A new ki ho'alu (slack key guitar) category will be instituted in the 2009 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards next spring.

The board of governors of the Hawai'i Academy of Recording Arts voted earlier this year to establish a Best Slack Key Album for the 2009 ballot.

The contenders for this category could feature vocals with slack key accompaniment or strictly instrumental performances of ki ho'alu, with basic requirements of 75 per cent slack key instrumentation for vocals in the slack key mode and 75 per cent of vocal tracks be sung in Hawaiian.

The move, in part, has been triggered by the wealth of slack key albums recorded every year — and possibly a reaction to the dominance of slack key CDs copping the Hawaiian Music Grammy Award conducted by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences.

The competing Hawaii Music Awards, which conducts online voting worldwide, already has a slack key category, and is currently soliciting nominations for its 2009 awards event April 4 at Mamiya Theatre. Prospective candidates may register their entries through Dec. 31 at www.hawaiimusicawards.com.

HARA officials are tweaking entry criteria for Male Vocalist, Female Vocalist and Group of the Year, scrutinizing and restricting eligibility due to membership concerns. For details, go to www.nahokuhanohano.org.

HARA also is holding its annual general membership meeting Nov. 11 at The Willows, with a buffet lunch at 11 a.m., followed by a noon meeting, when new board of governors will be installed. For reservations, call 593-9242.