Spotlight ON! Ethan Goore

July 15, 2021 • Addison Ching • Entertainment

This month we shine the Spotlight ON! Ethan Goore.

Currently living in South Kohala on the Island of Hawai‘i, Ethan recently graduated from The Hawai‘i Preparatory Academy.

Ethan has been playing music for his entire life, and always looks forward to music classes in school. He started playing the drums when he was two years old, and drums are still one of his favorite instruments to play. He also started playing īukulele and trumpet in elementary school.

Ethan says, "I became interested in the steel guitar after attending the first and second annual Hawai‘i Island steel guitar festivals. I was amazed by the instrument's versatility as it could fit well in almost any style of music." Shortly thereafter he began Hawaiian steel guitar lessons with Kumu Alan Akaka via Skype.

Ethan made such progress on the steel guitar that he found himself performing on stage at the 2019 Hawai‘i Island Steel Guitar Festival.

"To me, the steel guitar is the secret ingredient that makes Hawaiian music sound authentic," says Ethan. He continues, "I love listening to older Hawaiian recordings and trying to copy the style of the steel guitar player – I listen a lot to Territorial Airwaves. I particularly enjoy the styles of Eddy Pang and Feet Rogers."

As a member of Ke Kula Mele Hawai‘i's NextGen steel guitarists, Ethan has appeared at several steel guitar events including festivals on Hawai‘i Island, Waikīkī, and Kaua‘i. Ethan's performance videos have also been featured in the NextGen segment of recent Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase livestreamed broadcasts.

Ethan will attend Rice University in the fall of 2021, where he plans to take advantage of their music and mechanical engineering offerings.

This video of "My Little Grass Shack" is one of several Ethan recorded for the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Showcase Livestream Steel Guitar Saturdays series.

The video can also be seen on YouTube

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