Originally from California, I’ve lived on O’ahu for a number of years. Music is a life-long passion – all kinds of music. I don’t play (although I sang in choirs all through school); I prefer to support the talents of others in whatever way I can. I worked with bands and individual musicians in California, doing everything from tour management to publicity to writing content for websites, handling their merchandise, hiring and supervising crews to work concerts, dealing with venue management and more. I was usually the first to arrive at a gig and the last to leave, and I loved it! Through my work and the friendships I forged, I was fortunate to meet many of the greats. I have especially fond memories of meeting Dr. John (Mac Rebennack) on a number of occasions (a friend played guitar for him), sitting around listening to him tell stories of long ago in New Orleans - and casually mentioning friends of his who were all but unknown then but are now considered among the greatest blues musicians ever. How did I come to be working with Hawai'i's musicians? My father lived in Hawai’i before I was born, loved it here, and passed that love to me – along with his love of Hawaiian music. It was one of the genres I heard frequently while growing up. I began to meet Hawaiian musicians as we traveled here or they traveled to California. The late slack key master Uncle Raymond Kane was one of the first I met, and he and Aunty Elodia were quite simply the epitome of Aloha. And so my love grew... As the years passed I was privileged to meet many more musicians from Hawaii who were touring in California, including Dennis Kamakahi, George Kahumoku, Jr., Melveen Leed, Cyril Pahinui, and many more - and later Herb Ohta, Jr., Keoki Kahumoku, David Kamakahi, Jon Yamasato, Willie K, Eric Gilliom, Amy Hanaiali’i, the late Chino Montero, Nathan Aweau, Barry Flanagan, the late Anthony Natividad, and more... When I moved to O’ahu I brought with me my passion for Hawaiian music and my love of publicizing and providing other kinds of help to those in the music business. I consider myself very fortunate to be able to work with and support many of Hawai’i’s musicians in a variety of ways – and not just those who play traditional or contemporary Hawaiian music. For such a tiny speck in the middle of a very large ocean, we have an amazing wealth of talent here! Lynn Piccoli |