Biography

b. Keolamaikalani Breckenridge Desha Beamer, 18 February 1951, O'ahu, Hawaii. Beamer was raised in Kameula in one of the island's most famous and highly regarded musical families. The Beamers could trace a heritage going back to the fifteenth century, claiming in their ancestry the Queen Ahiakumai Ki'ekl'e and Ho'olulu, child of the favoured wife of King Kamehameha I. His grandmother was Kapuailohia Desha Beamer, one of the island's greatest singer/songwriters. Her daughter and Keola's mother, Winona Kapuaiohia Beamer, continued this tradition, dedicating her life to protecting and recording "Hawaiiana". Always in touch with his native musical conventions, the young Keola was also exposed at an early age to the emerging rock 'n' roll tradition, immediately beginning work at his family's Honolulu studio. His marriage of these two disparate styles has ensured him massive popularity on the island of his birth and cult notoriety abroad over the course of numerous albums (many recorded with brother Kapono). Credited with being the driving force behind the "Hawaiian Cultural Renaissance", Keola merged ancient native chants and instrumentation (including the gourd whistle and nose flute) with contemporary instruments and production techniques. He had studied classical guitar at college, and later began to teach the instrument - leading to the publication of a book, Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar. The book and the accompanying album were enough to ensure his long-term popularity in international guitar circles, and he has gone on to become one of his island's most high-profile exports, appearing on US television's Sesame Street and The Today Show, in addition to a clutch of domestic Hoku Awards. His sporadic recording career was revived in 1994 when he recorded Wooden Boat for Dancing Cat Records. This returned to the sounds of native Hawaii as its central reference point, with Keola's own arrangements of several traditional tunes, as well as his own songs, which declared his interest in other ethnic musics he had discovered (notably the Latin touches of "Hermo Da Kope Bean").
DISCOGRAPHY: Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar In The Real Old Style (Music Of Polynesia 1972)***, with Kapono Beamer This Is Our Island Home - We Are Her Sons (Music Of Polynesia 1973)***, with Kapono Hawaii Then And Now (Music Of Polynesia 1974)***, with Kapono The Music Of Hawaii (National Geographic 1974)***, Keola & Kapono Beamer (Tantalus 1976)***, with Kapono Honolulu City Lights (Paradise Productions 1978)***, with Kapono Island Night (Paradise Productions 1979)***, with Kapono Tahiti Holiday (Paradise Productions 1980)***, Sweet Maui Moon (Paradise Productions 1989)***, Wooden Boat (Dancing Cat/Windham Hill 1994)***, Moe'uhane Kika: Tales From The Dream Guitar (Dancing Cat/Windham Hill 1995)***, Mauna Kea: White Mountain Journal (Dancing Cat/Windham Hill 1997)***, Kolonahe: From The Gentle Wind (Dancing Cat/Windham Hill 1999)***, Island Born (The Orchard 2001)***, Solioquy: Ka Leo O Loka (Dancing Cat/Windham Hill 2002)***, Mohala Hou: The Music Of The Hawaiian Renaissance (Ohe 2003)***.
VIDEOGRAPHY: Ki Ho'alu (Loosen The Key) (Ohe 2003).
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar, Keola Beamer.

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
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