2 young music acts

• Powerful voice poised to take teenager to top
• Opihi Pickers pleasing no matter the location

Stories by Derek Paiva
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Ah, the life of an ambitious teenage musician.

It's about choosing between going to your prom or playing at Bomb-Bucha. It's about sacrificing a love of ballet classes to pursue vocal ones. It's about group hugs or solo grimaces the first time you hear your voice flowing out of the car radio.

When you choose to pursue a music career long before you're legally allowed to drive to one of your gigs, day-to-day (and especially weekend) life can get pretty darn funky.

But life for a successful young musician is also about pleasant everyday surprises — folks driving to work, getting married and otherwise living their lives to a piece of music or lyric you created. Or accepting the ardor of fans while shopping at Wet Seal.

With all that in mind, meet Imua Garza of the Opihi Pickers (he chose the prom, and hugged his brother Hoku when he heard their song "Old Fashion Touch" on the radio) and Tani Lynn Fujimoto (she gave up ballet, and exclaimed, "Ewwwwww!" the first time she heard herself on FM).

They're a couple of Young Ones to keep an eye and ear on.

Powerful voice poised to take teenager to top

Tani Lynn Fujimoto has been singing publicly for more than half her 15-year life. Tani Lynn sings Catch Tani Lynn Fujimoto at 6 p.m. Friday at the Friends for Family Fun Fair at Magic Island; and 2 p.m. Sunday at Ala Moana's Centerstage. Both performances are free. Photos by Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

Still, watching Tani Lynn "just sing" for a gathering of Friday night shoppers on Windward Mall's atrium stage recalls memories of those homemade "early years" videos you find on VH1's "Before They Were Rock Stars." Surely you've seen the episode with a teenage Celine Dion singing "Ave Maria" in church; or the one where future rage against the male machine Alanis Morissette throws down an uncharacteristic dance groove in front of a Hot Dog On A Stick?

The Windward Mall crowd is at first split between folks either immediately enchanted or casually indifferent, but Tani Lynn does her best to draw the non-committal into her performance. Her stage moves are low-key accomplished, and her between-song patter is sweet and sincere. Fashionably attired in a white tank, tight blue jeans with rust-colored webbing and a newsboy cap from which a couple of tails of her brown hair descend, she is just about as button-pretty as any teenage girl could hope to be.

But what eventually moves the gathered and slowly draws other mall patrons to the stage is Tani Lynn's amazingly mature and assured singing voice. Watching the relatively tiny wisp of a girl belt out soaring covers of Pink's "Get The Party Started" and Alicia Keys' "Fallin' " as easily as one snacks on, well, Reese's Pieces, a woman near me was moved enough to ask, "Where do you think that voice comes from?"

It was a good question.

"I like her music. It seems very mature for her age," gushed Querida Aki, 17, a Campbell High School student. Aki purchased Tani Lynn's self-titled debut CD on its July 31 date of release. "That CD never leaves my mother's car. We listen to it 24/7. After a hard day, we tell each other, 'We need a Tani fix!' and just pop it in and listen to it."

Lyrically, "I like the way her songs intertwine into Christianity or a love song," Aki said. "It could be either way that you portray it to be."

An intelligent, supremely articulate and deeply spiritual Sacred Hearts Academy sophomore, Tani Lynn considers her vocal abilities a gift from God. Somewhat shy in person, though impressively self-assured when discussing her career, she has been singing publicly for more than half her life.

On television, Tani Lynn was a finalist on "Apollo Kids," where she performed at Harlem's vaunted Apollo Theater, and a three-show "Destination Stardom" winner. Before her CD, she guested on a couple of Tiny Tadani music compilations, and scored a local Christian-radio hit with a cover of Nikki Leonti's "Everlasting Place."

Tani Lynn's live performances so far have been evenly split between gratis shows for peer-based nonprofits such as D.A.R.E. and Adult Friends for Youth, and paid gigs at conventions, concerts and private functions. The Windward Mall show was just the first of many appearances scheduled to promote her new CD, which took two years to write and record while Tani Lynn focused on her studies and the transition from grade school to high school.

"I've been working on (the CD) since eighth grade," said Tani Lynn, a bit exasperated. "I did a lot of the writing for it in the eighth grade."

Taking into consideration when they were composed, the CD's seven songs written or co-written by Tani Lynn are surprisingly accomplished ruminations on young life and love.

"I like being able to say that (the songs) are a part of me, and they came from my life ... not from somebody else's," Tani Lynn said. "It's something that I'm proud of."

