It’s becoming apparent: if you sing and have any amount of musical taste, you’ll probably want Jon Rauhouse backing you up on guitar. Which begs the question: does this guy ever slow down? The answer is apparently not.

“Hawaiian Guitar Expedition” is what happens when Rauhouse decides to take a “vacation.” Shirking the aforementioned responsibilities, holed up in a tiny cabin on the Northwest corner of Washington State and goofing off with some music pals, the guitar maestro puts a proverbial grass skirt around a half-dozen new instrumentals. From the John Fahey-goes-to-a-luau inspired “Dusty Canal” to the introspective “Jen’s Tenor,” to the otherworldly “Sweet for Hawaiian Guitar & Saw,” this is music-making at its finest. Rauhouse flavors the rest of this disc with some of his best-loved tracks from his solo recordings. The result? Pure instrumental bliss. No, not the John Tesh/Zamfir kind, the good, pass-me-a-mai-tai kind.
Jason Verlinde of Seattle

Track List

1. Million Dollar Mermaid
2. Dusty Canal
3. Hula Blues
4. Jen’s Tenor
5. Homie’s Parade
6. Sweet for Hawaiian Guitar & Saw
7. Hamma Hamma Hula
8. Swingin’ Elephant Graveyard
9. Blue Grouse
10. Moa Lei’ a ‘i
11. Desert Luau
12. Aloha’oe

• Songs #1,3,5 appeared previously on Jon Rauhouse’s Steel Guitar Air Show
• Songs #7,8,10 appeared previously on Jon Rauhouse’s Steel Guitar Rodeo
• Song #2 Appeared previously as a hidden track on 2 Hours From Anywhere

Artists

• Frank Judge – voice on “Million Dollar Mermaid”.
• Jon Rauhouse – Hawaiian guitar on all songs, vocal on 3, tenor guitar on 4, archtop guitar on 6 & 9, tiple & uke on 12.
• Tommy Connell – Guitar on 1,3,5,8 & Tenor guitar on 7,10, vocal on 3.
• Norm Pratt – Guitar on “Dusty Canal”.
• Jason Verlinde – Saw on “Sweet for Hawaiian Guitar & Saw”.
• Jennifer Rauhouse – Banjo on “Blue Grouse”.
• Will Lovell – Bass on “Hamma Hamma Hula” & “Moa Lei’ a ‘i”.
• Bill Herzog – Bass & drums on “Sweet for Hawaiian Guitar & Saw”.
• Craig Schumacher – Vocal on “Hula Blues”.
• John Convertino – Drums on “Homie’s Parade”.

• All tracks written by Jon Rauhouse except
• 5 & 8 – written by Jon Rauhouse & Tommy Connell.
• 3 – written by S. Cumba & A. Noble.
• 12 – written by Queen Liluokalani.

Production

• Tracks 4,6,9,11 – Recorded at The Shrine, Lilliwaup, WA.
• Tracks 1,3,5 – Recorded at Wavelab, Tuscon AZ.
• Track 2 – Recorded at The Adobe, Cave Creek, AZ.
• Track 12 – Recorded at Bluesky, Tempe, AZ.
• Tracks 7,8,10 – Recorded at The Shrine, Phoenix, AZ.
• Mastered by Mike Hagler at Kingsize, Chicago, IL.