Transporting listeners to the islands through music, a Slack Key ‘Ohana concert is a melodic culture and lifestyle experience that creates feelings of love, connectedness, and sheer joy.
Whether presented in a full band setting augmented by hula dancers and a fire dancer or intimately showcased as a duo comprised of guitarist-vocalist Brian Witkin and singer Kela Sako, Slack Key ‘Ohana takes audiences on an island adventure filled with the tradition of the aloha spirit, singalong songs, and the warmth and comfort of family. After all, ‘ohana means family in Hawaiian and the band and their audiences bond and become one big ‘ohana by the end of the concerts.
Blending tropical vibes, earthy Americana guitar, and harmony-rich pop vocals, Witkin founded the award-winning band based in Southern California in 2021, serving as its lead guitarist and co-lead singer. Enamored and immersed in music since his childhood, he’s always had affection for Hawai’i and island music. Witkin is dedicated to presenting the music faithfully. An acknowledgement that he has achieved his goal came from the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards, the Hawaiian GRAMMY® Awards equivalent. For the second consecutive year, Slack Key ‘Ohana are Nā Hōkū awards finalists.
“I never would have imagined or expected that I would be playing music that I love in a band that I love in a style that I love. I’m so grateful to be sharing and spreading the love and aloha,” said Witkin, who is frequently accompanied by his mother, Carol Witkin(ukulele and vocals), and his father, Joe Witkin, a keyboardist, vocalist, and U-bass player who performed at the original Woodstock as a founding member of Sha Na Na.
Slack Key ‘Ohana’s 2021 self-titled debut recording entered the iTunes World Music charts at No. 2 and won Best World Music Album honors at the San Diego Music Awards a year later during a ceremony at which the band performed.
The concert stage is perhaps the best way to experience Slack Key ‘Ohana. They honed their sound by playing over one hundred shows each year in 2022 and 2023, including performances at prominent island music festivals. One of those gigs was recorded and released as a live album, “Live at Tiki Oasis,” and it became their first No. 1 debut on the iTunes World Music chart in 2022, garnering another San Diego Music Awards nomination.
In 2023, Slack Key ‘Ohana released a single, “Nahenahe Ka Leo o Ka Wahine Uʻi,” which won Best World Music Song at the San Diego Music Awards. The accompanying video received a Nā Hōkū Hanohano nomination last year. Slack Key ‘Ohana was invited to perform at the awards ceremony where they were joined on stage by four-time GRAMMY®-winning slack key guitar master George Kahumoku Jr., GRAMMY® nominee Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top, and four-time Nā Hōkū Hanohano award-winning ukulele player Brittni Paiva. All three made guest starring appearances on Slack Key ‘Ohana’s “Hawaiian Cowboy” album, which dropped last year. The collection is nominated in the prestigious Album of the Year category at this year’s San Diego Music Awards and is a finalist at the Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards for the coveted Island Music Album of the Year. The album was the band’s second to debut at No. 1 on the iTunes World Music chart.
Sako made a guest appearance on the “Hawaiian Cowboy” album by singing on “Coming Home,” a song about family and kinship. Like Slack Key ‘Ohana, she records for Pacific Records, who issued her debut EP, “Speed Bumps,” last December. The EP debuted at No. 4 on the iTunes Reggae Music Albums Chart and scored Sako a Best New Artist nomination from the San Diego Music Awards. A Hawaiian native, the mesmerizing vocalist began playing shows with Slack Key ‘Ohana last summer. The chemistry proved divine and Sako was welcomed as a member of the ensemble as a co-lead singer.
“The opportunity to join Slack Key ‘Ohana fell out of the sky and into my lap. In this band, I get to share my Hawaiian culture and heritage, which is something important that was missing for me. They’re so professional and expert musicians. We totally synergized in the studio, and they’ve become my family. This band is all about aloha and love. It’s what drew me to the band. Our music is also about totally embodying the culture,” said Sako, who grew up in a Hawaiian home before relocating with her family to California.
As Slack Key ‘Ohana works on their third album, “Mai Tais in Paradise,” which is expected to arrive in late summer 2025, they preview the project with the release of a new single, “Slack Key Blues.” The single is a collaboration with Rand Anderson, a Hawai’i-based Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards nominated lap steel guitar player who records and performs often with the group.
With Brian Witkin’s standards of ensuring that Slack Key ‘Ohana’s music maintains authenticity, Sako is working on the lyrics for “Mai Tais in Paradise” with a kumu, or teacher in Hawaiian, to show respect to the Hawaiian culture and language.
“The kumu is helping me to make sure our lyrics are authentic and translate into the Hawaiian language,” Sako explained before passionately defining the message of aloha.
“Aloha is about love for all people, showing respect for the ocean, trees, sand, all nature. It’s always supporting each other with an open heart. It’s about being so close to each other and waking up happy, no matter what. It’s having respect and gratitude for yourself and for your ancestors ‘from your head to your feet.’ It’s about reciprocation, being welcoming and understanding of each other’s heart.”
Watching Brian Witkin and Sako pour their hearts into song, one thing is abundantly clear: the fun they’re having performing Slack Key ‘Ohana’s music. The smiles are never-ending, and the laughter is incessant. The joy radiated on stage is as infectious to audiences as are the effervescent melodies that fill the group’s songbook.
As Slack Key ‘Ohana grows and evolves from album to album, Brian Witkin is committed to the band’s branded ethos. “Whether you’re from the islands or elsewhere, our shows and records are filled with the spirit of aloha. We’re staying true to the roots of the islands. Listening to our music is a relaxing, good-time experience. On the new album (“Mai Tais in Paradise”), we are taking a different stylistic approach to how we blend island music and pop. Yet at its core, Slack Key ‘Ohana music communicates the feelings and the sensibilities of the islands.”
