Sounds Pretty Great: John Cruz and "Island Style"

Today's random song is performed by John Cruz, a singer-songwriter from Oahu, Hawaii. While he was born into a musical family (his mother loved Motown, his father played country, and his brother Ernie was a member of the musical group Ka'au Crater Boys), John didn't really develop his style until he lived on the East Coast while attending college, and acting in plays. He returned to Hawaii in 1995 to help his brother record an album, and in stage appearances he was invited to sing and play his own compositions which gained him a following even before he released an album. His first album was one of Hawaii's most successful. In his musical career, he was part of a compilation album that won the first ever Grammy Award for Hawaiian music, and this song, Island Style, has become known worldwide. He counts among his friends and fans Jack Johnson, Jackson Browne, Eddie Vedder, Jimmy Buffett, Lisa Loeb, and Trey Anastasio, and he is the subject of a 2006 documentary on his life. You can find Island Style on his 1996 album Acoustic Soul. The video shows him performing the song live with Jackson Browne and Jack Johnson.

Listen to songs like this and more on the KUNM Global Music Show every Monday night from 10 pm - 1 am Mountain Standard Time. Live streaming, program information and the two-week digital archive can be found at http://www.kunm.org.

Source: http://www.johncruz.com/