Molokai Native’s Unique Surf Reggae Gets Crowd To Its Feet

The funk didn’t stop for long on Sunday night as Hawaiian music sensation Sashamon and his band, along with special guest Uncle Isaac Kamile on guitar, rolled into Paddlers’ Inn March 4 and rocked the house until closing time. Kamile, who taught Sasha how to play guitar and ukulele when he was younger, offered up sonic guitar licks over Sashamon’s rhythm section as they played songs from his album One Day Maybe, as well as up-tempo versions of reggae and roots standards by Bob Marley, UB-40 and others.

There was even a jovial new-wave element to the show; Sashamon found out that Maui County police were lined up behind the parking lot in anticipation of violence, or possibly some ganja burning, and played a mash-up rendition of Sting’s “Spirits in the Material World”, and dedicated the song to Kaunakakai’s finest. “Much love to the police out there!” was Sasha’s cry.

The police presence turned out to be needless; the show was peaceful and fun, with the smiling crowd staying out well into the night and leaving it all out in front of the stage in the form of good natured, hip-rockin’ revelry.

As usual, the biggest crowds on the dance floor came out when Sashamon played his two hits Necta (Butterfly) and Japanese Squeeze. The smokin’ frenzied versions of those tunes were given a little extra swing by Mario Rodrigues on bongos and Nathan Cwik on drums, who played with furious intensity all night long.

Surely, the most concrete sign of any good musical act’s likelihood of success and longevity is its love of playing. After the concert, Sasha and his band, manager, and some close friends invited the Dispatch to the house in Papohaku which is serving as their musical retreat while they are on Molokai. Despite a long day with performances at the Molokai Ohana Surf Club’s first meet, Sashamon and his band retained enough enthusiasm to stay up late into the night jamming new originals and old classics on ukuleles and guitars. Drummer Nathan Cwik even provided percussive rhythms with a cheese grater and cookie cutter.

No word yet on the date of the follow-up album to 2004’s One Day Maybe, but Sashamon’s popularity continues to grow despite the absence of new material. The Sashamon MySpace account now lists about 5,200 friends, double the roughly 2,600 friends he had last July. With radio play in such non-Hawaiian surfing hotbeds as Brazil, Australia, and Italy, the infectious sound of Sashamon’s “surf reggae” has many asking about new material on myspace and in press interviews, echoing a sentiment heard many times from fans at Paddlers’ Sunday night: Hana Hou! Hana Hou!