He’s always loved rhythm and blues, his Hawaiian culture and musically inclined family. So it makes sense that Hawaiian musician Mike Young — who has been playing for 42 years and change — feels right at home in the life
He’s always loved rhythm and blues, his Hawaiian culture and musically inclined family.
So it makes sense that Hawaiian musician Mike Young — who has been playing for 42 years and change — feels right at home in the life he’s created for himself.
“I’ve been playing forever,” he said. “For how many years I have been doing this, I’m truly blessed.”
The surfer-composer of such well-known island songs as “Nani O Kaua‘i” and “In the Islands,” Young has captured a fusion of contemporary Hawaiian mele with lyrics born from the inspiration that comes only to those who are moved by the beauty and allure of the Garden Isle.
The words to “Nani O Kaua‘i” came to Young back in 1978, following his arrival here for a gig at the Hanalei Bay Resort.
“I came here I went with this beautiful hula dancer at the time,” he said. “We came and saw the island, and were looking up at the big, full moon at Hanalei Bay where we performed that weekend. … This owl — or pueo, which is one of our family ‘aumakua (personal god) — was leading the way down the road. For the longest time we were freaked. Then going home, to retire for the evening, we were lying on the bed Fred (Atkins) generously gave us, and this breeze blows in — not a normal breeze. The curtains hung at this 45-degree angle and just stayed like that. I looked at (Regina Keala‘aumoe Inciniong) and she said, ‘I think the sprits are coming to greet us.’”
The two felt blessed, Young said, noting that the following morning he went to Wailua’s ‘Opaeka‘a Falls, where he saw a “tiny little rainbow.”
Young wrote the lyrics, with the help of Inciong with the Hawaiian words, and from there, the song was born.
“The music came to me,” he said. “It’s so special, this island.”
Surrounded by music his whole life, Young was born on O‘ahu but spent his early years on Moloka‘i, where his influences included his uncle. Whether it was Moloka‘i or O‘ahu, there was always music in the house, he said.
“The Hawaiian family, living in Kaimuki, there was always music, always laughter.”
Young left Hawai‘i to tour in Canada, where he was the only Hawaiian in an all-Canadian band.
“We got to tour on a bus, got to tour with this group from back in the ‘50s and ‘60s called the Coasters,” he said, a band known for their songs “Yakety Yak” and “Charlie Brown.”
But his biggest highlight was getting to play with the string section of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, he said, one of Canada’s foremost orchestral ensembles.
During his time in Canada, Young continued his journey into songwriting, and wrote “Child, Hang onto Your Dreams.”
“My little boy was far away,” he said. “It was good, though, for a young Hawaiian musician-songwriter who got thrown into the mix up there, on the road, going from cheap motel to cheap motel, trying to get our name out.”
The group got nominated for the Canadian equivalent of the Grammy award twice, the Juno Award, he said, though didn’t end up winning.
Young continues to gather and garner influence with fellow local musicians today at such get-togethers as the Kaua‘i Music Festival, which occurred earlier this summer, an event he genuinely enjoyed, he said.
“The Kaua‘i Music Festival has been great for me,” he said, of collaborating with different musicians on-island.
As for his other influences, besides rhythm and blues, Young points to the Beatles and Van Morrison as sources of inspiration. “(Van Morrison’s) style really grabbed me,” he said.
“Music back then was more me than the music. …Rap stuff today is OK for this generation I guess. All music is good because it helps artists evolve.”
But overall, Young said his “real joy” has been to write songs about Hawai‘i. “What a blessed time I’ve had where I live, and living the island lifestyle.”
Excerpts from “Nani O Kaua‘i” will be inscribed in the Kukui‘ula golf clubhouse, something for which Young said he is grateful to friends Kurt Matsumoto and La‘amea Almeida.
Catch Mike Young Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Sundays from 6:30 to8:30 p.m. at Casablanca in Po‘ipu, or visit him online atwww.mikeyoungmusic.net
