Talking Story with Dwight Tokumoto, Part 3

August 7, 2026 • Geronimo "Geri" Valdriz • Steel Guitar History

PART THREE

GV: Is your steel guitar playing influenced by any one style or any player?

DT: My playing is an amalgamation of styles, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. It all depends on the style of music of the group that I'm playing with. If we're playing Sons of Hawai‘i style then I play Feet Rogers licks. If we're playing hapa-haole style then I play like Barney Issacs. I really love the playing of Barney Isaacs, Pua Almeida, and Billy Hew Len.

But my favorite player is David Keli‘i. I love David Keli‘i's solo steel guitar album that he made. I learned a bunch of songs from that LP, I just loved his playing so much, he had the Hawaiian touch and he gives me chicken skin. One time I was at the Ala Moana Shopping Center and I heard steel guitar coming from the center stage. As I approached my hair was standing up hearing that beautiful steel guitar. David Keli‘i was playing with a group of old timer kupunas, he plays so free, just like Billy Hew Len.

GV: Is there anyone that you look up to as a musical mentor?

DT: Yes, Keli‘i Tau‘a is my musical mentor. 1n 1978 I played in the Keli‘i Tau‘a Trio with Fabian Kalili, myself and Keli‘i, He was a Hoku award winning songwriter who played with the groups Nā Keonimana and Hōkūle‘a. I liked playing with him because we had to learn and play his original music.

He introduced me to Jon de Mello of Mountain Apple Records where we recorded. I also met many Hawaiian song composers through Keli‘i including Johnny Spencer (Waika); Andy Cummings (Waikīkī) and Bob Nelson (Maui Waltz). I got to meet them and talk story. I also met Keli‘i's teacher, Alice Nāmakelua. She was a stickler for the correct Hawaiian language and mele.

I met Keli‘i Tau‘a and these musicians during the Hawaiian music renaissance of the 1970s and it had a lasting impact on me.

GV: What kind of bar do you use?

DT: When I bought the Dobro lap steel a plastic bar came with it that I used and when I bought the frypan Richard Choi gave me a metal bar. Later I went to a used musical instrument store in downtown Honolulu called Sharps and Flats. I bought a steel bar that was too long, so I took a hacksaw and cut it shorter down to about 3 inches long. It turned out that I bought a pedal steel bar but I didn't know the difference at the time.

In the late 70s I was on the mainland visiting my wife who was attending Santa Clara University. I was playing steel guitar with friends and a guy from Hawai‘i was there and asked me about my bar. He was a machinist and was interested in what I was holding in my left hand. I showed it to him and told him that the bar is a little too thick and a little too long, but I liked the puka in the back. He went and made me a steel bar just like I described, and it was the perfect weight.

I used that custom bar for many years, but I like to try different bars just to see what I'm missing. So, I found a bar called a BJ's bar and that's what I use today. It's a tapered bar and I like the weight and the feel of this bar.

GV: What kind of thumb and fingerpicks do you use?

DT: Over the year I've tried all kinds of thumb picks and fingerpicks. I buy them and my friends give me them to try out. I currently use National and or Jim Dunlop thumb picks. Fingerpicks I use are 0.16 gauge, and I shape the fingerpick with a needle nose plier.

Because I play regular guitar with my fingers, I like the steel guitar fingerpicks to be closer to the tip of my finger. I don't like the fingerpicks or thumb pick to stick out too long over my fingernail. So, I shape the fingerpicks specially for each finger, one for my index finger and another for my middle finger. I also make my thumb pick shorter so that it is closer to the strings.

GV: What strings and gauges do you use for your tuning?

DT: I first bought individual strings which allowed me to experiment with string tension. Then I switched to using a set of strings for C6 tuning from the Steel Guitar Forum. Currently I buy strings from an on-line store called Stay in Tune. When I buy individual strings, I use flat wounds for the bass strings because they are a little bit more quiet, not as boomy. On my high strings I use 0.16 (E); 0.18 (C) and 0.24 (A).

GV: Do you like a particular guitar amplifier?

DT: My favorite amp now is called a Milkman amp and the model is the Half and Half. The pre-amp is tube and the power amp is solid state, that's why they call it half and half. It's based on a Fender Princeton amp but it's way lighter.

