mokai

Bio:

www.mokaiMusic.com

I’ve had a life long passion for the guitar, for folk blues fingerpicking, and for the art of songwriting: that magic of turning a few minutes into a journey with all the scenery and the twists in the road that make it interesting.

My debut CD “Unearthed” is an introduction to my music, an exploration of the different styles and rhythms that move me. I indulged my obsession for the guitar, digging up my own take on acoustic Blues, Jazz and Folk, and inviting the participation of some of the Bay Area’s most exciting musicians, including emerging talents Erika Luckett and Mark Growden, and master instrumentalists Todd Sickafoose, Matt Eakle and John Capobianco.

WAR, PEACE, and PASSION
The guitar is like a reservoir where I can always go for strength. There’s just something hopeful about a G chord. I got myself out of a major depression writing the last song on the debut CD, World Without War.

One of my stronger childhood memories of the anti-war movement was the music: the pulsing, strummed guitars, the passionate voices raised in harmony–the whole "Up With People" togetherness of it all.

YOU CAN’T FOOL ME
In ’05 I released 5 song EP entitled "You Can’t Fool Me" featuring home-studio and live recordings. The song "Criminal Behavior" became my signature song and has been heard by thousands at dozens of events. It’s a powerful indictment of war profiteers. The CD also includes the song "When Johnny Came Home From War", about a returning veteran, as well as my tribute song for the late activist, Judi Bari.

Please visit www.mokaiMusic.com for updates.  

OFFICIAL BIO

Gifted with a wild imagination and a dry wit, Mokai can be serious or playful, as well as moving. He rouses an audience with his rapid-fire rhymes, acerbic commentary and modern fingerstyle rhythms. His distinctive, earthy sound, blending elements of roots blues, jazz and world music, is the perfect vehicle for deeply felt songs about life, about people and their struggles, deeply grooving, inspiring songs concerning these times.

With smokin’ guitar, rapid-fire rhymes, and an eclectic mix of styles, Mokai has fit in everywhere from North Beach Jazz Fest to Reggae on the River, from Earthdance World Music Fest and Sonoma’s Harmony Festival to the Humboldt Folklife Fest.

Performing with his trio, he has appeared before large festival and nightclub audiences – but Mokai’s solo acoustic set featuring his signature fingerpicking is the real revelation. It is often described like hearing a duo: Mokai and his acoustic guitar–his innovative use of fingerstyle and his driving thumb making him sound like he’s got a bass player in his pocket, accompanying him. His intimate live shows are the key to his growing fan base, as noticed by local DJ Rosalie Howarth (KFOG FM) who commented “Great message in a vivid, deftly expressed package…incredible live!"

Mokai’s debut CD "Unearthed," released in May of 2003, features twelve of his original tunes and special multimedia Bonus Content for your computer. From authentic Folk Blues guitar chops, to raving poetics, "Unearthed" digs up a wide array of styles and perspectives. Recorded at the historic Hyde St. studios in San Francisco, the disc bursts at the seams with talent, including performances by award-winning vocalist Erika Luckett, instrumentalist Mark Growden, soloist Matt Eakle (Dave Grisman Quintet), Upright Bass phenom Todd Sickafoose (Ani DiFranco), Jazz trumpeter John Capobianco, and vocal performances by Heather Davison (Hanes Family, Loretta Lynch), and Bay Area diva, Jessie Turner.

After the release of “Unearthed,” Mokai made over two hundred appearances, at coffeehouses, nightclubs, festivals, house concerts and on radio stations. He was a special guest on the main stage at Reggae on the River and at the Earthdance festival, received a best song award and a best performance award from the Westcoast Songwriters Association, and was featured on the syndicated cable series “Spotlight on Performing Songwriter.” Mokai appeared at the North Beach Jazz Festival in 2003 and 2004; he had a monthly residency at the Elbo Room in San Francisco, California, for over a year and half in ’05-’06, and ended this run with performances at the Cafe Du Nord.

