Recording artists representing 26 genres of music and spoken-word performances will be honored next month when Johnny Kai and his Music Foundation of Hawaii present the 13th annual Hawaii Music Awards on March 27.

Unlike the Grammy Awards or their Hawaii counterparts, the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, winners of the Hawaii Music Awards are announced well ahead of the awards show so that out-of-state winners can make arrangements to attend. Winners need not be Hawaii residents, and their work doesn't have to be recorded in Hawaii, released by a local label or distributed in Hawaii to be eligible.

Voting is open to the public worldwide via e-mail.

“;Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Vol. 2,”; this year's Grammy winner for Best Hawaiian Music Album, is the only one of this year's four Grammy finalists to win a Hawaii Music Award.

Categories come and go on a year-to-year basis. Several that were activated to accommodate releases in previous years — blues, country, dancehall reggae, film score, paniolo, rap and ska among them — are now dormant. On the other hand, Kai is presenting awards in six categories this year to artists who were the only nominees in their respective categories.

The winners

» Adult Contemporary: Don Tiki, “;South of the Boudoir”;
» Compilation (producer(s) award): Daniel Ho, George Kahumoku Jr., Paul Konwiser and Wayne Wong, “;Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Vol. 2”;
» Contemporary Hawaiian: Eric Lee, “;Crossroads”;
» DVD: Kawao, “;With Love & Appreciation”;
» Exotica: Waitiki, “;Adventures in Paradise”;
» Hip Hop: Slapp Symphony, “;The Slapp Collective”;
» Island Contemporary: Hi-Town, “;Hi-Town”;
» Jazz: Ginai & Pierre Grill, “;Come Together”;
» New Age: Daniel Ho, “;Classic Hawaii”;
» Pop: Hana/Satchwell, “;Love of the Islands”;
» Reggae: Ekolu, “;Ekolu Music 2”;
» Rhythm & Blues: Ryan Hiraoka, “;Before My Last Breath”;
» Rock: Josh86, “;Pressure”;
» Seasonal: Candes Meijide Gentry, “;Christmas Will Find Us Wherever We Are”;
» Single: anjj lee, “;Kaden Boy”;
» Slack Key: Makana, “;Venus, and the Sky Turns to Clay”;
» Steel Guitar: Gerald Ross, “;Ukulele Hit Parade”;
» Traditional Hawaiian: Uluwehi Guerrero, “;Uluwehi Sings Na Mele Hula Aloha”;
» Ukulele: Jake Shimabukuro, “;Live”;
» World Music: Greg MacDonald, “;Sweet Dreaming Vol. II”;

Recognition awards

(Categories with only one entry)

» Children's: Makaala Perry, “;If I Could Have Another Christmas”; (CD single)
» Classical: Jorge G. Camara, “;Live from the Operating Room”;
» Folk: Brenda Burnett, “;Brenda Burnett Emerging”;
» Inspirational/Gospel: Dan Del Negro, “;Feel the Presence”;
» International Hawaiian: Kaulana, “;Kaleokapuokamaunalani”;
» Spoken Word: Keith Haugen, “;Whisper 'Semper Fi'”; (CD single)