Aloha, peeps! It’s another gorgeous Sunday morning here in Manoa, and I’d like to wish all my girl friends (not girlfriends, dear) a very happy Girl’s Day! Known as Hinamatsuri (Doll Festival) in Japan, it’s supposedly a very special day if you have daughters … so I guess that leaves me out! The Honolulu Festival is also happening down in Waikiki this weekend so I’m sure they’ll be celebrating Girl’s Day all day today …
We performed for about 130 high school students from Shizuoka, Japan this past Thursday at a reception in Waikiki. They had practiced singing ALOHA YOU, KIZUNA, a song composed by Alex which MDNA recorded for NHK back in 2009. We decided to do a live recording of them singing with us and it came out really nice … in fact, we may include it on our new CD later this year. They also sang two other songs to show their appreciation to everyone – SHIMA UTA, a song about Okinawa, and Hawai’i’s own HAWAI’I PONO’I. There was something really special about these kids singing which I can’t describe … all I know is that it was definitely a “chicken skin” moment for me!
On Friday I went down to check out Alex & The Leftys over at Lulu’s … except this time it was only one “Lefty”. Apparently, Seann (percussionist) had a brain fart and forgot about the gig … oh, well. Didn’t matter though, because Alex and Mark sounded great anyway … especially since Alex now has his new toy – a car-sized pedal rack with every instrument and vocal gadget known to man. Then on Saturday, ManoaDNA was back in action at the Kani Ka Pila Grille in front of another great crowd … so great to be back “home” again!
Aloha, “D”