In the early part of 2002, while I was performing with Don Ho, Barry came in one night to sit in with us.  He and Ke'lii, his original partner had broken up and I believe that Barry was looking for a new avenue to perform in.  That night Don showcased me on one of my songs that I had  released.  At that time this certain song was being played on the radio in high rotation (AKAKA FALLS).  After the show Barry introduced himself and asked if I would be interested in having lunch with him.  About a week after that we decided to meet for lunch.  We talked about music, family, where we grew up, etc..  From this point we started talking about putting a band together, even keeping the name HAPA.  For me, I had to make sure that the name HAPA was owned exclusively by Barry so there wouldn't be any confusion or legal confrontations.  We didn't see each other for about two months...then I got a phone call from Barry telling me that he now legally owned the name and rights to HAPA.  After that we slowly started putting all the pieces together...feeling out each other musically, as well as spiritually.  On our new release MAUI you will hear a total collaboration of two different artists from different backgrounds being able to put together something very special.  What you hear is two people giving their heart and souls to make an innovative and contemporary approach to Hawai'ian music work.

Photograph by William Pie