A Conversation with Eddie Palama

Fred Lunt is a traditional steel player in Honolulu who learned the instrument back in the 70s, just as it was threatening to die out. Fred now tours with Taj Mahal and is a member of Na Pali, a band that has made numerous appearances on Prairie Home Companion. He's also an ace real estate rainmaker up on the hills above Honolulu.

I contacted him before my trip to ask him which musicians I should talk to about Waikiki tourist music. He came right back with Eddie Palama's name. When Eddie was playing dive bars back in the early 70s, Fred would go spend all night listening and soaking up the techniques that Eddie had earlier learned from his father at home in Papakolea, a neighborhood in Honolulu near Punchbowl Crater.

Eddie himself picked up the steel fairly late, when he was 21 years old. Within a few years, he was playing regularly with bands around Honolulu, including that of Gabby Pahinui.

In this video Eddie diecusses his life in Hawaiian music, and we hear him playing by himself at home and with a band at a Waikiki hotel.

get some chicken skin

Shaka

meet Harry B

Hawaiian Steel Great