Statesman of the steel guitar

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Tau Moe, who retired more than two decades ago, will guest at a Makana concert this weekend. He performed professionally through most of his life and is now 95. Tau Moe Steel guitarist guesting in a concert headlined by Makana 7:30 p.m. Saturday Hawai'i Theatre $25; $50 VIP tickets include prime seating, a signed Makana CD, and post-show party 528-0506 Also with 'ukulele performer Bill Tapia

A trouper who has been retired for 20-plus years, Moe had a colorful six-decade career that traversed the globe and included performances throughout Europe and the world before royalty and world leaders. He's also connected with pop-music icons, with whom he toured.

And happily for those who have not yet discovered him, Moe is getting back into the limelight as a guest artist in a Makana concert Saturday at the Hawai'i Theatre.

"No good, the fingers," he laments, a bit creaky in voice but with a mind as sharp as a tack.

"No can see the fingers," he says of failing eyesight. "But I give it a try."

Makana, a virtuoso of ki ho'alu, or slack-key guitar, says he was quick to sign on Moe when he heard he was still living in La'ie, his home since migrating from Samoa in 1926.

"He's been a hero and an influence to me for years, and I want him, and my other guest artist, ('ukulele veteran) Bill Tapia, to serve as a bridge between generations," Makana said of Moe. "Nobody plays like these old-timers. It's an honor for me to share the stage with them and introduce my audience to them."

Moe said Sol Ho'opi'i, a veteran musician-singer, is the one who nudged him into adopting the steel guitar, a vital sound in early Hawaiian music.

"I was in high school, McKinley, when I was hired to go with a Hawaiian group to Europe," said Moe. "We had this show, see, and there were eight boys and eight girls, and at the last moment, a Friday, we find out that Sol cannot make the trip, because he has to go back to Hollywood to do a film. So he tells the people that I can play. I was young and still learning then."

He said the reception was remarkable and unforgettable. "Every country, every city, every village, they love Hawaiian music," said Moe. "We went all over the world, Moscow, Fiji, Germany, even Samoa. I was blessed to have this opportunity."

What was to be a six-week gig became a six-decade journey, embracing royalty and commoners alike.

"Gandhi loved our music in India," said Moe. "And Prince Rainier and Princess Grace, in Monaco. First time they heard Hawaiian music. She was beautiful."

Moe said he stood out because of the powerful steel strains. "For the people in Europe, they associated Hawaiian music with the steel-guitar sound."

Moe even worked with Frank Sinatra — in Germany. "He was touring and we played steel with him," he said. "And Tom Jones and The Platters. They took me wherever they went."

Moe eventually formed a family band, comprised of his wife, son and daughter. They also recorded albums together.

"My wife, Rose Hussey Kaohu, was Hawaiian; she was the singer in the family band," said Moe.

She is deceased; his son Lani died at 73 and his lone survivor is his daughter Dorian, now his caregiver in their La'ie home.

"He's pretty sharp, but sometimes a little cranky," said Dorian in a loving tone. "He remembers a lot, however."

"I feel lucky, traveling all those years," said Moe. "I think we were the first brown people ... (the audiences) saw. They were used to black people; they thought Hawaiians were Negroes, so we had to tell them, teach them. We told them about other Polynesians, where we were born. They did notice that Hawaiians had different hair from blacks. Not kinky."

A lifelong Mormon (his father was a missionary), Moe said music always was as much a part of his life as church-going.

"My sisters were organists in church; my brother and I used to perform at PCC (the Polynesian Cultural Center), until I told them I was too old. I did a video, though, 20 years ago, with the PCC show."

He said he watches what he eats, to try to maintain a healthy regimen, and that the worst thing about being away from Hawai'i and in Europe all those years was that he missed his poi. "You just can't get poi in Europe," he said.

He hopes to live to 100 — Aug. 13, 2008, would be that milestone — but otherwise is happy with his life till now.

"At 95, I still got my brains," he chuckled. "I thank God I'm still living. And still healthy. And able to perform one more time."

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.