Finally having a CD out also means that Tani Lynn now has a collection of her work she can shop to Mainland record labels. She was confident she'd have a deal with a major label within five years.

"It's happening to a lot of people, y'know? And I think I can do it," she said. "I have faith in myself."

For the moment, though, she was happy just having a summer break with some free time to hang at the mall, go to the movies and update her Xanga site with some regularity.

"I'm the biggest dork in the world," Tani Lynn said. "All of my friends are dorks. We have the most fun when we're together ... and we're left to our own devices acting stupid and making up stuff out of nowhere. Hanging out with my friends is the best!"

Opihi Pickers pleasing no matter the location

Imua Garza, left, and Kevin Okimoto play with their band, the Opihi Pickers, during a private party at a Blaisdell Center meeting room. Pickers to play Catch the Opihi Pickers 5:30-9 p.m. Sunday at Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant, Aloha Tower Marketplace. 599-4877.

'Ukulele virtuoso/vocalist Imua Garza and bassist/vocalist Kahale Morales traded effortless instrumental licks, laughs and smiles. All five members took credible turns at working the crowd between songs. And Imua — with his wavy shoulder-length surfer locks, dreamy eyes and winning smile, the group's lead heartthrob — delivered a breathtaking 'ukulele solo turn that moved a stage-front table of older ladies to excited whoops and applause.

At the same time, however, the cavernous Blaisdell Center meeting room's fluorescent lighting was way too bright. There was no dance floor to speak of. And polite applause from grad-party guests between courses of roast pork, noodles and sushi offered the only clue that they were occasionally paying attention.

"Tonight, we're the dinner band," said Opihi Pickers manager Brett Ortone side-stage, watching the band carry on. Hawaii Baptist Academy senior Mark Nakagawa's graduation/18th birthday party was the Opihi Pickers' umpteenth such gig in what's been a particularly busy summer, even for a band that has tested much of its live mettle at such functions.

Two wildly successful gigs at Kihei nightclub Hapa's the night before were way more sexy for the up-and-coming band. An early evening, all-ages show drew the teenage, young adult and mostly female following that has embraced the band's combination of bouncy island-style jams, love ballads and youthful good looks. But a more pleasant surprise was the wall-to-wall "21-and-over" crowd that showed later for the Opihi Pickers' post-midnight show. Audience member Fiji even joined them on stage for an impromptu jam session.

To their credit, the energetic Opihi Pickers — in addition to Imua and Kahale, guitarist/vocalists Hoku Garza and Kevin Okimoto, and drummer Luke Daddario (subbing for an absent Shawn Ishimoto) — hardly seemed fazed by the transition from an audience of wild accolades to one of mildly appreciative applause. And most importantly, the guest of honor was happy to have the band there.

Asked why he wanted the Opihi Pickers to play his grad party, a lei-bedecked Nakagawa replied simply, "They're fresh!"

Some members of the Opihi Pickers were still in grade school when the band formed in 1995. Church performances led to weekend invites to play baby lu'au, wedding receptions and eventually store openings and mall stages.

Imua, now 19, remembered many Saturdays spent traveling to up to five gigs "all scrunched up in the back seat of a little car. We'd start from one side of the island and shoot down to the other."

Promoted as a novelty act early on, the producer-molded bubblegum pop of the Opihi Pickers' first CD, 1998's "Fresh Off The Rocks," received such a basting by local music critics that the band considered changing its name to protect its next recording. Instead, the band worked on its own original material, grew into some newly matured vocal and instrumental skills, and improved its live-performance chops.

The Opihi Pickers' 2001 second disc, "Beginnings," was quickly embraced by local radio. And with airplay, more gigs and a brand spanking new collection of teenage female fans followed.

Imua went from being a mostly unnoticed Kamehameha Schools junior to having girls at various O'ahu high schools phoning him at 3 in the morning, claiming to be his girlfriend and stalking him in stores. Prior to the release of this year's "All For You" CD, one guy claiming to be Imua's cousin even went so far as to host a Web chat for Opihi Pickers fans where he answered questions as the singer.

Imua mentioned all of this with embarrassed laughter and a genuine lack of ego. Still, he was eager to see the Opihi Pickers' music gain a more adult following with the release of the band's fourth CD some time next year.

"You get the respect from older people," said Imua. "I don't want to appeal to just teens. I want to spread the music to everybody. (But) I'm actually glad we have older and younger (fans)."

Imua even insisted that the band was still grateful for its popularity as party band — a potentially lucrative business where the guys now average $1,000 per 45-minute show.

"I enjoy playing the parties because there's all kinds of age groups," said Imua. "We can move on to (the clubs) later on."