Playing Kihei 4th Friday and thoughts on Na Hoku Awards

I’ll be playing by the food trucks tonight at Kihei Fourth Friday.
I am looking forward to the Na Hoku Hanohano awards tomorrow. Dania and I are going. My Adventures in Hawaiian Steel Guitar CD is a finalist in both jazz and audio engineering categories. My first CD “Hawaiian to Jazz” was also a finalist in the instrumental category two years ago. When I think back that was actually a real honor because the instrumental category has more entries than jazz. I didn’t go because I had committed to a gig here and I didn’t think I had a prayer for winning. I was up against the legendary Bobby Ingano, a great steel guitar player and he did win that category.
Being a finalist in the engineering category is really an honor because a committee of engineers that have a proven record of engineering successful projects judges it. The way that works is the committee is given a link to download 3 selections in mp3 format from the nominated CDs. They created the mp3 files from submitted CD’s. I am opposed to using MP3 for judging for a few reasons.
The entries are graded on a scale and private firm tallies the results. The criteria for what is good engineering is not really spelled out. I submitted my notes and comments last year that I used for my own reference in scoring. My sheet was used as an example for other engineering judges this year so I guess they see (hear) things the way I do.
The other entries in the jazz category are all good performances and sound quality. My CD is very different from others, mainly in the uniqueness of Hawaiian Steel Guitar playing this variety of music. The jazz category is also judged by the general Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts membership voting on a ballot. There is a preliminary vote, and then a vote on the 5 finalists in the many categories. It is the vote on the finalists that will be revealed tomorrow evening.
It is very difficult to actually listen to all the entries and get access to the material. I only voted in categories where I was making an informed choice. My opinion is that all entries should be posted in one place on line like the engineering category. As it stands you have to pay the academy to have a CD mailed out or $200 to have an email with a link sent to academy voting members.
I’d like to win these two Na Hoku awards. If I don’t it’s still OK and getting this recognition for my work is great. I’m looking forward to being a part of this whole event of people who contribute to recording music in Hawaii.