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Archive for the ‘Kauai News’ Category

May

The Big Swig

The best things happen by accident. On a First Saturday in Kapa’a, when what was supposed to be a big collaborative jam in front of a.ell atelier turned out to be a few, those few played together, musical magic happened, and a band was formed: The Big Swig.

I caught up with the four musicians to find out the backstory on the band that makes everything old new again.

Steven Meredith (washboard percussion and blues harp) has been in seven bands from here to Australia, and is the host of two radio shows on KKCR, Kaua’i Live and Deja Blues. He helped clarify what type of music they play:

“It’s Old Timey music. Music that was pre-genre; before blues or bluegrass. Traditional tunes.” They also play music from the early 1900’s, including Delta-influenced music, Blues, Rag Time, Barrelhouse music, and Western Swing. “It makes you want to move,” he said.

When asked what he enjoys about The Big Swig, he said: “we all share a mutual sense of direction. We love the same music and we have the same agenda…we have fun but we are really well-organized.”

Anni Caporuscio (vocals and kazoo) started playing trumpet when she was ten, has been in Jazz bands, sang in choirs, and even was in a rock band where she sang in Japanese. She claims to “play many instruments poorly.” She said that the thing she loves best about the Big Swig is that they all laugh at the end of each song.

Amy Nelson’s (banjo) best friend told her for years that she should play the banjo. “I played guitar for years but it really wasn’t my thing,” she said. She finally got one, started taking lessons and got hooked. “I blame Matt Morelock for all this music madness!” she said, speaking of her music teacher. The old time music fits her perfectly. “I’ve always been drawn to old-fashioned things: music, clothes, furniture, diners on the side of the road.”

Angelique Ell (fiddle and guitar) started with clarinet and piano at a young age, then played guitar for years, and recently took up the fiddle, also with Matt. Angelique loves being part of the band because the creative camaraderie. “It’s the relationship-building between all of us, the music communication of listening to each other, and when we hit it, it’s such a high.”

For more information, shows, booking, and to contact The Big Swig visit our page at Facebook.com/TheBigSwig

Tags: kapaa art night, kapaa art walk, Kapaa first saturday, kauai band, kauai music, old time music
Posted in kauai art, Kauai Events, Kauai News | No Comments »

Apr

Kaua’i artist John Howard

If you don’t know John Howard, you probably at least know his artwork; the iconic and imaginative animals found on canvas and t-shirts exclusively at a.ell atelier. Check out his Organic Cotton Rooster Tee , a bestseller. When I asked him the story behind his animals, he said a rooster that was in his view while painting one day ended up on his canvas. Weeks later, his neighbor at the time, Laura Wiley, wanted to buy the painting. John explained that she was looking for a present for her husband, Mr. radio personality Ron Wiley. “She had seen the painting and said she wanted to buy it because Ron said the chicken was his aumakua.” After that first sale he decided that every picture that sells he would make a shirt out of it. And so he did. Since the rooster, a goat, a toad and a pig have been birthed as well, and can be found on prints and shirts in a.ell atelier and in his wife Patricia’s yoga studio.

Tags: animal art, art tshirts, John Howard, Kauai artist, kauai organic cotton clothing, organic cotton tee, organic tee kauai, rooster tee
Posted in Eco-Friendly Clothing, kauai art, Kauai News | No Comments »

Apr

An Evening to Celebrate Literature

I love watching my niece read a book. There she is, tucked away, silent and cozy on a couch, her big blue eyes lost in a sea of words. It immediately transports me back to her age, where I could be found doing the same thing much of the time. Reading is this perfect mix of opposites: learning and leisure, indulgent and important, dreamy and grounding all at the same time.

Next week, on April 12th at KCC, there is a free event celebrating reading and literature. From 5:30 to 7:00, a selection of five authors will engage in a panel discussion about writing, the themes and issues they tackle in their books, the state of literature today and more, with the adult community. The authors range from poets to short story writers to novelists to historical non-fiction writers to slam poets and more. They are really good at their craft, and have been chosen out of many to share their process with us.

Tags: art, Kaua'i Literature Festival, kauai art, kauai event, Kauai Events, KCC, literature, local art, reading
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Mar

Aunty Angeline’s Kaua’i Spa

The promise of a new life is cause for celebration, which is why myself, Angelique, and our pregnant sister-in-love went to Aunty Angeline’s spa in Anahola last week. It was a transformative and unique experience. We were welcomed in to the spa through a lush gateway of greenery onto a lanai warmed by sunlight. We slipped into sarongs and first entered the steam room. The hot mist was so thick it was hard to see your hand in front of your face. The heat washed toxins and stiffness away from our bodies, melting us into a fluid, relaxed state.

Next came the salt scrub, where we lay on massage tables and had our entire bodies rubbed with Hawaiian salt as the steam vapors and soft chanting surrounded us. We then showered off and entered another room, where we lay face down on massage tables. If we chose to open our eyes, we saw a bouquet of fresh flowers blooming on the lauhala-covered floor.

Have you ever had a massage where four strong hands are working on you at once? It was a first for us, and an incredible sensation, as a left arm is pulled and rubbed; a right leg is as well. It was over an hour of a soft yet strong massage with the only sounds being the gentle wind causing the trees to sway and slow dance.

After our massage as we sipped water on the lanai, and we were invited to steam again as long as we liked, and take our time enjoying the atmosphere.

It was a slow, dream-like expereince. We shared stories of birthing babies into the world and gave blessings to the new life we would soon meet, and gave grateful nods to the majestic mountains above.

For more information about Aunty Angeline’s, click here .

Tags: kauai, massage, salt scrub, spa, steam
Posted in Kauai Events, Kauai News, Specials, wedding | 1 Comment »

Feb

The Heavy Metals Collection

Colleen Daly Block has been collecting shells and beach glass for years, roaming the shores of the Big Island of Hawai’i and Kaua’i. One year she created jewelry with her found treasures and gave them as Christmas presents. From there requests were made, and a business was born.

Peace of Kaua’i jewelry started in 2010. Colleen and her husband Joshua collect and snorkel for shells, and Colleen, who is self-taught, designs and create earrings, bracelets, rings and necklaces, which have been a huge hit at the atelier for months now. “Angie’s shop is one of my best sellers,” Colleen said.

Angelique and Colleen recently collaborated to create an exclusive line for the shop, called the “Heavy Metals” Collection. Angelique asked Colleen about the possibility of using Tahitian pearls with sterling silver to create an “edgy” line of jewelry. “I had never thought of Tahitian pearls as edgy before,” Colleen said, but quickly understood and brought the vision to fruition. The Heavy Metals Collection consists of earrings and interlocked bangles made of thick gauge sterling silver and Tahitian pearls.

10% of all Peace of Kaua’i proceeds are donated to the Kaua’i YWCA Sexual Assault Treatment Program. Colleen has worked as a sex assault therapist at the YWCA on Kaua’i since 2009, working with offenders, victims and their family members. Her shell searching on beaches is a way to relieve the stress of her job. ”It’s definitely an outlet for self-care,” she said. “I focus on that and let everything else go.”