From the good old days of MTV when MTV actually showed music videos, to running down the street singing "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" for the whole neighborhood to hear, to dance concerts in my living room imitating Expose, Debbie Gibson and Whitney Houston, to singing a Beatles song for my high school talent show and imagining how I would direct a U2 video for "With or Without You" (this began my dreams for going to USC film school) to picking up a guitar after watching Jewel rock hers on MTV, to my dad and mom singing the Broadway Musical Hits on Sunday mornings, to my brother and all of his friends playing their ukuleles to old Hawaiian tunes in our garage, to my friend Tisha teaching me how to play my first guitar chords, to her then making me play with her at church events, to the day the man of my dreams asked if we could write some songs together- this is me, this is the music!
This Hawaii-born songstress stirs deeply with her words, yet brings a laugh when you least expect it. Her songs take you from new love to abiding faith, from despair to joy and to the buoyant hope of childhood dreams. Elina walks a fragile balance between the soft, laid-back music of her Hawaii childhood and a sharp-focused delivery honed from her years in the competitive L.A. entertainment scene.
Elina’s debut album includes songs about life, love, brokenness and her faith. Some of the songs are “Lucky,” which is a sassy duet about married life by Elina and her husband, Tyrone Wells. They also team up in “Constantly” and “Breathless,” expressing the faith that brought them together.
Tyrone Wells produced Elina’s debut album and co-wrote some of the songs, including “Dream Like New York”, which was a song selected for the end-title and soundtrack of Fox’s animated film, “Everyone’s Hero.” This same song that the pair wrote, also moved on to be used for The World Series, Madison Square Garden Commercials and as a standard played at the New York Knicks' home games.
Just recently, Elina teamed up with talented singer/songwriter friend Tamila Zahrndt, to record her 2nd album project "Tamila and Elina". This album is now available on iTunes and www.cdbaby.com.Elina has future plans to record another solo album and continues to try out and share new songs at some of her local shows. One instrument Elina has started to play again after many years is the Ukulele. Koolau Guitars and Ukuleles have endorsed Elina with an Ukulele from their "Pono"line.
Tyrone and I had the opportunity to go to Nicaragua and visit orphanages and communities that live in the trash dumps of Managua, Nicaragua. These pictures tell our story.
Hi Erin! My last day was on Tuesday, I won't be back til next semester, but I wanted to wish you a great summer. Thank you for being such a wonderful friend. Much luck and many blessings to you and your musical career! Miss you and hope to see you in the fall:)
Just dropped by to say hello.Hope all is well with you. Thought I'd drop by and let you know I have uploaded a new acoustic demo called Old Gang. Hope you like it. Have a great week and I'll catch up with you soon!
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