artistically, it works against me businesswise. But so long as the music I make has integrity -- I stay true to it and believe in it -- it can only be for the better."
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