Fred Punahoa Konanui (also spelled "Punahou") (April 25, 1919 - March 10, 1985) was a

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

an musician and

slack key guitar Slack-key guitar (from Hawaiian ''kī hōalu'', which means "loosen the uningkey") is a fingerstyle guitar, fingerstyle genre of guitar music that originated in Hawaii. This style of guitar playing, which has been used for centuries, involves ...

player from

Kalapana, Hawaii Kalapana is a town and a region in the Puna District on the Island of Hawaii in the Hawaiian Islands The Hawaiian Islands () are an archipelago of eight major volcanic islands, several atolls, and numerous smaller islets in the Pacific ...

. Though only two known recordings exist of "Uncle Fred," he remains one of the most influential slack key artists of all time. His legacy as a teacher can be attested to by such prominent students as

Ledward Kaapana Ledward Kaapana (born August 25, 1948) is a Hawaiian musician, best known for playing in the slack key guitar style. In 2011, he received a National Heritage Fellowship, the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional a ...

and Sonny Lim, both now-famous slack key guitarists who credit Uncle Fred as a primary teacher and inspiration. The only known recordings of Konanui consist of two songs from the 1974 Waimea Music Festival CD, which were given generic titles on the track list but have since become known as " Mauna Loa Slack Key", and " Punahoa Special". These songs are now standards in the slack key cannon, covered by Led, Sonny Lim,

Makana_(musician) Makana (from Hawaiian "the gift"), born Matthew Swalinkavich, is a slack-key guitar player, singer, and composer. Life Born and raised in Hawaii, his guitar playing has been featured on three Grammy-nominated albums, including the soundtrack o ...

, Nick Borho, and many other slack key guitarists.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punahoa, Fred 1919 births 1985 deaths American male guitarists Guitarists from Hawaii Native Hawaiian musicians Slack-key guitarists 20th-century American male musicians