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About the CD
Home grown and locally owned…These Big Island artists are no strangers to the locals. Between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two,
this talented group has played every gig imaginable while rounding up an impressive fan base diverse enough to include all ages.
Formed in 2003, Ho‘okoa has been creating songs like Ooh Girl and Last Night, which have become popular
with both the local radio stations and locally produced TV shows. Ho‘okoa is different from any other Hawaiian group because
they believe in providing a variety of music to their listeners. We are not just "Reggae" or just "Island."
"We like to play oldies, country, Hawaiian, a variety".
It’s amazing that this group started out so young and has held on to their dreams of making it big one day in the music industry. In
fact, this group did so well with their first CD single Ho‘okoa, that they found themselves nominees for this year’s
Hawai‘i Music Awards in two categories: New Artist of the Year and Best Single. Kaoupa, the lead singer
of the group states, "Well, it’s kinda surprising that it got this far cause it was actually a school project that I had to do for
Kamehameha School, a Senior project that I did as a demo and it turned out pretty good." Of the original five members that started
Ho‘okoa, only three remain, Na‘ea Kaopua (lead vocal and songwriter), Jeremy "JT"
Tekurio (Electric Guitar, Ukulele) and Tracey Niimi (Bass). In its current incarnation,
Ho‘okoa taps the talents of three newcomers: Preston Paulo (vocals), Paul Battad
(drummer), John Taliauli (vocals, songwriter) Hoku Aki and Ricky Alaniz.
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