When Gary Kawiliau Haleamau, now 59, was growing up on Hu‘ehu‘e Ranch on the Big Island of Hawaii, music was integral to his family. He often watched as his parents, uncles, and aunts played their instruments, and though his mom would say “little things like you should be seen and not heard,” she allowed him to stay. That’s how he learned to play Hawaiian music.
Many years later, living in Las Vegas, Haleamau bought an upright bass for his wife, Sheldeen Kaleimomi Haleamau. “I tried to teach her, but it was really tough,” he recalls. “Then one day, we were sitting in the living room, and we heard the bass playing, and I’m like, ‘What is that?’”
It turned out their son, Kurin Pomaika’imaikeakua Haleamau, 10 years old at the time, was playing the instrument. Just like his father before him, Kurin had learned to play Hawaiian music by watching.
“My heart was like, ‘Oh, my God, that’s what I need,’” Gary says. “So, I looked at my wife and said, ‘You’re fired. He’s my bass player from now on.’”
Sheldeen, who is also a hula instructor, learned to play the ukulele instead. The trio formulated a band, Kāwili, that has been playing together now for more than 16 years.
Gary and Kurin have shared their love for Hawaiian music at the annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Elko in the past, and were scheduled (as of press time) to perform there again this year. Gary and his own father, a Hawaiian cowboy, or paniolo, had represented their home state at cowboy poetry gatherings throughout the country for many years. He, Sheldeen, and Kurin have continued the tradition since they moved to Las Vegas in 1999.
Kurin explains that Hawaiian music and poetry are pretty much one and the same. “It’s all symbolism and metaphor and stuff like that,” he said.
As for the cowboy connection, the Haleamaus say Hawaiian music as we know it today wouldn’t exist without paniolos.
Following the introduction of cows to Hawaii in the late 18th century, the cattle population exploded. In the early 19th century, Mexican and Spanish vaqueros arrived, teaching Hawaiians to wrangle cattle. The cultural fusion created a distinctive cowboy culture — including the influence of stringed instruments, which were new to Hawaiian music. The paniolos, much like mainland cowboys, would sit around the fire, play music, sing songs, and tell stories. Hawaiian music, including an open-tuning style for the guitar called kī hō‘alu, or slack-key,
was born.
The Haleamau family performs with many musicians and Hawaiian groups, but Gary says performing with his wife and son is unique.
“I don’t know — there’s just something about it,” he says.
Along with poetry gatherings and other community festivals, the family also performs at events in the Discovery Children’s Museum, where Gary and Kurin both work. “We have so much gratitude to be able to share our music, our culture,” Gary says.
Kurin adds: “To connect with the past, that old vibe, I guess you could call it … I think that’s what, if anything, makes it special, because the root is so deep.”