Festival 2024 Emeryville, CA.
The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association will hold its 2024 Festival on September 26, 27 and 28, 2024 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Emeryville, California. Emeryville is a city bordering Berkeley and Oakland, just across the bay from San Francisco. The Saturday night Luau Dinner and Show will be held at Trader Vic’s Polynesian Restaurant in Emeryville, just a half mile from the hotel.
This year, the festival will honor the late Alvin Kalanikau “Barney” Isaacs, Hawaiian steel guitarist and entertainer. Barney Isaacs was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on July 18, 1924, and this year marks the centennial of his birth. Barney had a long and storied music career as a steel guitar player, including 25 years with the Hawai’i Calls radio show. His playing style was unique and true to the traditional Hawaiian steel guitar sound. Please see the brief biography on Barney Isaacs that is included in this newsletter.
According to Barney’s wife, Cookie Isaacs, Barney loved to play the steel guitar but was not as enthusiastic about teaching others to play the instrument. He only taught a couple of young people to play during his career.
Ed Punua, steel player and vocalist from the island of Kauai was one of those people. Ed will be our special guest performer for this festival honoring his Kumu, Barney Isaacs. We are happy to welcome Ed back to the festival stages since his last Ft. Collins HSGA festival appearance in 2019.
Saturday afternoon will again feature local guest professional steel guitar players. Super Saturday, as we have tagged this portion of the three-day festival, has attracted many newcomers during the past two years and has become a highlight of the annual event.
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