Album Notes

When I was a kid my family moved to Hawaii. It was there, sitting under the banyan trees in Waikiki, that I would listen to the old beach boys play slack-key guitar, ukulele and nose-flute. And they would "talk story". And, oh, what stories they would tell. It was gentle and real, it was tender and hilarious, and it was my introduction to an incredibly wonderful world of intimacy and magic. It is to the honor of the legacy of some of those wonderful people - Gabby "Pops" Pahinui, Mahi Beamer, Kui Lee, Auntie Genoa Keawe and others - that I offer, from the heart and simply acoustic, this series of cd's. I've been asked over and over by so many folks to record a cd of just me and a guitar. They've said they love the produced cd's, they love the bands I play with and the musicians I include on my cd's, but they really love it when I play solo and they've wanted a cd of just that sound. SOOO, here you go. And not only that, I'm going to do 6 of these I'll call my UNDER THE BANYAN TREE series. Thanks once again to the wonderful "Aries Angels" - Patti Janco, Cheri Robertson and Karen Saylor, who constantly kick my ... that is to say, inspire me to do what I do best the best I can. And thanks to Gary Janco and Don Nuzzo for their packaging and engineering talents! Aloha always ~ Rob Mehl