As of today, 2/21, we are one week and 2 days away from our flight to Seattle, which will kick off the mainland leg of the "Right Love Tour", taking us from WA, down the West Coast to San Diego, over to South by Southwest Music Festival for a week, then to New York City. 31 days, 25+ shows, and no doubt a billion funny stories and lifelong memories.
I haven't really seen the US. Living in Hawaii 99.9% of my life the furthest I've ventured past California was changing planes in Phoenix (other than our first SXSW experience in Austin last year). So I'm thrilled to be passing through more of Texas, Tennessee, New Orleans, the Carolinas, DC and of course NYC!!! The road trip of a lifetime with some of my favorite people.
For those who aren't from Hawaii or haven't been listening to the radio lately, The Green is a local band comprised of 4 guys from Oahu: JP Kennedy, Ikaika Antone, Caleb "Shniggs" Keolanui, and Zion Thompson. Read their bio and hear more of their songs on www.myspace.com/thegreenband808 Their song "Love I" has been a hit in Hawaii for like 6 weeks straight, and their self-titled debut album came out on Feb 2nd, and has been the #1 album in Hawaii since. Not only are they amazing songwriters and singers, they also play their instruments, so they are going to be backing me for my set as well (with the addition of Leslie "Big L" Ludiazo on drums and Brad "BW" Watanabe on bass.) Truly an allstar band. I'm so proud of them, as I watched the development of each of them as artists, and the development of their album pretty much from the start. We've been doing tons of shows together here in the 808 in preparation for this tour, and although they are way more reggae than my album is, our vibes blend together super well, and the combo is undoubtedly going to be a KILLER show. I'm beyond excited.
This week we are in mad rehearsal mode, really preparing our set and making the dynamic of the song list/transitions/harmonies/etc all cherry. Also shopping for some warmer attire (its fricking cold out there!!) and staying healthy for the germ battlefield that will be our tour bus!
Today I recorded day 1 of the "Right Love Wrong Time" music video (finally!) in the bamboo jungle of Jackass Ginger with the creative genius brothers of Kai Media. Also today we wrapped up the final mix of "Come Over Love", my first cover song that I'm going to release as my new single. Originally performed by Estelle, this song has been my absolute favorite for a couple years now... and I'm honored to be making a version of my own. BIG UPS ESTELLE! LOVE YOU!