I still have my first amp that I bought from Thayer's Music, a 1974 Fender Deluxe. I also have a Fender Princeton tube amp, and for small gigs I have a Henrickson solid-state amp. It's lightweight and I use it for small gigs and jams. If there is a PA system at the gig, I use the Henrickson amp because it has a line out. So, the sound comes out of my amp as well as the house PA.

GV: Do you use a particular guitar cable to plug into your amp?

DT: No, it's ridiculous. I really cannot tell the difference in the sound of my steel guitar using one cable or another. I've tried a lot and there is no big difference in tone to me. So I use whatever I have at the time.

GV: Do you get nervous when you are on stage playing live at Steel Guitar Festivals and concerts?

DT: I still get nervous but not too anxious. I play songs that I am already comfortable with and not super difficult.

GV: Do you practice on the steel guitar?

DT: I do practice on the steel, especially when I have to record or do a concert. For me, I try to keep up with simple technical things because the looseness and precision decrease the less I play. I try to use a metronome always, it keeps me honest about my timing.

GV: What do you like to do when you are not playing the steel guitar?

DT: I have a Coffee Farm called Waipunalei in the Laupāhoehoe area that keeps me busy. My wife Pua and I run the farm. It sits on 10 acres of land although I only use 3 acres to grow my crop of coffee. It's a challenge in itself because there is farm work to do that includes cutting grass, pruning trees, fixing machines, work on this and work on that. My chain saw, my weed whacker, my tractor and other equipment need to be maintained or repaired. That kinda thing. I also hire employees and pickers to help harvest the coffee. I also pick, process, and roast the coffee. In addition, I maintain my family home in Hilo and my parent's home at Kalihi Valley, on O‘ahu.

GV: What can you tell me about the Connections Charter School.

DT: I am a retired Special Education school teacher. The Connections Charter School in Hilo started a cultural program and they asked Cyril Pahinui and myself to teach music.

Cyril and I taught the steel guitar. He really loved the steel guitar but didn't play it anymore. He played the steel solo on the Peer Moon Band's version of "On a Little Street in Singapore." At our classes, I would play steel and Cyril played guitar and sang. The students got to hear the songs before we taught it. We gave lessons, and shared our mana‘o with the kids. We did that for 6 years and stopped because of Cyril's health issues.

GV: Do you enjoy listening to or playing other kinds of music besides Hawaiian?

DT: Yes, I enjoy listening to any kind of music with the steel guitar. That includes Country music with the pedal steel, Bluegrass with the Resonator Dobro and Blues slide guitar. I enjoy steel guitar music from around the world including Puerto Rico, Samoa, India and Japan.

I also like Jazz music, and I used to play solo gigs using my classical guitar.

GV: Do you play steel guitar with any Hawaiian groups today?

DT: Yes, here in Hilo town I play in a group called Kanakapila. We've been playing together for 20 years now, Hawaiian slack key and steel guitar music. Long time member Ben Kaili passed away recently on January 26, 2026. The band now consists of Vic Chock, JJ Ahuna, Christy Lassiter, and myself. We had a long-standing gig at the "Hilo Town Tavern" but they recently closed down, so we moved down the street and are now playing at the "Booch Bar." Of course, I still do a lot of casuals with a variety of musicians and different groups.

GV: What is the future of Hawaiian steel guitar in Hawaiian music?

DT: The future of the steel guitar in Hawaiian music is good. Especially seeing and hearing the kids that Alan Akaka has been teaching. They are the future of steel guitar in Hawaiian music. It's wonderful, and I love what he is doing!

I also give private steel guitar lessons to interested students. My goal is not necessarily to have them become professional players, it's to teach them about the instrument that originated here in Hawai‘i. That's one of the most important things to learn…

So, we ended our long telephone interview, said our alohas and made plans to meet up at the next steel guitar festival. The big Kona Low rain had stopped for awhile, but it was expected to return and cause more damage and flooding! All pau.

Talking Story with Dwight Tokumoto - Part 1

Talking Story with Dwight Tokumoto - Part 2