Album Notes

200 years ago in Hawaii... there were no plantations, no ranches, no missionaries, no visitor industry, no hotels, no radio, no multitracking, no singing (only chanting), no overdubbing, no lyrics to engage the talking head, no record company formulas... no entertainment industry...

There were a few Hawaiian men and women who were the original recipients of a "new" instrument called a guitar. Sitting in the peaceful splendor of their environment, they created a unique art form called ki ho'alu -- Hawaiian slack key guitar. They were inspired by simple, natural wonders... the little crabs skittering to and fro on the beach, the moon shimmering off the deep seas, the mist swirling around the mountains, the honu (sea turtles) riding the giant rolling waves, the soft whispering tradewinds, the ua lani pili (rains from the near heavens), ...

Island of Peace, the newest release by Doug & Sandy McMaster, is ki ho'alu in this real old style. Nothing more, nothing less.

One of our favorite tracks is the title song, Island of Peace, which was a gift from a baby humpback whale that was born in the middle of Hanalei Bay on February 18, 2002 as we and our sunset slack key 'ohana watched on and serenaded the sun to bed. The name Island of Peace was the gift of a visiting monk.