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Queens Of The Islands Tour

Arcata Theatre Lounge

Hawaiian Pop star ANUHEA, a young, iconic singer/songwriter/performer en route to meteoric music industry fame has also become one of Hawaii’s most popular exports. 

 ANUHEA has enjoyed several iTunes & Radio Hit singles including “SIMPLE LOVE SONG” and “Higher Than The Clouds”.  A major presence on the Islands with multiple hit songs being played in heavy rotation hourly, along with favorable critical comparison to fellow islanders Jack Johnson and Bruno Mars, ANUHEA also enjoys the distinction of being specifically requested to perform by his Holiness, the Dalai Lama. 

ANUHEA, who recently headlined sold-out North American venues in cities across the country including NYC, Los Angeles, San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Chicago and many more.  She has also played NFL Halftime shows including the Pro Bowl and appeared on many music festivals including Wakarusa, Outside Lands and the Kokua Festival.

ANUHEA has also performed with a wide cross-section of top acts including Bruno Mars, Jack Johnson, Al Green, FloRida, Ziggy Marley, Katchafire, Trevor Hall, SOJA, Mishka, Donovan Frankenreiter and Taj Mahal, and is the recipient of two wins at the Na Hoku Hanohano Awards for “Contemporary Album of the Year” and “Most Promising Artist.” 

ANUHEA has had over 500,000 digital singles downloaded from the US iTunes store alone and sold over 150,000 full albums to date.  She has charted TOP TEN on the iTunes POP, R&B & Reggae Charts and TOP TEN on the Billboard Heatseakers & World Music Charts.  ANUHEA was designated a Discovery Download and Artist to Watch along with one of the Best New Artists by iTunes and was recently named one of the Top Dozen POP Albums of the Year and Song of The Week by GOOGLE.

AHUHEA is the most played female artist on the radio in Hawaii and arguably the most famous female artist to ever come from the state of Hawaii, speaks fluent Hawaiian and is involved with many charitable organizations throughout the Hawaiian Islands and Pacific including Mana Maoli and Jack Johnson’s Kokua Foundation. – Sweetwine Entertainment Group.

From the beginning, Etana found she had an uphill battle to fight as a woman in reggae. She and her management consciously set about creating a change. “It seemed like females were never dealt with fairly,” Etana reflects. “They were still paid less than men, disregarded as not being important on the flyer. The mission was to teach [people in reggae] how to treat a female artist.”

The world’s largest distributer of reggae music, VP Records, recognized Etana’s talents. In 2008, the label released her debut LP, The Strong One. The album, which combined Etana’s reggae sound with aspects of R&B and world music, was embraced by fans as well as the music industry, landing the singer a nomination in the “best reggae” category at the MOBO Awards in England.

After several years touring around the world, Etana returned in 2011 with her second album Free Expressions. The lbum consisted of production from Kemar “Flava” McGregor, Clifton “Specialist” Dillon, Steven Stanley and the late Joel Chin. The set included the hit “People Talk,” which detailed Etana’s own experiences facing skepticism as a woman in the music industry, as well as favorites like “Free,” “August Town” and “Heart Broken.” The latter song topped Natty B ‘ s chart in the UK for three consecutive weeks. 2011 also saw Etana return to her country roots with a cover of Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” on the VP Records compilation Reggae Gone Country. Her rendition of Cline’s country classic was praised as one of the standout tracks on an LP that featured such reggae luminaries as Beres Hammond and Luciano.

In 2013, Etana partnered with Jukeboxx Recordings producer Shane Brown (Busy Signal, Tarrus Riley) for her third LP, A Better Tomorrow, recorded at Kingston’s legendary Tuff Gong Studios. The album brought Etana back to reggae’s foundation via vintage sounds and one-drop rhythms, earning praise from the Associated Press for its “mature and confident sound,” “top-notch lyrical content” and “unique vocals.” “Shane Brown automatically would go to my vision as if he was in my mind,” Etana remembers of the process behind A Better Tomorrow. “He would finish the stories for me. It was as if he heard every word out of mouth as far as I wanted the sound to be.” The same year, Etana held her own at the IRAWMA (International Reggae and World Music Awards) in Coral Springs, Florida. She hosted the annual ceremony and took home the award for Best Female Vocalist. Marcia Griffiths, Queen Ifrica, Allison Hinds, Patrice Roberts and Nkulee Dube were also nominated in this category.

Now in 2015, Etana continues her forward movement becoming the first female to achieve a Reggae Billboard #1 in seventeen years with I Rise, album produced by Jamaican luminary Clive Hunt (Peter Tosh, Rolling Stones, The Wailers, Chaka Khan, Grace Jones, Jimmy Cliff). The album reflects the singer’s ongoing maturity while maintaining the R&B-inflected take on reggae that she’s come to be known for, showcasing the diversity of a true musical Renaissance woman. “Trigger,” which tells the story of an educated but underemployed young man driven to desperate measures in order to take care of his cancer-stricken mother, is the album’s lead single and a follow up of sorts to “Wrong Address.” On the complete opposite spectrum is the album’s second single “Richest Girl,” a reggae love ballad with sweeping strings and jazzy horns over a classic one-drop riddim. “Emancipation” is a spiritual anthem with an uptempo dance beat and dub effects that sounds like it could have been recorded during one of Sly and Robbie’s classic sessions at Chris Blackwell’s Compass Point Studios in the 1980s. Speaking of Sly and Robbie, reggae’s legendary Riddim Twins supply the backbeat and their unmistakeable vibes on “Ward 21 (Stenna’s Song),” a dub-inflected track detailing a man’s descent into madness. What does each track on the diverse set have in common with the next? They all have a message. “I RISE” is classified as Etana’s best album to date by many and listed as the number one album of 2014 and also in the top five of thirty albums that were released in said year.   Etana plans to continue to tour “I RISE” for 2015 and is very grateful for all the love and support from her fans. “

I Rise says a lot,” Etana says. “Over the years I’ve learned a lot and in the learning process came a lot of pain and struggle. And to see the growth and see hard work pay off, felt really really good. Each time I go through a hard day or any kind of struggle and obstacle, I get up that next day and I rise out of any kind of bad mood or energy, and move on in a positive direction. My hope is this album will be inspirational and be like medicine for those in the struggle.”

Inspiring others is nothing new for Etana. From the outset of her career with “Wrong Address”—a track which led many to re-evaluate how they look at others from different socio-economic backgrounds—she has been instigating change. Four albums into her career, Etana has become a role model in Jamaica with her message and action. – Sweetwine Entertainment Group.

 

DATES/TIMES

WHERE

• Arcata Theatre Lounge

PRICE

• $25
• $20 adv.

• Ages: 21+