On Sunday, Feb. 14, St. Valentine’s Day, from 4 to 9 p.m.
Featuring:
• The Dave Young Band
• Hot City Blues, with special guest J.P. Smoketrain
• Friends of Adam
• The Corey Funai Blues Band, with special guest Jimmy Funai
• “Waimea Cowboy” Ernie Cruz Sr.
Plus Cajun-food catering by Kevin’s Two Boots.
As you probably know, Anna Bannana’s at 2440 S. Beretania St. in Honolulu is one of Honolulu’s most iconic nightclubs and biker bars, home to musical adventures of every genre for 30 years. Due to circumstances beyond its control, it’s losing its lease this year, so this will be The Last Oahu Blues Bash @ Anna Bannana’s. We hope you’ll join us for this historic and joyous yet bittersweet event. Why, it’s almost enough to give you the blues! But what great entertainment it will feature!
• Starting out the five hours will be the Dave Young Band, one of Hawaii’s best folk rock bands, offering a mix of folk, rock, country and island flavors, well captured in its debut CD “Out of the Blue,” Always great to see live, the band with its genuine “feel good sound” will be laying down the blues DYB style.
• Next up will be Hot City Blues, with special guest J.P. Smoketrain. The band is fronted by singer Lori Coleman and her brother KevinColeman on vocals and smokin’ harmonica. The band has some of the freshest blues music in town, leaning heavily on Chicago- and British-style blues, as well as on sirens such as Bonnie Raitt and Christine Perfect. Special guest J.P. Smoketrain on guitar and vocals is a mainstay of the local blues scene and long overdue as a featured guest at the Oahu Blues Bash.
• Friends of Adam will take the middle spot in the lineup, as they always have at every Oahu Blues Bash so far, and as usual they will raise the roof with their electrifying performance. Hawaii’s hottest blues trio ever, Friends of Adam is definitely the wow factor at every bash, featuring singer and guitarist Clayton Campania, Ernie Ecraela on bass and Justin Inocelda on drums. FOA is one of Hawaii’s busiest blues bands, and has opened for stars such as Sheryl Crow, Aerosmith and Pablo Cruise.
• Another Oahu Blues Bash regular, Corey Funai, will follow Friends of Adam, and undoubtedly comport himself well, as he always has, whether with his Corey Funai Blues Band or his other blues band, Bluzilla, which appeared at the first Oahu Blues Bash @ Anna Bannana’s back in Summer 2008. As at the Summer 2009 Oahu Blues Bash, Corey will be joined by his father, island jazz guitarist Jimmy Funai. Known for his original song “Rubbah Slippah Blues,” Corey is often referred to as “the best-dressed blues man in Hawaii.”
• Closing out The Last Oahu Blues Bash @ Anna Bannanna’s will be the 70-year-old patriarch of one of Hawaii’s best know musical families, Ernie Cruz Sr., also known as the “Waimea Cowboy” for his focus on country music, which we all know relies heavily on blues sentiment for its popularity. Originally from Modesto, Calif., Cruz will be joined on guitar by Rick Serna, who was with a successful regional blues band based in Modesto before moving to Hawaii. Flying in from the Big Island to make this show, his performance will one not to be missed.
Please join us.
About parking: If you can’t find a space on the stree, parking will be available for $5 at the Japanese Cultural Center next door, courtesy of the center and Diamond Parking.
For more information about The Last Oahu Blues Bash @ Anna Bannana’s, please call Mark Coleman at 386-9047, or e-mail kekelasounds@hawaii.rr.com
