Dreadnought Hawaiʻi: A guitar’s journey home to the Source of Strings.
This is a montage of footage from the upcoming documentary film by Kilin Reece, following the recreation of the Kealakai Martin guitar, the direct ancestor to the world’s most famous and widely used acoustic guitar the Martin Dreadnought. Re-created in 2020 by the Martin Guitar Company using the original templates found in the C.F. Martin Guitar Company Archives, this film follows this guitar’s journey home to Hawai’i for the first time in over a century. As we follow it west across the continental United States, we join the guitar as it meets legendary musicians from the worlds of Blues, Bluegrass, Jazz, Western Swing and Country all whom reveal a common musical lineage traced to the music and musicians of the 19th century Hawaiian kingdom. With never before seen archival materials and interviews with legendary artists of today, this film returns credit long overdue to the seminal contributions of a generation yesterday’s Royal Hawaiian Troubadours.
With: Taj Mahal, Jack Johnson, Paula Fuga, Tavana, Peter Rowan, Jerry Douglas, Ledward Kaapana, David Grier, Dennis Crouch, Ranger Doug, Tommy Emmanuel, Dom Flemons, Doug Jernigan, Dan Crary, Kawika Kahiapo, Kamuela & Ka’ihi Kimokeo, Laurence Juber, John Jorgenson, Gabe Schnider, and more.