Mokai is part of a vibrant, supportive community of indie musicians in San Francisco, many of whom perform regularly at the local Bazaar Café. Their compilation CD, Bazaar Café Musical Stew features one of Mokai’s signature songs "It Ain’t What You Is, It’s What You Ain’t".

Mokai is also well known in the SF Bay Area progressive scene. His song "World Without War" was dubbed "the peace movement’s new anthem" by Medea Benjamin (Global Exchange) and was in regular rotation on Pacifica’s KPFA and other public radio stations, including national program Democracy Now!

Before moving to the Bay Area, he was drawn to the defense of the last wild places. Pioneering some of the first direct actions to save ancient forests in Oregon and California, he lent his body and his songs to the struggle. During one of the first ever ’tree-sitting’ actions on the Pacific Coast, he came to be known as Mokai (pronounced /MO’-kI/ with a long "o" and long "i"), performing his songs at rallies and gatherings in support of the environment, social justice, and against war.

Mokai’s 2005 release, called “You Can’t Fool Me,” received airplay on a number of public and independent radio stations. The EP was created to celebrate the growing movement in opposition to Endless War. It was released on the second anniversary of the Iraq invasion, at a rally in San Francisco’s Civic Center, where he was invited to perform.

KPFA and KALW in the SF Bay Area, KMUD in Garberville, KCRB in Santa Rosa, and KVMR in Grass Valley are among stations continuing to play tracks from the disc.

Member Since:

July 10, 2005

Members:

Influences:

Mokai sez: “In my early teens, a friend gave me a Dave Van Ronk album. Seeing that I was into guitar, this young wise-man wanted to assure himself I understood what the combination of Acoustic Guitar and Voice was really capable of. Through Van Ronk I quickly found Blind Lemon Jefferson, Reverend Gary Davis and Leadbelly. My idea of what singing with the guitar meant was permanently pegged to the soulful funkiness etched on those recordings.

I had a special fondness for the 'Piedmont' style blues of Blind Blake, and 'Alternating Bass' fingerpicking popularized by Mississippi John Hurt. I began to transcribe the guitar parts of these artists--and other pre-war bluesmen. As I absorbed the sounds of the likes of Furry Lewis, Lightnin' Hopkins and Big Bill Broonzy, I kept an ear out for finding my own voice, with the aim of creating a sound and feel that reflects who I am, so different and far removed from those old bluesmen.

As I developed my own music, building on the 'fingerstyle' rudiments laid out by the old masters, I explored lyrical themes closer to my own experiences. Writing about my own life was a way to 'live' the music I was learning. Writing about issues like War and the Environmental Crisis was a way to give something back into the cycle of culture that I am enriched by.

Other styles of music gave grist for the mill. World Folk--from Celtic to Latin American--and grooves from modern African and Caribbean bands became fodder for my own strummed rhythms. I felt the great humanity in the message of Bob Marley refer back to the ache at the heart of Hank Williams' songs. I became a little like Vonnegut's Billy Pilgrim: unstuck in time, shifting between eras from song to song, shifting from feel to feel, from style to style without warning. I didn't try to learn Jazz or Bluegrass or Flamenco to the point where I could call myself a--insert style here--player, but I heard it all, and what I heard was that, when blended into my compositions, it all converges back to the tidal tension and release of the blues.

At this point, when it comes to creating music we are all really 'at Play in the Fields of the Lord'. It's truly exciting to see people have so much choice and to see what they will do with it. And yes, anything goes, but more importantly--as styles and trends become more and more a shifting mosaic--all the flavors are in demand, and we can change our minds as to what we feel like hearing as often as we want.

More and more what we want is something meaningful: something that refers back to where we've been and isn't afraid of creating something meaningful where we are going.

Sounds Like:

Fans of Mokai's music tend to have the following in their music collection: Ani Difranco, Charlie Hunter, Spearhead/Michael Franti, Ben Harper, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Nick Drake, Bruce Cockburn, Leonard Cohen, Dave Van Ronk, Janis Joplin, Billie Holiday, Stevie Wonder, and Bonnie Raitt.

Record Label:

earthworm records