Na Wai 'Eha nominated for a Grammy award'Lovely Sunrise' given nod for Best Regional Roots Music AlbumThe Maui News
JON WOODHOUSE Maui's own Kahikina "Greg" Juan (from left), Kalanikini "Ed" Juan, Kamalei Kawa'a and Kamaehu Kawa'a of Na Wai 'Eha pose with their awards at the 42nd Na Hoku Hanohano Awards ceremony in 2019. A year after winning "most promising artist" at the Hokus, Na Wai Eha is recognized with a Grammy nomination. Photo courtesy Na Wai 'Eha Maui's Na Wai 'Eha has been nominated for a Grammy Award, a year after being crowned "Most Promising Artist" in Hawaii's annual music honors. Since news of the nomination broke Tuesday morning, the four musicians have been showered with congratulations. "I'm excited to say the least," Na Wai 'Eha's Kamalei Kawa'a said Tuesday evening. "I'm also super grateful for all the love and support we have received, everyone from family and friends, to other musicians. There's been so much love and support. "Everyone in Hawaii exemplifies the spirit of aloha. We've been taught that from a young age, and I'm so glad we exemplify that as Hawaiian musicians." Adopting their name for the four streams of Na Wai 'Eha, the quarter comprises two sets of talented brothers, Kalanikini and Kahikina Juan, and Kamalei and Kamaehu Kawa'a. Nominated for their remarkable Na Hoku Hanohano-winning recording "Lovely Sunrise," they are up for Best Regional Roots Music Album. The category includes "My Relatives — 'Nikso Kowaiks' " by the Native American group Black Lodge Singers, "Cameron Dupuy and the Cajun Troubadours" by Cameron Dupuy and the Cajun Troubadours, "Atmosphere" by the New Orleans Nightcrawlers and "A Tribute to Al Berard" by Sweet Cecilia. Na Wai 'Eha is the only group from Hawaii nominated in the Roots category this year. At the 2020 Na Hoku ceremony in October, their sophomore album won Group of the Year, Hawaiian Music Album of the Year and the Hawaiian Language Performance Award. "That was amazing, it came as a shock to us," Kamalei Kawa'a said of the Hoku wins. "We don't do this to win awards or accolades. Ultimately we share music to move people and inspire people." He wondered if the Grammy nominating committee was moved by the heartfelt music of "Lovely Sunrise," a spellbinding collection of songs celebrating Maui. "We always try to share our love for music," he explained. "In all the songs that we sing and all the songs that we write, I feel we put a lot of our hearts into them, and a lot of our love and emotions. Besides being a four-part harmony album and the harmonies sounding really beautiful, thanks to (producer) Zach Lum of Keauhou, I feel that our emotions are portrayed in the songs." He added that an old uncle once told him that "music is nothing without heart, emotions and feeling, otherwise it's just noise." "That's stuck with me," Kawa'a said. "Our hearts have to be there, and that to me is the meaning of success, especially in music." Funded in part by the Honua Kai West Maui Community Fund, and guided by Lum, the musicians met with Uncle Sam Ako of Lahaina, who taught them 10 classic Maui songs for their latest recording. "After we released our first album and the hype and high started to die down, we were still riding the train of the first album, and then trying to figure out what's next for the group," he said. "Zach Lum approached us with this idea to capture the sound of the Paradise Serenaders, and lucky for us one of the key members, Uncle Sam Ako, lives on Maui. The end goal was to record and dedicate the album to him." Maui has had a prominent presence in recent years in the Best Regional Roots Grammy category. Kalani Pe'a has won the category twice, in 2019 for "No 'Ane'i" and 2017 for his debut album "E Walea," and Josh Tatofi was nominated in 2018 for "Pua Kiele." Gaining recognition by The Recording Academy, Kawa'a hopes it will provide an opportunity to help them promote Na Wai 'Eha's music to a wider audience. "With the Grammy nomination we have an opportunity to reach a little further with our music," he said. "We have the ability to reach more people around the world. It gives us a bigger platform to share our music." "It's definitely an honor for us to represent Maui, the place that we love so much, and this year be the only ones nominated from Hawaii, and the only ones representing Maui, the land that fed us, the land that we grew up living in, and we swam in the rivers. We live in this beautiful place and we get to take all that energy and aloha out to the world and share it with everybody. That's truly amazing." Also up for a Grammy is Maui High School graduate Jason Baum, who was nominated in the Best Music Film category for his work producing the documentary "Beastie Boys Story." Baum also produced a portion of Beyonce's "Black Is King," though he said Tuesday evening that he wasn't sure he'd be on the list of nominations for visual album because there were many producers. Baum won his first Grammy in 2018 for his work on rapper Kendrick Lamar's video "HUMBLE." The 63rd Grammy Awards show will air at 3 p.m. Hawaii time (5 p.m. Pacific, 8 p.m. Eastern) Jan. 31 on CBS. Original article URL: https://www.mauinews.com/news/local-news/2020/11/na-wai-eha-nominated-for-a-grammy-award/ |
