My first outing with my KoAloha tenor was a beach wedding in Point Pleasant, NJ. Congrats to Amanda and Daniel! Perfect weather, great guests, and a beautiful ceremony. They transformed the Jersey shore into Hawaiʻi including hula dancers at the reception. It sure is great to be getting out now, a stark contrast from the cold of January when the instrument arrived at my doorstep straight from Hawaiʻi.
A big mahalo to Alan, Paul and everyone at KoAloha ʻUkulele for the friendship and support. KoAloha offers many body styles including soprano, concert, tenor, pineapple, sceptre (reminds me of a BC Rich Warlock), and D-VI 6 string. My tenor is clear, balanced, and sounds great plugged in. The craftmanship is excellent. Great instruments just call to be played and are sources of new found inspiration. I am blessed to have such an instrument in my possession.
In July 2006, I took a tour of the KoAloha factory. Check out the photos at Darin Leong's www.hawaiiguitar.com. It was a pleasure meeting the Okami family and getting to see how they build their instruments from wood selections to bodies to necks to frets to finished instruments. I can truly say that their building process is a unique combination of aloha, feel, science and ingenuity. If you're on Oʻahu, email the Okami's to see if you can stop in for a tour. And mahalo nui to ʻukulele virtuoso Herb Ohta, Jr. who introduced me to and plays KoAloha. It's shaping up to be a busy summer for my KoAloha and me. Yeah, my dog has fleas!