Ledward Kaapana Biography

Ledward Kaapana is a Hawaiian musician, best known for playing in the slack key guitar style. He also plays steel guitar, ukulele, autoharp and bass guitar, and is a renowned falsetto singer. He grew up in Kalapana, Hawaii and began playing music at a young age. At fourteen, he began performing professionally with his mother, Tina, and his uncle, the rarely-recorded slack-key master Fred Punahoa.

His professional breakthrough came a few years later, when he was a part of Hui 'Ohana, with his twin Nedward and his cousin Dennis Pavao. Hui 'Ohana released fourteen albums, each of which was a commercial success. Kaapana left the group eventually, then released six albums as part of another trio, I Kona, and performed with the Pahinui Brothers, Aunty Genoa Keawe, David Chun, Barney Isaacs and Uncle Joe Keawe.

His first solo album was Led Live, released in 1994 on Dancing Cat Records. He has performed and recorded with acoustic lap-steel player Bob Brozman and released several more albums from the late 1990s onward.