Kalama Brothers, Aloha Polynesia bring Hawaii to Yuba College Theatre

People waiting for Hawaiian music as they've known it before will hear more than they expect at this weekend's concert at Yuba College.

They think of Hawaiian music as slow and beautiful, said Kai Kalama of the Kalama Brothers. It is, he said, "But we are a new generation coming in. We want to break new ground."

Ryan and Kai Kalama, the Kalama Brothers, are performing at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Yuba College Theatre in Linda in a fundraiser for the school's theater and music departments.

The concert is a nice way to start out the college's semester, said Walter Masuda, dean of the fine arts and language arts division at Yuba College, last week.

He lived in Hawaii as a youngster.

"Music is one of the most wonderful things I remember (about Hawaii) as a child," he said. "I am looking forward to hearing their music."

The concert begins with Sacramento-based Aloha Polynesia.

Tickets are $15 general and $10 for students, seniors and military.

"We've always had Hawaiian music going on all our lives," Kai Kalama, 31, said last week.

Born and raised in Southern California, Ryan and Kai were familiar with the music through their father and uncle, the late Ron and Baldwind Nainoa Kalama Jr., the original Kalama Brothers from Oahu who performed with well-known Hawaiian artists for many years.

The boys joined their elders' band when Ryan was 15 and Kai was 13 and have since done all types of music, including rock 'n' roll with the band Off White and soul with Soul Rebel Alliance.

"We learned a lot of our music vocabulary from Mom and our performance from our dad," Kai said. "We had no choice." Mom was a conductor in their church choir.

In addition, Kai was in the top 36 "American Idol" contestants in Season 8 in 2009.

Now the younger men are going back to their roots, with a twist.

"It's going to be more fun to explore our Hawaiian side," Kai added, to talk about the state and their experience as hapa haole, half Hawaiian.

"We wanted to speak to that generation and be proud of whatever percentage you are of being Hawaiian."

The young men have already played with or are going to perform with well-known Hawaiian performers including Willie K, who took them under his wing and got them recognized in Hawaii.

"It's a full circle thing," Kai said. "We're peers with the people that we've loved since growing up."

They have also performed throughout California. Ryan, 33, lives in San Clemente and Kai in San Juan Capistrano.

CONTACT Leticia Gutierrez at lgutierrez@appealdemocrat.com or 749-4722.