‘Morning, my peeps! It’s another Aloha Friday here in Hawai’i nei and the start of another busy weekend for me and ManoaDNA! Our long weekend of performances actually started last night at the Pakele Live! benefit for Japan and continues through the weekend, ending with the big Kokua Japan concert on Sunday at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. They’ve got an all-star lineup performing at this Kokua Japan concert – Jack Johnson, Willie Nelson, Michael McDonald, Mick Fleetwood, C&K, Kalapana, Brothers Caz … and oh yeah, ManoaDNA! Tickets are completely sold out, but the concert will be broadcast live via TV and the internet. Be sure to tune in … this is one show you don’t want to miss!
I sincerely want to thank Pali, Sachi, DJ, and the rest of the Pakele gang for allowing us to perform for their Japan benefit last night. We had a lot of fun and I’d like to say mahalo to everyone who came to support this great cause! It was also nice to see Nathan Aweau, who also performed last night .. he’s such a great guy and a real class act! I remember one of ManoaDNA’s first public appearances – it was for a TV program about Hawai’i’s music scene, and we were the featured “new act” and Hapa was the main headliner. Being the new kid on the block, we were pretty much ignored by everyone. Nathan was the only one who came over to talk to us … he really made us feel welcome and I’ve never forgotten that. Having been a musician for many years, I’ve seen what fame does to people’s egos and believe me, it’s not a pretty sight! That’s why it’s always refreshing to meet guys like Nathan who are so talented, yet so humble and down-to-earth. 
Check out these tiny origami “tsuru” (crane) that my little pal, Salena, gave us last night at Pakele Live … can you believe how small they are?! Holy smoke … whoever did this must have REALLY tiny fingers! I also included a photo of some very cool bracelets which also represent the ongoing relief effort for Japan …
We’re back at Lulu’s tonight and Kani Ka Pila tomorrow, so if you’re in the area drop on by!
Aloha, “D”
