Nick Borho
Slack Key & Fingerstyle Guitar
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Slack Key
Tag Archives: Hawaii
Mauna Loa Slack Key
Songsbig island, blue sky guitar, Elixir Polyweb, Hawaii, Holualoa, ki ho'alu, kona coffee, ksm141, mauna loa, nick borho, shure, slack key, taylor 310ce, Taylor Dreadnaught
Here is my cover of "Mauna Loa Slack Key," one of the relatively few surviving original songs from legendary slack key kupuna Fred Punahoa. Though "Uncle" Fred never made a full album, he did make a notable appearance on the Waimea Music Festival album which features Mauna Loa Slack Key along with another of Fred's originals, "Punahoa Special." Uncle Fred's legacy also includes fostering amazing Big Island talents of the next generation such as Ledward Ka'apana and Sonny Lim. Like the Punahoa Special, Mauna Loa Slack Key is an often covered song in the slack key world. Hope you enjoy.
Recorded in Holualoa, Hawai'i, 10/11/07.
Opihi Moe Moe (Taylor 310ce)
Songsbig island, blue sky guitar, Chet Atkins, Elixir Polyweb, Hawaii, Holualoa, kailua kona, ki ho'alu, kona coffee, ksm141, leonard kwan, nick borho, open G, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, shure, slack key, taro patch, taylor 310ce, Taylor Dreadnaught
Here's a recently found cover I did of Leonard Kwan's signature tune, Opihi Moe Moe. One of the most popular songs in the slack key repetoire, this song has been covered perhaps most prominently by Led Kaapana; in fact, Chet Atkins even recorded a version after hearing it from Leonard on a visit to Hawai'i. Notably, Leonard himself recorded several versions of this song including variations such as Opihi Bounce. Opihi Moe Moe is a fun song to play that lends itself to little variations, and everyone seems to bring something different to this deceptively simple song. Hope you enjoy.
Recorded in Holualoa, Hawai'i, 1/4/2008.
Gabby Style Hula Medley
Songsbig island, blue sky guitar, Gabby Pahinui, Hawaii, Holualoa, Hula Medley, kailua kona, ki ho'alu, kona coffee, ksm141, nick borho, peaceful guitar, Pure Gabby, relaxing guitar, shure, slack key, taylor 310ce, Taylor Dreadnaught
Today's post is a performance of "Hula Medley," which pays tribute to Gabby Pahinui's hugely influential recordings of the same name (both the early solo verision, and the version found on Pure Gabby). Many have covered this over the years, with one of my favorite versions appearing on Sonny Chilingworth's Sonny Solo album. Per below, my recording of the medley here includes a slightly different lineup of songs. Hope you enjoy.
Medley:
Intro / Nani Wale Li'hue
Wai'alae
U'lili E
Aloha 'Oe
Recorded with a Taylor 310ce (Elixir Polyweb 80/20 Bronze) and a matched stereo pair of Shure KSM141 microphones in Holualoa, Hawai'i, in fall of 2007.
Fronds in the Wind Wai'alae Beach Park in Kahala
Songsblue sky guitar, diamond head, east oahu, Hawaii, kahala, kaimuki, ki ho'alu, nick borho, open G, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, rosewood taylor, slack key, taro patch, Taylor 412ce-R, taylor grand concert, waialae beach park
Here's a recording of my slack key song Fronds in the Wind at Wai'alae Beach Park in Kahala. Appropriately, it was a windy day, but nice and the park was not super crowded. Hope you enjoy.
Recorded with a Taylor 412ce LTD (Rosewood/Spruce, with Elixir strings, ES1) direct through a Boss DD-2 delay pedal, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
Bumble Bee Slack Key
Songsbig island, Fred Kelly, Hawaii, Holualoa, ki ho'alu, kona coffee, ksm141, peaceful guitar music, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, shure, slack key, taro patch, taylor 310ce, Taylor Dreadnaught, thumbpicks, tranquil song
Demo recording of original song Bumble Bee Slack Key, inspired in part by the nalo meli, honey bees buzzing about their business. I wanted a song that was both lively and mellow and think I achieved it. Hope you enjoy.
