KAILUA-KONA — To put together her latest single, Hawaii Island singer-songwriter Kimberly June needed a little help from a friend.
June, also known as KJ, was participating in the Hawaii Songwriting Festival in July, where she was able to work closely with fellow island musician and rap artist Ryan Higgins, aka Higgs. Her song “Grateful For You” was partially written at the time, and with Higgs, she found the perfect partner to complete it.
“The single I released in February is called ‘Love and Be Loved,’ and that won second place in the contest for the Hawaii Songwriting Festival, and then Ryan Higgins’ song won first place, so we were first and second,” June said. “Then we decided to get together the next week and we wrote a song together.”
“Grateful For You” will be released today, and is just one of several sneak peeks at her new album, to be released at a later date in 2019. Mixed by Honolulu-based production team The Brewz, the song is a combination of both Hawaii artists’ unique styles and was written and recorded at June’s kitchen table in Holualoa.
“Recording is challenging up here. We have to close all the windows and turn off the fans, so it becomes a sauna. Plus, I only have a couple of hours between the roosters and the coqui frogs,” said June, who noted the mixing team had to cut out the constant sounds of nature in “Grateful For You.”
As of now, June said her new album is halfway done, but she wanted to try a new approach with staggering the release of the singles.
“That way it’s always something fresh, and not doing nothing for months and then dropping a whole album,” June said. “I feel like now people’s attention spans are too small.”
The songs June has released so far have a common inspiration — her relationship. She said her boyfriend has been her muse for this year’s crop of singles.
“The song ‘Grateful for You’ starts: ‘Every time you pull up to the driveway, I say a little prayer inside my head because I’m just so grateful for you,’” June said. “I wrote that while he was pulling up on the driveway and I was sitting there on the couch writing and playing my ukulele and it just flowed out.”
Despite being a part of the island’s music scene since her arrival in 2013, she had never participated in the annual Hawaii Songwriting Festival until this year. She called the experience “amazing,” and said she would like to go again next year because of the musical connections she was able to make, such as with Higgs.
June has been a part of the regular rotation of Hawaii singer-songwriters at Huggo’s in Kailua-Kona and Lava Lava Beach Club in Waikoloa, and she used to hold a weekly spot at Humpy’s Alehouse. The gigs plant her right in the middle of some of Hawaii’s most famous musicians.
“It feels awesome. I definitely feel honored to play there,” June said. “A lot of times, I will be playing and Henry Kapono is coming up right after me, so I always joke that I’m opening for Henry.”
June also performs regular mini-tours on Oahu and the mainland, and she will again be a headliner at the Wanderlust Festival on Oahu this spring. However, she finds the audiences on Hawaii Island are able to create an atmosphere she can’t find anywhere else.
“I feel like Oahu is more like the mainland, in the way that the crowd demands a little more attention. On this island, it’s easy to become background music,” June said. “You have to play more top 40 songs there, and the energy has to be higher. It’s more mellow here.”
Her debut album, “Boys & Girls” was released in 2014, and June said since then, her music and personal self have changed drastically. Her performances on the islands have shifted away from cover songs, and to more originals and Spanish-language songs, a nod to her young adulthood in the Dominican Republic. June said her performances are a type of meditation for her, and she wants to let go and sing from the heart to keep her audiences interested.
“When I’m not feeling the music, neither is the crowd,” June said. “They can feel that energy too. We feed off each other, so I have to keep it fresh always learn new songs that are keeping me happy, satisfied and challenging me.”
She also feels her songs released this year, including “Grateful For You,” have a more mature outlook on love and life.
“Now I feel like my songs have so much greater meaning because I’ve actually been through a real heartbreak, and I just have so much more to say,” June said.
Info: Kimberly June’s song featuring Higgs, “Grateful For You,” can be heard today at justkj.com, higgsmusic.com or on iTunes and Spotify.