Makana | ar

A protégé of the Hawaiian Slack Key Guitar legends, including Bobby Moderow & the late master Uncle Sonny Chillingworth, Makana has dedicated his life to perpetuating as well as evolving the traditional Hawaiian art form of Slack Key or "Ki Ho’alu". From this tradition Makana has evolved his own dynamic, high-octane style, coined “Slack Rock”: slack key infused with elements of bluegrass, rock, blues and raga. Makana’s playing has garnered praise from such guitar luminaries as Kirk Hammett (Metallica) & Pepe Romero (Spanish Flamenco Master). A contributor to the Grammy-nominated “Hawaiian Slack Key Kings”, Makana is considered one of the...

Axl Makana (born in Wismar, Germany; accurate name: Axel Steinhagen) is a musician, singer & songwriter living in Berlin, Germany. Axel Steinhagen moved to Berlin in 1991 and started an ethnology studies. He already sang in a band in his native town Wismar and cast about new members for a band project in Berlin. It was named Mutabor after a magic word from the fairytale 'Kalif Storch'. From the mid 1990's Mutabor advanced to a Folkpunk-Band in which Axel Steinhagen was able to achieve and live out his musical ideas. In 2006 Mutabor induced their farewell-tour with the 'Willkommen in...