Makana
Matthew Swalinkavich, known professionally as Makana, was born in Hawaii in 1994
and is an American musician specializing in slack-key guitar. He began singing
at age seven, took up 'ukulele at nine, and started learning slack key guitar at
eleven. His debut album Makana was released in 2000 and won the Best World Music
Album Award at the Hawaii Music Awards. In 2008, Makana was second runner-up in
Guitar Player Magazine's Guitar Superstar competition, earning praise from
judges including Steve Vai and Joe Satriani. His subsequent albums include Koi
Au (2008), Ki Ho'alu: Journey ...
