It happened again, when singer Mihana Souza entered our PBS Hawaii studios for a conversation on our weekly program Long Story Short.
Like previous Long Story Short guests Nona Beamer and Robert Cazimero, she said, "I don't come alone." She said her ancestors were in the room with her, and she felt good that they are a very present part of who she is.
When I asked her a question to get the program rolling, she deferred her answer, wanting to start with a family chant.
After emotionally delivering the chant, she was ready to talk about anything.
Including her childhood in the prodigiously musical Farden family, her adult working relationship with her singer/songwriter mother Irmgard Farden Aluli in the group Puamana, and the hidden benefits of toting a bass to performing gigs (people love to help, and it's a great conversation-starter).
My favorite part was hearing Mihana tell about family parties then and now, because all of her stories involve spontaneous music-making, kanikapila in the backyard, the parlor, the front steps.
It's a Hawaiian tradition that I see less and less in urbanized Hawaii, as families instead play favorite CDs in smaller townhouses and apartments.
Happily, not at Mihana's house in windward Oahu. And you can bet the guests at her musical parties include her ancestors.
You can watch the vivacious Mihana onLong Story Short at 7:30pm Tuesday, Aug. 19, with a repeat broadcast the following Sunday at 2:30pm. A written transcipt of the conversation will be posted on our website and later this month, check back to access an audio file for your Ipod, MP3 player or for computer listening.
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