Tag Archives: nick borho

Hilo Rag (Dennis Kamakahi)

Songsblue sky guitar, dennis kamakahi, ear trumpet labs, edwina, Hawaii, ki ho’alu, mauna loa tuning, nick borho, peaceful guitar, relaxing guitar, slack key, sons of hawaii, taylor 414ce-NR, taylor classical guitar, taylor nylon

Hilo Rag is a super fun tune to play from Dennis Kamakahi’s oeuvre. Better known for lyrical songs like Koke’e, Hilo Rag makes me wish I heard more of Dennis’s instrumental work. I was fortunate enough to meet Dennis and son David years ago and see them play, both on stage and in smaller back porch style jam sessions. I remember Dennis dressing sharp in his kind of urban paniolo style, complete with boots and cowboy hat. Like I say, this is such a fun song to play I can never just play it once when I’m running through songs (and will be posting an alternate take on my other channel soon). Hope you enjoy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o_lIR5DgUWk

Every Little Thing (Is Beautiful)

Songsblue sky guitar, fingerstyle guitar, nick borho

Today’s song from the vaults is an exuberant song called “Every Little Thing (Is Beautiful).” Hope you enjoy.

Mino’aka – Keola Beamer

Songsblue sky guitar, Hawaii, keola beamer, ki ho’alu, nick borho, rosewood taylor, slack key, soliloquy, Taylor 912ce, taylor grand concert

Mino’aka (Smile) is a short, sweet song from slack key master Keola Beamer’s Soliloquy album. Soliloquy is one of my favorite Dancing Cat era albums from Keola and a highly recommended listen. Keola’s book is one of the first I picked up when I really delved into the slack key style years ago, and this was one of my favorite songs featured in the book. In fact, I also recommend Keola’s book for beginner to intermediate fingerstyle players who are looking to learn some slack key. Although the version I recorded here is at a slightly faster tempo, I hope it still captures the original’s relaxed feel. Hope you enjoy.

Silver Threads – Slack Key Improv

Songsbig island, blue sky guitar, Hawaii, Holualoa, kailua kona, ki ho’alu, kona coffee, mauna loa tuning, nick borho, open g tuning, slack key, taro patch, Taylor 912ce

Here is an improvisation I did based on Leonard Kwan’s famous slack key arrangement of “Silver Threads Among the Gold.” This classic tune is a popular piece in the slack key repertoire and often one of the first things people learn when exploring Drop C tuning. Most listeners of modern day Hawaii radio will recognize Silver Threads as the slack key passage quoted in the intro to Country Comfort’s Waimanalo Blues, a beloved song in the islands in its own right. Hope you enjoy.

Auld Lang Syne (Alternate Take, Remix)

Songsacoustic guitar, auld lang syne, blue sky guitar, drop C, Fingerstyle, honolulu, ki ho’alu, new year song, nick borho, open tunings, peaceful guitar, robert burns, slack key

Here are an alternate take and a remix of my fingerstyle guitar arrangement of Auld Lang Syne. It’s a slack key tinged version with an added bridge/transition, but otherwise follows the familiar melody closely.

Remix of original post:

Alernate take:

Happy New Year!

Both takes recorded in Honolulu, Hawai’i 12/30/14.

Nick Borho

Slack Key & Fingerstyle Guitar