Ledward Kaʻapana

Ledward Kaʻapana (born August 25, 1948) is a Hawaiian musician known for kī hōʻalu, the Hawaiian slack-key guitar style. He was born in the Kaʻū district of Hawaiʻi Island and grew up in the village of Kalapana, where he learned music within his family. Beyond slack-key guitar he plays steel guitar, ʻukulele, autoharp, and bass, and sings in both baritone and falsetto ranges. He is noted for a picking technique using primarily his thumb and index finger.

In his teens, Kaʻapana formed the group Hui ʻOhana with his twin brother Nedward Kaʻapana and their cousin, the falsetto singer Dennis Pavao. Recording chiefly in the 1970s, the trio released a substantial catalog of albums and performed widely, becoming part of the broader revival of traditional Hawaiian music during that era. Kaʻapana later led the trio Ledward Kaʻapana & I Kona and pursued a solo career, releasing recordings including Lima Wela (1983), Simply Slack Key (1988), and Led Live (1994).

Kaʻapana is among the few Hawaiian artists to have received Nā Hōkū Hanohano Awards from the Hawaiʻi Academy of Recording Arts for work with three different recording entities: as a solo artist, with I Kona, and with Hui ʻOhana. Four of his solo albums have received Grammy Award nominations in the Best Hawaiian Music Album category. In 2011 he received a National Heritage Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts, and in 2024 he was inducted into the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame.