KAILUA-KONA — The Big Island has an abundance of great guitar players in residence, and on Friday night, a portion of that talent pool will be performing on the same stage.
Scott Reagan, the lead singer of local band Bottle of Blue, has created Six String Fling, a concert that features six of the island’s local guitar players performing together for the first time. The inaugural concert is at 7 p.m. Friday at the Aloha Theatre in Kainaliu.
Bottle of Blue has played with other music acts from the island at events such as the recent Big Island Blues Festival, but Reagan felt the need to create a show that would meld some of the Big Island’s top guitar players together in a new way.
“I wanted to do something slightly different,” Reagan said. “Something that would really focus on the specific talent with the guitar players on the island and feature them in front of a single band so it is a show that had a little bit better flow. We want to be able to go from performer to performer and not give the audience a lot of down time.”
The musicians that make up Friday’s show are Bottle of Blue and their lead guitar player, Dan Corippo, along with Tomi Isobe, Steve Fundy, Larry Dupio, Larry Seyer and Dave Lawrence. The show’s focus on a single instrument, guitar, is what Reagan said will make this concert stand out to audiences.
“A lot of these players that I’ve chosen typically play either solo gigs or in small trio gigs,” Reagan said. “The idea of being able to have those players in front of a full, five-piece band was a very exciting opportunity for me and a lot of the players.”
Bottle of Blue will open the show with their first performance of all original songs, and the acts that follow will play a mix of both cover songs and originals. And the final act of the concert will bring all of the guitar masters together.
“At the end of the night, we’re going to bringing up everybody that’s been performing in the show all at one time on the stage together,” Reagan said. “And that’s going to be the first time I’ve experienced anything like that on the Big Island, being able to see six amazing guitar players on the stage all at the same time.”
The lineup includes musicians that Bottle of Blue has performed with in the past, but Reagan said he purposefully recruited a few guitar players that he had never worked with before in order to have a wider variety for the show.
Reagan said he’s received some feedback via social media from Big Island residents who believe the concert is unnecessary. Some say that because they can see these musical acts at local bars and restaurants, there’s no need for an event like Six String Fling.
“I try to tell those people, you might be able to see the artist in their typical situation, but this is a completely different experience,” Reagan said. “This is you being able to see these artists in a situation they’re not necessarily accustomed to or something that doesn’t happen very often. And to be able to see a mix of artists that almost never get together and play together, it’s a great opportunity for everyone.”
Reagan hopes Six String Fling will become an annual event and that enough good response from Kona audiences will allow the performers to take the show to the east side of the island as well.
“I’m really hoping that next year we can start with another fresh group of players and be able to continue to showcase all of the talent we have here. Which is an unbelievable amount of talent,” Reagan said. “We are so blessed with such a huge community of amazing musicians on this island. To be able to display that, feature that and give credit to these people who have dedicated most of their life to honing their craft is really an honor for me.”
Info: Tickets for Six String Fling are $35 and can be purchased at Kiernan Music or online at apachawaii.org.