Kaʻau Crater Boys

Kaʻau Crater Boys were a Hawaiian Contemporary duo formed on Oʻahu in the early 1990s by Ernie Cruz Jr. (vocals, guitar, bass) and Troy Fernandez (ʻukulele, vocals). Both were raised in the Pālolo Valley/Pālolo Housing community, near the extinct volcanic crater for which the group is named. Cruz came from a musical family — his father, Ernie Cruz Sr., was a working Hawaiian guitarist and singer, and his brothers John and Guy Cruz are also established local musicians. A steady gig at the Elks Lodge as part of a wider circle of Pālolo-area musicians helped launch the duo, and led to an early touring stint in Japan.

The group's 1991 debut album, "Tropical Hawaiian Day," launched a roughly seven-year run that made them one of the most commercially successful acts in contemporary Hawaiian music, driven in large part by Fernandez's rapid-fire ʻukulele picking. Their catalog also includes "Valley Style" (1993), "On Fire!" (1995), "Making Waves" (1996), and the compilation "The Best of Kaʻau Crater Boys" (1998). They won three Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards (the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts' annual honors) across 1994 and 1995, including Song of the Year for "ʻOpihi Man," and their playing is widely credited with helping spark a renewed wave of interest in the ʻukulele in the 1990s, influencing later players such as Jake Shimabukuro.

The duo's active period as Kaʻau Crater Boys ended in the late 1990s; Fernandez went on to a long solo and session career, while Cruz released a solo album, "Portraits" (2001), which itself won two Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards. Ernie Cruz Jr. died on September 20, 2016, at age 56, after getting into difficulty in the water off Sandy Beach on Oʻahu.