About David Kamakahi
Ukulele Recording Artist, Producer, Composer, Songwriter, Instructor. David Kamakahi is the son of famous Slack Key Guitar master and songwriter, the late Rev. Dennis Kamakahi. David secretly took up ukulele at the age of 15 studying the stylings of the great ukulele master and mentor, Eddie Kamae, and studying recordings of other masters such as Peter Moon, Troy Fernandez, and Ledward Kaapana.
David started his professional career in 1995 at the age of 15 while still attending Kamehameha Schools Kapalama. Within a year of picking up the ʻukulele, David recorded two albums on George Winston’s Dancing Cat Records. He recorded Ohana (Family) with his father Dennis, followed by Hui Aloha with Dennis, Martin Pahinui, and George Kuo. David then joined and toured with the group Na Oiwi in 2000, playing contemporary Hawaiian music with father Dennis, Mike Ka’awa, and Jon Yamasato. The group recorded two albums, Crossroads and The Sequel.
David’s first solo debut album Pa’ani won “Contemporary Album of the Year” at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards in 2005. Along with his father, David recorded for the soundtrack of the Disney Animated Film “Lilo and Stitch 2: Stitch has a Glitch” specifically on the song “Always” written by Jeanine Tesori and Alexa Junge with Hawaiian Translation by Dennis Kamakahi. David released his sophomore album “Shine” in 2008 and nominated for “Best Contemporary Album” at the Hawaii Music Awards. David was nominated in 2009 for The Grammy Awards as part of the compilation album, Slack Key Kings. In 2011, David joined the musical duo Waipuna with fellow Kamehameha alumni Matthew Sproat and Kale Hannahs. To date Waipuna has won numerous Na Hoku Hanohano Awards including “Instrumental Composition of the Year” for Napili Bay composed by David Kamakahi and Herb Ohta Jr., “Group of the Year”, “Island Music Album of the Year”, “Single of the Year.”
After his father passed away from cancer in 2014, David founded Naukilo Music LLC with the sole purpose of preserving and releasing his father's archives of unreleased music to the world.
His talent and versatility has enabled him to travel to Japan and the mainland extensively, while performing solo, duo, or with a group.