You may have done something wonderful on Friday evening September 19th, but you could have improved on it by going to The Strum Shop in Roseville.  Its artist for the evening was Keale, a ukulele virtuoso, singer, story teller, and loving person.  He was joined by his friend, Bill Griffin on bass and mandolele and he, too, is a master of his craft.

Keale is a true Hawaiian in spite of the fact (or because of it) that his family heritage includes, Haole, Cherokee, Mexican, and Filipino...etc.  But the Aloha spirit is his.  He is cousin to the late Israel Kamakawiwo’ole and nephew to the late Moe Keale.  His voice displays the sweet overtones of those two and is compelling in its own right.

Before the program begins, you are already made to feel as though you are visiting in the home of well-loved friends.  You are greeted and treated as such.  The performance area is the store itself — where folding chairs have been set up.  On Friday night the room was packed — with more people who seemed like family.

Keale began his program with “Hawai’i 78” a haunting protest song made famous by the Makaha  Sons of Ni’ihau, and then segued into “In This Life.”  Sounds like a funny combination.  It worked beautifully.

He talked and joked with the crowd between numbers and at one point said, “The good thing about Hawai’ian music is that you talk story for six minutes and play the song for two minutes.  But listening to him “talk story” was a treat in itself, partly because everything sounds more interesting when told in pidgin, but mostly because it was all truly fascinating. 

This reviewer would love to tell you everything he said and did and the ways in which he involved and drew in the audience.  But you must just catch him sometime yourself.

In general, Hawai’ians are spiritually minded people — and he is that.  That spirituality transcends denomination and is not at all intrusive.  If you don’t care about things “of the spirit” you will still love what he says and you will take the meaning of it.  In this half of the program he played and sang a “religious song” which he taught to the audience.  He also sang a Merle Haggard song and one of Natalie Merchant’s.  All of it seemed Hawai’ian.

He won’t be back here for a while but his Uncle, Michael Keale will be at the Strum Shop on October 18th. That’s a good bet to be worth your while as, in fact,   is anything that’s presented at the Strum Shop.