KAILUA-KONA — Motherhood has changed everything for Kimie Miner.
The Kailua-Kona native singer-songwriter gave birth to her daughter, Omealani, last year, and she’s currently pregnant with her second child, due next month. With the arrival of her children, Miner also received a new outlook on life and a new outlook on herself.
“I think with the birth of my daughter, everything changed,” Miner said. “I feel like I became a different woman. I just have a new perspective on life, and I feel empowered and I feel stronger. I feel like I kind of came into my own, and I understand who I am and I grew up more.”
Her music has changed, too. Miner’s last album, “Proud as the Sun,” was released in 2017 before the birth of Omealani, and now, two years after its release, Miner has created a new album that’s something much different than the last.
“Hawaiian Lullaby” will be released May 24, and is a collaborative album between Miner and other popular Hawaii music stars. The album is 13 tracks of lullabies for children, sung in both English and Hawaiian. Twelve of the songs on the album are covers, with one original song written by Miner.
Miner’s rendition of “You Are My Sunshine” is already available for purchase.
Motherhood inspired Miner’s project.
“I had a baby, my first baby last year, so every song became a lullaby. ‘You Are My Sunshine’ specifically became the song that I sang to her when I was pregnant and then after I gave birth to her,” Miner said. “And I wanted to learn the Hawaiian version, and that’s how this whole concept of doing a Hawaiian lullaby album came to be. To teach my baby Hawaiian language through music, and teach myself, too.”
Miner said she saw a need for a Hawaiian language lullaby album on the music market, and the easiest way to make sure there was one available for Hawaii parents? Make her own.
“I really wanted it to represent Hawaii and who we are,” Miner said. “Because some of these songs are more mainstream songs, like popular songs that people know and love, so I found a few friends on the Big Island to help me translate, or as they call it, interpret these songs.”
Besides Miner singing “You Are My Sunshine,” the album also features Hawaii artists The Green, Paula Fuga, Josh Tatofi, Kalani Pe‘a, Anuhea, DeAndre, Kapena, Kaumakaiwa Kanaka‘ole, and Imua Garza and his mom, Pamela Garza.
“It’s been really fun because I’m not the artist on every track, so it’s been really fun to produce this album,” Miner said.
The album is being released under Miner’s record label and company, Haku Collective. Haku Collective is Miner’s project that strives to bring the next generation of Hawaii artists into the spotlight.
“Haku Collective is sort of a company by artists for artists,” Miner said. “We do production, audio, sound and bookings. We’re a record label and also a mentorship program, so we provide free mentorships to aspiring young artists in Hawaii.”
Haku Collective holds a songwriting mentorship program at least once a year, for any aspiring artist between the ages of 13 and 25.
“I think, it’s something I was already doing for a while, mentoring kids through music — going to schools, working with nonprofits, just to be a mentor,” Miner said. “And it was something I didn’t have growing up in this music industry that I wish I did have, a mentor, someone to help guide me through the music process, and also the songwriting process and different things.”
With a new baby on the way, Miner doesn’t have plans for a tour anytime soon, but she said she would like to put one together in the future with the artists featured on “Hawaiian Lullaby.”
“Just working with them to bring this whole lullaby album to life, it’s been so much fun,” Miner said. “It’s actually been a lot of work, but it’s been really fun.”
After the debut of “Hawaiian Lullaby,” Miner has the opportunity to add some awards to her resume as well. On Saturday, May 25, Miner is up for the award of Music Video of the Year at the 2019 Na Hoku Hanohano Awards for the music video “Highway in the Sun.” In 2018, Miner was named Female Vocalist of the Year and won Song of the Year for “Bamboo.”
She has also been nominated for Music Video of the Year and Female Vocalist of the Year for the Island Music Awards, to be held June 8. Miner won the award Female Solo Artist of the Year at last year’s inaugural Island Music Awards.
Miner’s success as a musician means more to her now that she has children, and she wants “Hawaiian Lullaby” to be something her children can appreciate when they’re older.
“I’m on a new path now. I’m on a new journey,” Miner said. “ … Because I have kids now, I’m thinking of their future and creating something that I want them to be proud of and they can look at later, and see that they were there and part of it all.”
Info: “Hawaiian Lullaby” is currently available for presale on iTunes and Google Play. The full album can be purchased Friday, May 24.