Green Tea (Fingerstyle Improv)
Songsbig island, Hawaii, Holualoa, improvisation, ki ho'alu, peaceful guitar music, pen D, relaxing guitar, relaxing music, shure ksm 141, Taylor 310, taylor 310ce, Taylor 310e, tranquil song
"Green Tea" is a fingerstyle improvisation based on the idea of toying with certain oft used open tuning tropes and seeing how they could be morphed. Listening back, I enjoy the sound of the dreadnaught guitar I recorded it on, even though I have been using predominantly smaller bodied guitars for the last 4-5 years or so. While small bodied guitars have a great balance that is perfect for many situations, sometimes there's just something nice about the sound of a big boomy acoustic box. Hope you enjoy.
Sunny Afternoon In My Ohana (Koaloha Pineapple Soprano)
Songsbig island, Hawaii, Holualoa, koaloha, ksm141, peaceful ukulele music, pineapple ukulele, relaxing music, slack key ukulele, soprano ukulele, tranquil song, uke, ukulele improv
Today's song from the vaults is an ukulele improvisation dubbed "Sunny Afternoon in My Ohana," after the ohana unit where I recorded it. The unit centered on a large tile floored room with great acoustics that I kept mostly empty of furniture for recording purposes. People think of tile as producing a bright, harsh sound, but I never found the room to be that way at all. At any rate, it complemented the sound of ukulele nicely and though I only have a handful of uke recordings from that time, I recall playing uke a lot while living there. Anyway, this is one of those recordings; I hope you enjoy this music.
Recorded in Holualoa, Hawai'i, 3/1/08.
Kailua Bay Blues
Songsbig island, Elixir strings, Fred Kelly, Hawaii, ironman, kailua bay, kailua kona, ki ho'alu, love, peace, peaceful guitar music, relaxing guitar, Shure KSM141, slack key, Taylor 310, taylor 310ce, Taylor 310e, Taylor Dreadnaught guitar, taylor guitars, thumbpicks
Today's tune from the vaults is a recording of a slack key song I wrote and called "Kailua Bay Blues." I spent a lot of time as a kid swimming in the waters of historic and majestic Kailua Bay, the waterfront area of 'downtown' Kailua-Kona on the Big Island of Hawaii. The bay is surrounded by historic residences once occupied by the Hawaiian Monarchy, hotels, restaurants, and usually someone fishing off the seawall. The area also hosts the swim and finish line for the Ironman World Championship triathlon. The waters of Kailua Bay, as well as the sky above, can have many different shades of blue – thus a double meaning for this bluesy slack key song's title. Hope you enjoy.
Recorded in Kailua-Kona, Hawai'i, 9/13/07.
Hilo Rag (Dennis Kamakahi)
Uncategorizedblue sky guitar, dennis kamakahi, ear trumpet labs, edwina, Hawaii, ki ho'alu, mauna loa tuning, nick borho, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, slack key, sons of hawaii, taylor 414ce-NR, taylor classical guitar, taylor nylon
Hilo Rag is a super fun tune to play from Dennis Kamakahi's oeuvre. Better known for lyrical songs like Koke'e, Hilo Rag makes me wish I heard more of Dennis's instrumental work. I was fortunate enough to meet Dennis and son David years ago and see them play, both on stage and in smaller back porch style jam sessions. I remember Dennis dressing sharp in his kind of urban paniolo style, complete with boots and cowboy hat. Like I say, this is such a fun song to play I can never just play it once when I'm running through songs (and will be posting an alternate take on my other channel soon). Hope you enjoy.
Pualani Slack Key (Demo, 5/16/06)
Songsbig island, Hawaii, kailua kona, ki ho'alu, open G, slack key, taro patch, Taylor 310, taylor 310ce, Taylor 310e
This is a demo of a slack key song I wrote years back called "Pualani Slack Key." Hope you enjoy.
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