Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 6, Number 4, 1 April 1989 — May Concert Marks Century of Steel Guitar [ARTICLE]

May Concert Marks Century of Steel Guitar

This year marks the centennial of the invention of the steel guitar by Joseph Kekuku, a student at the Kamehameha Schools. To celebrate the sweet sounds that have become the "signature sound of Hawai'i," the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association, a global network of some 300 enthusiasts, will meet at the Queen Kapiolani Hotel May 7-14. Members of the organization will meet and play steel guitar for eaeh other, in addition to getting aequainted with other steel players of Hawaii. An exciting week is planned beginning with the Jerry Byrd Steel Guitar Ho'olaule'a on Sunday, May 7 at the Ala Moana Ameneana Hotel and ending with an all-day free concert at the Kapiolani Park Bandstand on Saturday, May 13. The public is invited. Highlight of the week will be the presentation of a memorial plaque to the Kamehameha Schools commemorating the achievement of Joseph Kekuku, who designed the instrument in a school workshop. The steel guitar has the distinction of being one of only two instruments of modern music invented on American soil, the other being the banjo. The organization is anxious to have the steel guitar properly recognized and used in musical studies at colleges and universities so that "its voice will always be heard in the islands." Lorene L. Ruymar is president of the association, whieh is based in Bellingham, Washington.