Update: This post and other HARA and Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award posts here were updated on 7/5/17. Disclaimer: I am a member of the Board of Governors of HARA, but this is not an official HARA document. What I write here is based on my prior experience as a board member, as chair and a few years of service on the selection committee continuting interaction with them and other members. Hopefully it will help, inform and entertain you, but take it with a grain of salt, and a dash of sarcasm. I’ve gotten a lot of messages, texts, and emails…
Happy Day Gone Sad Week
This past Tuesday was a pretty good day. It didn’t rank in my Top 10 all-time days–not that I even keep such a list. It doesn’t approach the day I got married, the day our children were born, or when they graduated from high school, or when my son returned home safe from Iraq, or when I watched my daughter bungee jump in New Zealand. But it was still pretty darn good. The final ballot for the 2011 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards were announced that day, and I was humbled to learn that I had two nominations, and my dear…
Peeking Ahead To the 2012 Grammy Awards
I found my preliminary ballots for the 2009 and 2010 Grammy Awards. Here’s a breakdown of the entries in the three primary categories that will compete for the “Best Regional Roots Music Album” Grammy in 2012 : Best Zydeco Or Cajun Music Album 2009: 30 entries, 2010: 34 entries Best Native American Music Album 26 entries, 2010: 32 entries Best Hawaiian Music Album 20 entries, 2010: 32 entries I should note that the Board of Governors of the Hawai‘i Academy of Recording arts went to extraordinary lengths to get entries in 2010. I personally entered half of the 32 entries…
The Hawaiian Grammy Is No More
Today The Recording Academy, bestowers of the annual Grammy Awards, announced a major restructuring of the awards that reduces the number of awards from 109 to 78. This change will be implemented in next years awards–the 54th Annual Grammy Awards. One of the categories affected by this adjustment is the Grammy Award for Best Hawaiian Album–it has been eliminated. However, releases that would have been eligible in this category will now be eligible in the new “Best Regional Roots Music Album” at the 54th Grammy Awards. Other genre that previously had their own categories and will be entered in this category…
March Madness, Music Awards, Awareness Campaigns, and a Promise
March has arrived, and with it comes the preparation, printing and mailing of the preliminary ballot for the 2011 Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards. Like many, I was oblivious to the amount of work, consideration and communication that goes into this process until I joined the HARA Board of Governors four years ago and subsequently became a member of the selection committee. The amount of work is tremendous, the rewards few, and the consternation is sometimes overhwelming. It’s impossible to please everybody, and the job of finding the appropriate category for many releases is challenging, particulary when the majority are based on…