Spotlight ON! Lion Ladies Steel Guitar Ensemble

April 27, 2021 • Addison Ching • Entertainment

This month we start a new feature called "Spotlight ON!""

Spotlight ON! will highlight one of the steel guitar artists or groups that has participated in our Showcases, either through live performances or through submitted videos to our Open Stage showcases. In some cases these artists have also participated in our in-person steel guitar festivals.

This month we feature the Lion Ladies Steel Guitar Ensemble.

Over the years, Japanese steel guitar master Kiyoshi "Lion" Kobayashi has shared his talents at many of HIMELE's steel guitar festivals. Lion has also assembled performances by students of his music school, and has presented them from time to time. Guests of the Maui Steel Guitar Festival have, over the years, enjoyed performances by his Lion Halau.

His latest effort is the Lion Ladies Steel Guitar Ensemble, a group of four female steel guitarists who play in unison along with him. The ensemble is often backed up by other members of Lion's school, and recently by another music ensemble that Lion has assembled called NewTrade Winds.

The four steel guitarists of the Lion Ladies Steel Guitar Ensemble are Masako Wakamatsu, Sakae Machida, Akiko Watanabe, and Yoko Tanaka.

The ensemble made its Hawai‘i debut at the 2019 Waikīkī Steel Guitar Week event, and recently participated in the March, 2021, Open Stage Showcase.

In honor of Lei Day (May 1^st) the group has created a performance video of "May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii."

The video can also be be seen on YouTube

This new periodic feature is a snapshot of the complete tribute that is posted on the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase website. See the complete tribute here.