As the Makaha Sons prepare to celebrate the 34th anniversary of the original Mahaka Sons of Ni'ihau, Louis “;Moon”; Kauakahi said the only time he thought the group might have hit the end of the road was in 1993 when his brother-in-law, Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, abruptly quit a few days before they were scheduled to headline the sixth annual “;Makaha Bash”; at the Waikiki Shell.

“;At first I thought he was just upset about something, but when he decided to leave I really had my doubts (the group could survive),”; Kauakahi recalled last Friday.

He and Kamakawiwo'ole had been with the group from its early days jamming together on the Waianae coast; the other founders of the group were Israel's older brother, Henry “;Skippy”; Kamakawiwo'ole, Sam Gray and Jerome Koko.

Israel's departure left Kauakahi scrambling to redo all their signature vocal arrangements from four parts to three and do them with one less instrument. Israel was also the emcee of the group.

“;When he left, a huge chunk of Makaha Sons left,”; Kauakahi said.

Israel went public with allegations that the group's manager was “;double dipping,”; and although he later conceded that the charges were without merit, the damage was irreparable. The name, Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau, was retired and the remaining trio—Kauakahi, Jerome Koko, and Jerome's brother John—continued as the Makaha Sons.

“;Working with (only) three voices was more difficult, but I decided to go on,”; Kauakahi said. “;I told the guys we'd each have to carry a third of the load ... I felt something was missing but I had to keep working on it, concentrating on the music, improving the quality of the voices and the pronunciation.”;

They talked about recruiting a fourth member for the group but never went beyond that.

Maybe it was all for the best. The new Makaha Sons' first album, “;Ke Alaula,”; won five Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, including Group of the Year, in 1995.

ISRAEL'S DEPARTURE wasn't the first time Kauakahi had to deal with membership changes, but most of the previous comings and goings had been amicable.

Gray and Jerome Koko resigned after the release of the group's second album and were replaced by Mel Amina and Abraham Nahulu—Amina and the Kamakawiwo'ole brothers were first cousins, and he and Nahulu were members of the larger group of musicians from which the original Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau had evolved.

The group's producer convinced them to take on a steel guitarist, Elmer “;Sonny”; Lim Jr., billed as “;Kohala,”; who stayed long enough to record two albums and then returned home to join his parents and sisters in forming the Lim Family. When Nahulu left to pursue a career outside of music, Amina switched from 12-string guitar to electric bass and the group permanently downsized from five players to four.

The first crisis came in 1982, when Skippy had grown so large that his weight-related health problems sometimes made it impossible for him to perform and the others were forced to learn how to work as a trio. Skippy died of a heart attack on Oct. 1, 1982 and Mel Amina dropped out of sight shortly afterward.

“;When Skippy passed away I had all the confidence in the world that Israel, Melvin and I could continue,”; Kauakahi said. “;But then a monkey wrench was thrown in when Melvin left and it was just myself and Israel.”;

With one night to go before a big engagement at the Ranch House in Aina Haina, Kauakahi called Jerome and asked if he and John would help him out. The combination was such a hit that the four took “;almost a year off”; to practice and develop a distinctive sound for what would be the biggest and most commercially successful version of the Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau.

The first album by the new quartet won two major Hoku Awards. Their second won four.

34 years after the original quintet recorded its first album, “;No Kristo,”; in a single day (with each song recorded in a single take) in 1976, Kauakahi takes quiet pride in “;how (the music) has improved in more ways than one”; since then.

He recalled having to confess to Hawaiian-speaking kupuna that he had no idea what he and others were singing. He remembered one kupuna telling him they had no business singing Hawaiian songs if they didn't speak Hawaiian.

And so, Kauakahi took Hawaiian language classes and sought out Hawaiian-speaking friends and family members to teach him how it was spoken “;on the outside.”; Learning to speak the language improved his ability to perform Hawaiian lyrics and “;gives the songs more meaning.

“;Now when I listen to our old albums, I think, 'My Lord! We butchered this song!'”;