Caption:
Hālau Band - Nāleoakalani
Louise Strait – ‘Ukulele & Upright Bass
Louise was born and raised in Hilo, Hawai‘i. She has a BA in Music Education and an MA in Music Performance. She has been teaching various instruments privately for 20 years. Louise has taught band and orchestra and currently teaches general music.
Rick Kam – Bass Guitar
Rick was born in Honolulu and raised in Waimanalo, Hawai'i. He learned an appreciation for Hawaiian music at an early age at family gatherings where relatives would break out in song after the meal and everyone would join in singing and playing their ukes or guitars into the "wee hours". He learned to play the bass guitar in high school band and joined a professional musical group called the Ebb Tides while attending the University of Hawai'i. He met his lovely wife Lynette who also was a professional musician with the Ebb Tides and now is his best fan! Rick retired from playing music in 1990 when he and Lynette moved to LA to pursue his career with IBM and raise their three children. He recently started playing the bass again as a member of the St. Matthew Lutheran Church worship band and the Hālau Band.
Mazie Kaume`alani Crumly – Vocals
Mazie grew up in Forest Grove and has been active in hula and music performance since she was a child. She studied music education at Warner Pacific College. She has studied piano and vocal performance and is currently the worship director at Cedar Mill Bible Church. She also sings backup vocals for local artists in Portland.
Jeff Hannon - Guitar
Jeff is a lifelong musician who has studied voice, piano, and more recently, guitar under Roland Cazimero. He was introduced to the Hawaiian culture through his wife Rachelle Hannon, and together they have two hanai children, each with Hawaiian heritage. Jeff works as a Freelance Art Director, and is an active volunteer for The KIAKO Foundation, (an organization that helps fund the Hālau).
Mike Stewart - `Ukulele
Mike’s mother taught him the “joy of `ukulele” and his first chords way back in the 1950’s. While attending Willamette University, he took lessons from one of the Hawaiians in his dorm. During his Navy career and stationed various times at Barber’s Point, Pearl Harbor, and Camp Smith, he developed a deep love of Hawaiian music and culture. Over the years he has taken lessons from Herb Ohta, Jr., Daniel Ho, Jumpin’ Jim Beloff, Michelle Kiba, Lyle Ritz, Bryan Yasui, and the master himself, Ohta-San. He is a charter member of the Portland Ukulele Association and whenever possible joins Francis Doo’s monthly kanikapila at the Bamboo Grove Restaurant.
Dawn Iwamasa – Guitar
Dawn was born and raised in Pearl City, Hawai‘i. She has an undergraduate degree in flute performance and a master's degree in music therapy. She learned to play the guitar while in college, and has studied Hawaiian slack key guitar with Portland's Mark Hanson. She currently works as a pediatric music therapist for the Children's Cancer Association, a non-profit organization based in Portland.
Brian Kamisato - Keyboards
The newest member of the band, Brian was born and raised in Hawai‘i and moved to Beaverton 2-1/2 years ago from Mililani, Hawai‘i. He works as an engineer for the Army Corps of Engineers and is also a member of the worship band at St. Matthew Lutheran Church. Brian recently served six months in Afghanistan as part of the Army Corps. Brian was a professional musician in Hawai‘i for over 28 years, playing keyboards with Keahiwai, Ben Vegas & Maila Gibson, Juke Joint, and also gigging with Cory Oliveros. He was also a member of Mango 3, played two years with the Hale Koa Luau show, and over 20 years with 'The Ebb Tides'. Brian is married to his high school sweetheart, the former Deborah McCollough and has three sons.
Our motto
is to preserve the Hawaiian culture and the art
of hula.