Publisher Description

Since the nineteenth century, the distinct tones of kk kila, the Hawaiian steel guitar, have defined the island sound. Here historian and steel guitarist John W. Troutman offers the instrument's definitive history, from its discovery by a young Hawaiian royalist named Joseph Kekuku to its revolutionary influence on American and world music. During the early twentieth century, Hawaiian musicians traveled the globe, from tent shows in the Mississippi Delta, where they shaped the new sounds of country and the blues, to regal theaters and vaudeville stages in New York, Berlin, Kolkata, and beyond. In the process, Hawaiian guitarists recast the role of the guitar in modern life. But as Troutman explains, by the 1970s the instrument's embrace and adoption overseas also worked to challenge its cultural legitimacy in the eyes of a new generation of Hawaiian musicians. As a consequence, the indigenous instrument nearly disappeared in its homeland.

Using rich musical and historical sources, including interviews with musicians and their descendants, Troutman provides the complete story of how this Native Hawaiian instrument transformed not only American music but the sounds of modern music throughout the world.

Author Biography

John W. Troutman is Curator of American Music at the National Museum of American History.

Review

Superbly written, beautifully illustrated and packed with anecdotes . . . this remarkable book is a gem and should find a readership far beyond guitar obsessives." - The Blues Magazine

"Expose[s] . . . innovations and the rich, transnational context in which they occurred." - Journal of Social History

"A rich and imaginative history, not only of a musical instrument and its sound world, but also of indigenous modernity, local innovation and the global sweep of Hawaiian musical impact." - Journal of Pacific History

"Well written, insightful and beautifully illustrated, Kika Kila is an excellent addition to the world music library." - Songlines

"Troutman shows that popular types of music around the world . . . would not be what they are today if it was not for musicians from the northernmost corner of the 'Sea of Islands'. . . . An important contribution to island scholarship." - Island Studies Journal

"Deeply researched. . . . Essential for anyone who wants to know more about the tremendously fertile--and horribly imperialistic--world of 19th and early-20th century Hawaii, when new ideas poured in and amazing music poured out." - Ukulele

"If you've ever felt the lure of slide guitar, Kika Kila is a fantastic book that offers new listening material, colorful stories, and vibrant history, and exposes you to great guitarists who made history." - Acoustic Guitar

"Presents a stunning example of the nation's cultural melange." - Oxford American

"A fascinating and foundational contribution to the history and development of the instrument" - Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association

"[A] treasure chest of impassioned investigation [that] tracks the steel-stringed guitar's signature 'glissando swoop' as it sparks a global explosion of composition and performance." - Honolulu Magazine

Review Quote

Well written, insightful and beautifully illustrated, Kika Kila is an excellent addition to the world music library.-- Songlines

Details