Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association - HSGA

06/08/2026

Join us in Santa Cruz Oct. 22-24 for the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association (HSGA)’s 2026 festival! We celebrate the music of Sol K. Bright and welcome special guest Alan Akaka! We will be at the Hotel Paradox. https://www.hsga.org/2025-festival

05/30/2026

https://www.tmj4.com/asian-american-heritage/the-milwaukee-musician-preserving-the-sound-of-the-hawaiian-lap-steel-guitar

The instrument that inspired blues, country, and rock music is slowly fading away. One Milwaukee musician wants to keep the sound of the Hawaiian Lap Steel Guitar alive.

05/28/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cg03ne17qVg

Provided to YouTube by Smithsonian Folkways RecordingsPa'au'au Waltz · Tony KuOriginal Hawaiian Steel Guitar℗ 2004 Smithsonian Folkways Recordings / 1979 Fol...

05/20/2026

Get your Sol K. Bright tunes ready for our upcoming festival in Santa Cruz Oct 22-24! More details coming soon. 🎶

05/15/2026

We are excited to announce that our newly appointed Director Emeritus Alan Akaka will be joining us for our festival in Santa Cruz, CA October 22-24 as a special guest. He will help us feature and celebrate our annual artist Sol K. Bright. Alan has a personal connection to Sol. So he has stories to tell, and music and aloha to share. Join us!

https://www.hsga.org/2025-festival

05/11/2026

Our president Christo Ruppenthal was just on Vintage Guitar magazine’s Have Guitar Will Travel Podcast to promote the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association. Check it out!😎

In episode 267 “Have Guitar Will Travel”, presented by Vintage Guitar Magazine, host James Patrick Regan speaks with guitarist Christo Ruppenthal from the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association. In their conversation Christo tells us about his National Guitar Collection and his involvement with the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association (HSGA) and his love of vintage music.
Christo talks about the events HSGA holds including this year’s event which will be in Santa Cruz, CA on October 22nd through the 25th and he describes the membership which is world wide.
Christo takes us through what’s available on their website, lessons, tutorials and eventually instruments for sale.
Christo talks about his work performing Hawaiian songs from the 20’s and 30’s and he gives us a history lesson of the early players and their instruments he also takes us through his career as a luthier.
Christo gives us his thoughts on the resurgence of the popularity of Hawaiian Steel Guitar, which had help from Sponge Bob Square Pants.
Christo takes us through the common tunings for Hawaiian Steel and his preferred tuning A11.
Finally Christo tells us about his new album “Get Under the Moon”

To find out more about Christo you can go to his website: musicbychristo.com and for information on the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association you can go to their website: hsga.org

Please subscribe, like, comment, share and review this podcast!

https://open.spotify.com/episode/365fQtgbj7ixpsUNhA4343?si=5cHgy02LQtWIDXC9S0FRJQ&pi=tRXSiW33SiWa1&t=0

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/have-guitar-will-travel-podcast/id1457620829?i=1000767089218

https://youtu.be/uPwwMkIHcZ8?si=IiQsoU1Z72nGKp4x



https://www.patreon.com/cw/HaveGuitarWillTravelPodcast

05/04/2026

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GrZCTY8ySX0

16 likes, 1 comment. "1人で南国バンドしてみた🌴 Song of the Islands "

04/20/2026

“Jerry Byrd’s father made the wood cutout “JB” motif that covers the speaker grill cloth on this Volu-Tone Model 5 amplifier, built in Los Angeles in the late 1930s. Unlike modern amplifiers, Volu-Tone models required players to charge the strings of their instruments with a small electrical current before playing.” Spotted at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

04/15/2026

Lorene Ruymar – HSGA’s Honorary Director Emeritus

In recognition of her extraordinary legacy and foundational role in our organization, the Board of Directors of the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association has unanimously approved the posthumous appointment of Lorene Ruymar as an honorary Director Emeritus. The decision to bring this motion before the Board came through separate suggestions from her fellow director emeritus Alan Akaka and HSGA’s founding board member Don Woods who served along with Lorene on the original board at the clubs beginning.

As a founding member of HSGA in January 1986 and its original President, Lorene helped bring the Association into existence and set the course for all that we have become. Her vision, dedication, and leadership created a strong foundation for a community centered around the preservation and celebration of the Hawaiian steel guitar.

Lorene’s impact extended far beyond her leadership within HSGA. As the author of The Hawaiian Steel Guitar and Its Great Hawaiian Musicians, she documented and preserved the history, stories, and artistry of the steel guitar and its pioneers in a way that continues to educate and inspire musicians and enthusiasts around the world. Her work remains one of the most important contributions to the understanding and appreciation of this unique musical tradition.

Though many of us did not have the privilege of knowing her personally, her influence is deeply felt in everything we do. The Association itself stands as part of her legacy, and her passion for the music continues to resonate through our members, our events, and our shared mission.

With this appointment, Lorene joins Jerry Byrd and Alan Akaka as one of the few individuals to be honored as a Director Emeritus, in recognition of her lasting contributions to HSGA and the broader Hawaiian steel guitar community.

It is for these reasons, and so many more, that the Board has chosen to honor Lorene in this way. We are proud to recognize her enduring legacy and to ensure that her contributions are never forgotten.

I wanted to share this news with all current and past members so you can join me in remembering and honoring Lorene for all she has given to the steel guitar community and to HSGA.

Mahalo Lorene.

Christo Ruppenthal
President
Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association - HSGA

02/13/2026

We’re pleased to announce that the HSGA has partnered with the Honolulu Theatre for Youth! The Hawaiian Steel Guitar Association is proud to have recently made a donation to aid in the production and promotion of their original production “Joseph Kekuku and the Voice of the Steel Guitar.” This play features past HSGA special festival guest Mālie Lyman. They have a short run of shows starting this weekend in Honolulu that we wanted to let you know about, and some exciting mainland touring on the horizon.