For singer and musician Art Kalahiki, the leader of the band Art Kalahiki & Friends, playing music started with a family guitar. His grandfather, Herman Kalahiki, gave him the instrument before he moved to Oregon.
“I was so blessed to get that guitar,” he told Aloha State Daily. “I took it with me to college and I never looked back.”
Kalahiki was just 17 years old when he moved more than 2,500 miles away from home to play football for Pacific University. Within three months, he was in a band which performed four-part harmonies to guitar music. Its name? The Lolos, which is the Hawaiian word for “dumb, goofy or crazy.”
Kalahiki laughed.
“They were all seniors,” Kalahiki said. “I was the only freshman. I call them my brothers.”
Today, one of those band members, Esmond Chung, and his family and friends, come at least monthly to see Kalahiki perform at Barefoot Beach Cafe Waikīkī. Kalahiki has been performing at this spot for 16 years, he said. Friends often drop by to jam with him.
“On any given night, I don’t know [who is going to perform],” he said. “They just come down and I see them and of course, I’m going to let them play.”
Chung went on to become an actor in movies and television shows filmed in Hawaiʻi, including “50 First Dates” (2004), “Magnum, P.I.” (1980) and “Hawaiʻi Five-0” (2010), according to IMDb’s website.
Originally, Kalahiki played solo. Then he joined singer and songwriter Gordon Frietas, as well as Jim Christian, at Barefoot Beach Cafe Waikīkī and other venues.
Over the years, Kalahiki has played many venues in Waikīkī, including Duke’s Waikīkī, The Cheesecake Factory and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel’s Mai Tai Bar. He has also played at weddings and corporate events across Oʻahu, including at The Kāhala Hotel & Resort, as well as Turtle Bay, recently rebranded as The Ritz-Carlton.
Barefoot Beach Cafe Waikiki offers live music every day of the week. Catch Art Kalahiki & Friends from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on Fridays and Sundays. Details.
