"He's an amazing guitar virtuoso, a Hawaiian Jimi Hendrix; he's Gabby Pahinui, Andres Segovia and Eddie Van Halen rolled into one. Willie can mimic seemingly any style, moving easily between screaming Stratocaster, sweet slack key & jazz almost baroque, acoustic 12-string." --The Honolulu Weekly

“Able to pretty much ace any kind of music from soulful Hawaiian to incendiary rock, Willie has recently been dazzling audiences with his extraordinary ability to render opera arias.” --The Maui News

"Willie's just so super talented, a great guitar player, an unbelievable singer and such a great entertainer. There are two or three guys that I don't understand why they're just not totally on top of the world. There's him and Paul Thorn." -- Elvin Bishop

A Willie K Performance is an adventure. It is a roller coaster ride of music and fun. With a repertoire as diverse as his home state of Hawai’i, Willie’s performances offer an amazing range of musical styles for audiences of all ages and backgrounds. From Opera to Rock, Hawaiian to Blues and so much more, his mixture of music and comedy earned him the reputation as Hawaii’s most versatile artist. His jaw-dropping performances of musical virtuosity bring audiences to standing ovations over and over again. www.williek.com/

“To try and define Willie K's musical style is dizzying, with his repertoire moving seamlessly from Hawaiian to rock to Spanish and genres in between. In a word, it's eclectic. One minute he and his band are serenading the audience with a mellow instrumental number, and the next, they're belting out a high-octave rock set.” – The Maui News

Raised on Maui, Willie Kahaiali`i (aka Willie K.) has been entertaining audiences with his music since the age of 10. He has evolved into an eclectic and charismatic singer, songwriter, entertainer, and now actor. One of Hawaii’s most versatile talents, Willie performs a myriad of musical genres, including Hawaiian, Jazz, Blues, Reggae, Rock, Country Western, and even Opera, and is a Grammy Music Awards nominee and has earned multiple Nā Hōkū Hanohano awards for his many CD recordings. He has played with or opened for musical giants, such as B.B. King, Santana, Al DiMeola, Willie Nelson, Prince, Crosby, Stills and Nash, Elvin Bishop, Bonnie Rait, Jackson Browne, Mick Fleetwood, George Benson, Jimmy Buffett and in 2009 he toured Germany with Simply Red.

Willie released his first DVD, Uncle Willie K, Live at Mulligan’s on the Blue, in December 2009. 2010 CD projects, Lima Wela – Hands of Fire was released in March, and his new Christmas CD, Willie Wonderland hit the stores in November, and garnered a Na Hoku Hanohano (Hawaii's "Grammy") Award in 2011. Also in 2011, Willie released his long-awaited Blues album of original songs Willie K's Warehouse Blues.

His musical collaborations are legendary – as a duo with Amy Hanaiali‘i; the comic-music team of Barefoot Natives with Eric Gilliom; the huge hit Away in a Manger with Willie Nelson; performing with Mick Fleetwood’s Island Rumours Band; Lima Wela, his jazz-inflected guitar trio with Avi Ronen and Joe Cano, interweaving Hawaiian, Latino, and Middle Eastern influences with unmatched guitar virtuosity; and most recently, he is working on a recording produced by artist Wyland, a project that includes Robert Cray, Wynton Marsalis, and Greg Allman. And, of course, Willie heads his own immensely popular Willie K band.

Willie’s community activities are as eclectic as his music, including his Celebrity Golf Tournament on Maui to benefit Maui Memorial Hospital’s Oncology unit; President of Hui O Wa‘a Kaulua, which perpetuates Hawaiian culture through traditional canoe-building and sailing; and hosting a Film, Music and Martial Arts Festival to support local youth. And he launched an acting career in 2009, as one of the leads in Get A Job!, which premiered at the Honolulu International Film Festival, and has gone on to international film festivals.

Photo: Tony Novak-Clifford