Joel Katz

I have been performing professionally on Maui for 30 years. I am also on the music faculty at the University of Hawaii Maui College and head the award-winning Seaside Recording Studio.
My unique specialty is the Hawaiian Lap Steel Guitar. This instrument’s unique sound will immediately transport listeners to the days of old Hawaii with gentle breezes and a relaxed feeling of Aloha. This is the perfect solo instrumental background music for your reception, wedding, cocktails, and dining. Acoustic guitar or ukulele for a wedding ceremony followed by Hawaiian Steel Guitar for a reception is a popular combination.

Hawaiian Steel Guitar is the technique of playing a guitar with a metal bar. This evolved in Hawaii around 1885 and became the sound of Hawaiian music the world knows for many decades to come. Both the instrument used and playing technique is different from Slack Key guitar, which is a regular guitar tuned down to an open chord and played with fingers.