Augie’s Girl Keeps On Gigging
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As the youngest daughter of Hawaii legendary singer Augie Rey, Tahiti Rey was born with a passion and gift for music. Which she turned it into her full-time career three years ago when she hit the studio to record her debut album Acoustic Beauty. Her album was well-received, won Pop Album of the Year at the Hawaii Music Awards and was also nominated for Contemporary Album of the Year at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards.
“I really found that nothing in this world made me as happy as how I felt when I was doing music,” says Rey. “It was a huge risk for me to quit my day job to pursue what I love. It hasn’t always been easy, but it’s all been worth it. I am so much happier, and I’m able to make a living and do what I love.”
Rey has kept busy with gigs throughout Oahu including RumFire, Mai Tai Bar and Apartment3.
Enjoy her live acoustic sound at RumFire April 22 and 29 from 5 to 8 p.m., and at Mai Tai Bar April 23 from 4 to 7 p.m. She’s also at Apartment3 every Wednesday throughout the month for The Listening Party from 8 to 11 p.m.
“I’ve been at Apartment3 since they opened. We do live acoustic music for people to enjoy. It’s me and a guitar player and we play a range from contemporary to oldies and everything in between.”
General manager/co-owner Flash Hansen adds, “I always describe her as a sexy, sultry singer-song-writer. One of the things Ilike best about her is her eclectic choices for covers. She’s very unique for her style of music because it might be Justin Timberlake, Cee-Lo or a Metallica instrumental.”
In addition to fabulous music, The Listening Party also has happy hour from 6 to 8 p.m. And the kitchen is open until 11:30 p.m. serving gourmet comfort food such as Ultimate Mac and Cheese, Better Than Mom’s Meatloaf and Deconstructed Apple Pie. For more information, visit apartmentthree.com, and for reservations, call 955-9300.
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Following the success of her first album, Rey has teamed up with producer Shawn Pimental for her sophomore release. “I’m currently in the studio and we’re hoping for a late summer release,” says Rey. “This album will be all my original stuff, which is really exciting and special for me.”
With an acoustic feel similar to her first album, Rey hopes to give listeners a pure sense of who she is as an artist with this release, which she describes as an acoustic, soul, folk mixture. “We’re doing everything really top-notch. There’s nothing synthesized. Everything is really natural, authentic and organic sounding.”
Check out tahitirey.com for more on her upcoming album and performances ...
Local boys Marc Kumai, founder of the nonprofit Hawaii Kids Now, and Dennis James Lee, founder of Haiti Kids Now, are dedicated to helping children of Hawaii and throughout the world. They hope to continue their efforts with a benefit concert Saturday (April 23) at Wet ‘n’ Wild. Headliners include Jake Shimabukuro and Cecilio of C&K. Also taking the stage is Free To Follow. General admission pre-sale tickets are $29.99 and tickets for military, seniors and children 3-11 are $24.99.
Tickets are available at JTP Olioli Station, TP Hawaii Tours, Papaya Clothing, Ivy K. Realty or wetnwildhawaii.com.
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A portion of the proceeds will go to Hawaii Kids Now and Haiti Kids Now, which serve the homeless and at-risk children of Hawaii and Haiti. A portion of the proceeds also will go to relief efforts in Japan.
Through Hawaii Kids Now, Kumai plans to open up a youth center for under-privileged, at-risk kids who come from broken homes. “We are a Christian-based organization that wants to instill good core values in these children and to stress the importance of education,” explains Kumai, a Mid-Pacific Institute graduate. “We also are going to use Muay Thai, or Thai boxing, to teach these children respect and discipline.
“Children need positive direction and structure,” he adds. “We want to provide to the children what they lack at home and fill that void or emptiness.”
The focus of Haiti Kids Now is to build orphanages in Haiti and also educate, clothe and feed the children who are living on the streets. “How it all started is we did a documentary called Innocence Abandoned: Street Kids of Haiti,” says Lee, producer of the film and a McKinley grad. “Through that documentary we met wonderful children living on the street in Haiti before and after the earthquake. From there we decided to form the nonprofit organization Haiti Kids Now, which was established two years ago.”
For more information, visit hawaiikidsnow.org or haitikidsnow.com ...
Leaders in Hawaii’s children’s music Leon & Malia invite families to celebrate Earth Day (April 22) with them at the 2011 Spring New Products and Wellness Expo happening April 22-24 at Blaisdell Exhibition Hall. Leon & Malia will perform their Keiki Earth Day concerts Friday at 7:15 p.m., Saturday at 4:15 p.m. and Sunday at 11:15 a.m.
“The idea of the concerts is to promote Earth Day and environmental awareness, which is something we started way back in 1979,” says Leon.
“The concerts will be interactive in that the kids will be doing a lot of hand motions and singing along with us,” adds Malia. “Most of the kids know the songs, so they’re very excited to sing and dance.”
Leon & Malia have been instrumental in promoting the concept of malama aina to our keiki, caring for our Island home with songs such as Malama Hawaii, Lokomaika’i and Wai Ola.
“Growing up in Hawaii we are so close to nature,” says Leon. “As we got older we’ve seen that the generations who came after us were less and less connected, so we wanted to do something to remind the kids to have love for our environment and each other.”
Malia adds, “When you start with children and put into their awareness and spirit the sense of taking care of something, then they will grow up to be more responsible adults.”
Check out Malia & Leon’s newly launched website hawaiikidsmusic.com for more on the Earth Day concerts, videos and for a listen to their music.
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