HSGA - Isaac Akuna Discovers Joliet

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Isaac Akuna Discovers Joliet

(Isaac Akuna is a dentist by profession and a steel guitar player by passion. Between therapy sessions, he enjoys gigging with his group "Hala`i". ED NOTE: Isaac forgot something -- he's also a bee keeper and bottles the ancient liqueur Mead, made from honey, under his family label! Waaaay COOL! Stay tuned for more from HSGA's Renaissance steel artist. Note from Alan Akaka: Joliet '99 was Isaac's first HSGA Convention. If YOU are wondering if this event is worth your time and money, read on. Then, whether you're a "player" or a "listener", plan now to join us at the Joliet 2000 HSGA convention. I know you'll have a very special time, and take home wonderful, warm Hawaiian-style memories.)

Webster's Collegiate Dictionary defines catharsis as "purification, elimination, or purgation of complex emotional entities primarily through art, or by bringing it to consciousness and affording it expression."

More to the point: the annual HSGA convention in Joliet is arguably the #1 Best Kept Secret in all of Hawaiian music, or any other musical genre for that matter. This is, of course, a personal opinion. Yours may differ, but lest you think one of my pickups has shorted out, let me explain.

The People
HSGA is blessed with absolutely the most wonderfully generous people in the world; members who have dedicated themselves to securing the legacy of the Hawaiian Steel Guitar. Many have worked long and hard, without monetary gain, and often without recognition, to ensure that this annual meeting would be a success. I wish to extend a big "Mahalo" to everyone who made this first-timer's visit a most rewarding one.

The Venue
I must admit to you that when Alan suggested I make the pilgrimage to the Land of Lincoln, my initial reaction was "Joliet? What's in Joliet? I seem to remember a movie about a prison there." You see the attitude? Panic and confusion set in. Ignorance may be bliss, but it can also be apprehension and bad attitude. In any event, those emotions are gone now, purged by the fellowship of music makers and music admirers that is the HSGA.

As it turns out, The Holiday Inn Express in Joliet is ideal; friendly staff, meeting and conference rooms laid out perfectly for all day (or all night jammin' - "Duke's Lounge"), and did I mention the four-hour breakfast buffet? Let's see ... if I time this right I can have breakfast at 6 a.m. and lunch at 9:45 a.m. ... Convention Chairman, Don Weber and his gang have done a marvelous job in coordinating all the events, people and performances.

The Music
Here in Hawai`i, the birthplace of the steel guitar, there may be a tendency for us residents to take our own culture and traditions for granted. After all, it's what we grew up with and what we're surrounded with on a daily basis. Believe it or not, all the folks who play steel guitar over here don't hang out on the beach all day with their axes. They have regular jobs, families, weekend gigs, church, cub scouts, etc. .... maybe it's the same where you live.

But at the Joliet convention, people who love Hawaiian Music and the Hawaiian Steel guitar in particular, have traveled great distances, sometimes at moderate expense, to be with other people who have done the same. They made the journey and paid the price to achieve The Prize : three days of very nearly complete non-stop Hawaiian steel guitars and music. No commute to work, no grass to cut, no Little League, no meal preparation ... nothing to distract from the music. Gerald Ross put it succinctly "The music becomes the focus."

Picture yourself at 3 a.m., two hours sleep the night before, jet lag, jamming with Bobby Ingano, Alan, Duke, Herb, Kamoe, Ian, Gerald, L.T. Zinn, Bernie, Gloria Murawsky, Mike Beeks, Bob & Julie, Frank D., Doug, Barbara ... no egos, no pressure, no tension ... we are cookin' Baby, and you are definitely in the Zone, united with others by the passion that is Hawaiian Steel Guitar.

Y2K
For those who have yet to experience Joliet, I can't guarantee that you'll have an artistic epiphany or musical cathartic moment. Suffice to say, you need to go. You don't know until you go. I can promise that Joliet 2000 convention will be something extremely special. Hopefully, more on that later. I'll close with this thought. My dad is an old Navy man, and he always said that if you want to learn how to swim, you get in the water. In Joliet, you will be given every opportunity to take the plunge. Be there. Aloha.

- Isaac Akuna

HSGA * HAWAIIAN STEEL GUITAR ASSOCIATION
KAMAKA TOM, President
45-600 KAMEHAMEHA HWY * KANEOHE, HI * 96744
PHONE/FAX (808) 235-4742
EMAIL: hsga@lava.net

Homepage URL: www.hsga.org (hsga@lava.net)
Last updated: 07/22/02 by Gerald Ross (gbross@umich.edu)