Willie K setting off in different musical direction

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Editor

Willie K returns to his Hawaiian roots on his new CD, "Awihilima: Reflections," out tomorrow. It is a journey that links his past with his present amid changes in his private and performing life.

Willie K jams at Kapono's at the Aloha Tower Marketplace. Gregory Yamamoto • The Honolulu Advertiser

"These folks were the foundation for creating this project," said Willie over a recent lunch of squid lu'au at People's Cafe.

The CD comes on the heels of his split earlier this year from Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom, his partner in life and in song for nearly four years. And it follows a reconciliation after 13 years with his estranged son, Koko, now 18, as well as with his father, with whom he had long-standing unresolved issues.

So "Awihilima" — that's Willie's middle name, meaning "gentle hands" or "magical fingers" — marks a turnaround in this mercurial career.

He's even given up alcohol and cigarettes, he says.

And he's become a lot more serious about his work and what's at stake.

He also has earned the prestigious black belt in gosikido, a martial-arts discipline that has had a monumental impact on how he sees himself.

At a martial arts ceremony in Los Angeles earlier this year, he said, "I was told to line up in a ceremony; my sensei told me to get on my knees. Oh, I'm thinking I'm going to lose my (brown) belt, be demoted, because I had to turn over my belt. But he promoted me to third-degree black belt. I cried. It was one of the happiest moment in my life, coming at a time when I had plenty pilikia."

Without going into detail, he alludes to a rough time growing up, even tearing up. "It wasn't the most gentle life," he said. "But at the time when I got the black belt, I actually forgave my dad for all the problems ... All the problems could not penetrate the pain, but the promotion did. I was really thankful."

As part of his rebirth, Willie launched Maui Tribe Productions, his own entertainment enterprise, producing his own music and allowing him to possibly launch the careers of others.

He insists that this isn't CD therapy, designed to help him forget the break-up with Amy, though rigorous project did consume nearly six months of his life.

"We still talk," he said.

He had put aside his own agenda the past four of five years, working on her CD projects instead. They performed together; his involvement helped bring her into the hearts of Island music fans and onto the radio. Ultimately, she won a lioness' share of the Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts' Na Hoku Hanohano Awards, as he had once done.

But he's neither bitter nor jealous, he said. "Yes, I put my life on hold, including a blues project, but it wasn't because anybody was in the way. At that time, I didn't really know what I wanted to do. When I was working with Amy, everything happened quickly. It was awesome. And a great trip. And we had a great time together."

That was then. This is now.

"People will continue to associate me with Amy, perhaps, but, so far, nobody's bothered me about that relationship," said Willie, who guards his privacy. "And there are no remnants of Amy in my show."

Still, he said, they might work together in the future. "We're adults. We'd be crazy if we didn't do that, if the situation was right. We're not spiteful or hateful of each other, no, no, no," said Willie. "I have a career and she has a career. And it was time for me to get back to my career."

He regularly commutes from Maui to Honolulu and it was during one of those trips that it dawned on him: Unless he and others make a difference, Hawaiian music could vanish.

"One day, when I was flying back home to Maui, I stepped out of the airplane and looked at the situation from a visitor's point of view. The intercom at the airport was playing a song, 'Are you feeling Irie, and let's give Jah a praise' and it hit me. What are we trying to tell the people, 'Welcome to Maui' or 'Welcome to Jamaica'?

"I have nothing against reggae music for the reggae movement. I think, in fact, that reggae music is great. But so is the music of Hawai'i. Which is why I decided I had to think roots and play what I grew up with."

The journey has been very satisfying, with Jim Linkner, award-winning record producer, helping shape the CD. "When Willie started doing this project, I would step aside, watch him work," said Linkner. "He would tell stories about specific songs ... He simply lit up whenever he talked about the music and these people. He is capable of playing all kinds of music, but his choice now is to put traditional Hawaiian songs back in his life."

"Face it, this is my Hawaiian trip," said Willie. "Not the jazz, not the blues, not the other stuff. And there will be lots more Hawaiian coming up. I mean it."

Willie has played everything from country to salsa. He said that his musical pendulum swings far and wide because of his dad, who either played the songs or shared them through recordings or radio.

"To do my Hawaiian album, I went through a whole process of asking and checking," Willie said. "And I did the album on Maui, 'cause that's where my Aunty Thelma lives; she has been all around these great people and she was a great source of information. I would make her a cassette, especially one called 'Pipi Kiwi Nui,' an old rascal song, and I always ask Auntie if a song I do is maika'i (good, all right). 'Oooh, where this boy get this kind song,' she told me. 'Naughty hula kind song.' I sing it how it was written, old-fashioned style, not today's kind of Hawaiian."

By choosing the traditional Hawaiian route, Willie appears to be going against the grain. Jawaiian has ruled the Hawai'i music scene for some years.

"The one mission of this album is for people to know that I haven't forgotten where I came from," said Willie. "I always like doing something that's very difficult. Bucking the trend? Maybe. But that's what makes people unique, to do that which is difficult.

"And I hope this music will test people to reminisce, to get them thinking of the old times. Maybe even feel 'eha 'eha (pain, agony)."