Born as Matt Swalinkavich, he started playing at Duke's Canoe Club in 1993 and took the moniker Ki Ho'alu Kid before finally switching to his Hawaiian name, Makana, which means "gift." Makana believes that "gift" is what this music is.  "It was given to me and I'm giving it to people. Learning how to give without having to receive is an endless lesson in unconditional giving. Learning to give my music unconditionally is one of the great challenges that I accept in my life to learn. I try my best to pull them into what I'm doing, but I'm here to serve everybody. I try to always give 110 percent whether they're listening or not."

Makana's songs reflect his own style and character, while carrying forward the spirit of Hawai'i. He weaves together a broad spectrum of cultural sounds and lyrical and musical styles, enabling him to explore, conjure and transport - to past and future, familiar and foreign, dream-like to moving. Music lovers and guitar enthusiasts are simultaneously accommodated and enthralled.

Playing both rhythm and melody simultaneously while using intricate right-hand techniques in a buffet of open tunings, slack key players are versatile and evocative. Ki Ho'alu, or "slacked key", is the indigenous Hawaiian art form that is the foundation upon which Makana creates ground-breaking original music and reanimates classics.

He attributes his command of the guitar to over a decade of soaking up the licks and influence of Hawai'i's treasured Masters of an art form older than the blues. Tunings were often handed down and are sometimes particular to a single song. He has invented dozens of originals.

Makana shows some of the best in slack key and world-class guitar playing. His singing, in multiple languages, is as unique and versatile as his guitar and a perfect compliment to the many styles. Makana brings all this with heart and soul to each performance, which many consider to be his greatest gift. He delivers to each project and stage of any size more than one would imagine could be contained.

In 2000 his first album Makana was voted "Best CD" by the readers of the Honolulu Weekly and also claimed the honor for Best World Music Album at the Hawai'i Music Awards. He has headlined at the historic Hawai'i Theatre, and is regularly featured at Slack Key festivals throughout the Hawaiian Islands. At 24, he has already performed for over 16 years and has opened for Andreas Vollenweider and Sting, shared the stage with No Doubt, Bruddah Iz, Keali'i Reichel and Clay Walker, and performed at the WOMAD Festival in Reading, England.

For more information, visit Makana's own website: http://www.makanalive.com

See Makana perform in The Masters of Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar Concert Series at The Napili Kai Beach Resort, Maui on May 28, 2008 and August 13, 2008.

(Makana previously performed in this series on March 5, 2008 and before that on October 3 and September 19, 2007 and before that, at the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua on May 23 and January 10, 2007, also May 24 and January 18, in 2006 and on September 28 and April 20 of 2004.)