World Wide Ed

Fave Five Friday – Music Groups

My co-worker was laughing at me the other day when I told her that I’m really into Rockapella. Some also find it hard to believe that I dig on country music. What other secrets can we pull outta me? We shall see. But not without y’all sharin’ too!

1. Flo Rida or Twista - there’s just somethin’ about Flo Rida’s beat that makes me wanna get up and dance. Twista’s flow is insane! Respect.
2. Jason Mraz – cool cat with mellow, catchy grooves. Seeing that he’s a genuinely sincere/nice person when we met him at the Road Runner Music Hall just solidified my respect and admiration for him.
3. Colbie Caillat – kinda da kine for me to admit this, but sistah’s got some good kine jams. I like that she’s from Hawaii and that she seems to still be grounded after all of her success. Trying to line up an interview with her one of these months. Wish me luck!
4. Rockapella – can’t think of any other a capella group as talented as these bruthas! I need them to redo their lyrics to “Where In the World is Carmen Sandiego?” and sing “Where In Hawaii Is Edward Sugimoto?”!
5. O.A.R. – My alt rock ear gets its fill with this group. Love the brass infusion!

How about the local acts?

1. Ekolu – Lukela Keala’s voice is a thing of beauty!
2. Koa ‘Uka – ultimate party song band. Makes me wanna skank. I still wanna see them in person.
3. Justin Young – soulful voice with a laid-back, humble personality. Deservedly goin’ places now that he’s rollin’ with sistah Colbie.
4. Na Leo – spine-tingling harmonies, memory inducing hits. Don’t get no bettah.
5. Fiji – his live appearances are like no other! He knows how to get a crowd going fo sho!

Share your fave groups below yo!

P.S. Wish me luck in the Tinman this Sunday y’all! The bummahz part is that we play the Advertiser that night in our Media Basketball league and my legs will be shot. D’oh! If we lose, I won’t hear the end of it from Queenie, WesNaks and Bruddah Kwon (and maybe even StevieT! ) LOL!

Happy VHO7V Friday y’all! Have a good weekend and I’ll see y’all on Monday!

Tags: Aloha Friday, colbie caillat, Ekolu, Fave Five list, Fave Friday, favorite groups, favorite music groups, favorite musicians, Fiji, flo rida, hawaiian musicians, Jason Mraz, justin young, Koa'Uka, Lukela Keala, na leo, O.A.R., popular hawaii artists, Road Runner Music Hall, Rockapella, tinman, tinman 2009, tinman hawaii, top five music groups, Twista, VHO7V, VHO7V Friday, Where In Hawaii is Edward Sugimoto?, Where In the World is Carmen Sandiego

Columnists’ Holiday Party at the Road Runner Music Hall

PSYCHE!

With a whoppin’ 7 comments on yesterday’s post (2 of which were mine!), I decided to postpone the oh so popular wedding related posts to next week (while I’m on vacation). That way, I won’t have to be in front of a computer when I cry my eyes out at the lack of comments. Haha! I keed. But seriously, let’s get back to some hard core postin’ shall we?

On Friday, we had our annual, holiday get-together with our hard workin’ AroundHawaii columnists. I always look forward to these, as I get to meet and see the faces of the eclectic bunch that I usually only communicate with via email throughout the year. This year, our attending experts, spanning such topics as surf (Sean & Lane Davey and Dean Luke), computing (Yasuo Ogawa and Kiman Wong), recipes (Liz Rizzo), golf (Danielle Tucker), real estate (Joe Segal), jewelry (Russell Oshita), finance (Jon Yamasato), local food (Grant Kawasaki), Las Vegas (Kimo Akane), style (Cathy Lee), parenting (Diane Ako), and travel (Claus Hansen), enjoyed the festivities at the Road Runner Music Hall, an amazing facility put together by the folks at Clear Channel Communications.

The prizes were compliments of Oceanic Time Warner Cable, the delicious food was catered both by Creations In Catering and the gang at Clear Channel Communications, and the entertainment was by a new group called Onward. The lead singer’s voice (Chad?) was pretty killah! Here are some scenes from the night (mahalo to Kiman Wong for the shots!)!

Stage at the Road Runner Music Hall

Some of the Night’s Prizes

Pupu Starter: Poke

Pupu Starter: Cocktail Shrimp

Onward, Rocking the stage at the Road Runner Music Hall

Shout outs!
* Mahalo to Charmaine and the gang at Creations In Catering for putting together an amazing menu for my peeps.
* Mahalo to the man Kevin Jones and the rest of the staffers at Clear Channel Communications, for helping to coordinate such a successful night!
* Mahalo to the killah reggae band Onward. You guys were awesome!
* Mahalo to Gwen, Maribel, Kiman, Alan, Noreen, Matt and everyone else at Oceanic Time Warner Cable, for helping to make this night possible!

I feel like I just won an Emmy or somethin’!

Tags: AroundHawaii, AroundHawaii columnists, AroundHawaii.com, Cathy Lee, Claus Hansen, Clear Channel Commmunications, Columnists' Holiday Party at the Road Runner Music Hall, cowabunga computers, Creations In Catering, Danielle Tucker, Dean Luke, Diane Ako, Grant Kawasaki, Joe Segal, Jon Yamasato, khnl news 8, Kiman Wong, Kimo Akane, kimo's vegas, Lane Davey, Liz Rizzo, Oceanic Time Warner Cable, Onward, recipes, reggae music, Road Runner Music Hall, rsvpstyle, Russell Oshita, Sean & Lane Davey, Sean Davey, surf, the diamond specialists, the golf club, Yasuo Ogawa

Jason Mraz at the Road Runner Music Hall

On Friday, we headed over to the Road Runner Music Hall to check out one of my favorite artists: Jason Mraz. Now I know it’s very unbecoming for one dude to be a fan of another dude, but I’m comfortable enough with my dudehood to admit that I am indeed a superfan of this uber talented brutha. Not only is he a virtual wordsmith, can get down on the guitar, and can sang like nobody’s business, he has a personality to boot. After meeting him, he also seems as genuine and sincere as they come.

Before taking the stage, he actually took the time to go around the room and greet everyone in person. He made small talk, signed autographs, took photos and most importantly, was real and made you feel important. On stage, he went all out and probably sang longer than he should have (in a good way). He was also very appreciative of everything and everyone (fans, radio stations, etc.) It was such a breath of fresh air to see an artist of his caliber not tainted at all.

If it’s possible, I think I’ve become an even bigger fan of Mr. A-Z. You could even say I’m Mrazmerized.

Now, before you think I have a major man-crush on him, lemme get back to my power tools, grunting and shaving my back hairs. *grin*

P.S. Mraz’s new album “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things.” drops on May 13.

Who’s your favorite artist?

Tags: honolulu, Jason Mraz, Road Runner Music Hall, Waikiki Shell