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Posted: Sunday, January 6th, 2008 6:28 AM HST

Slack key guitarist Beamer to skip all Grammy Award events

By Associated Press

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) _ Slack-key guitarist Keola Beamer says he won't take part in any activities associated with this year's Grammy Awards because he doesn't believe his nominated album represents Hawaiian music. Beamer says he experimented with the ``tonal palette'' of ki ho'alu, or slack-key guitar, to record classical works in his Grammy-nominated ``Ka Hikina O Ka Hau _ The Coming of the Snow.'' The songs he featured are by composers Maurice Ravel, Igor Stravinsky, Felix Mendelssohn, and others. Beamer says the album is not really a Hawaiian record and shouldn't be in the Hawaiian music category. Four other albums have been nominated for Best Hawaiian Album. The team of Daniel Ho, George Kahumoku Jr., Paul Konwiser and Wayne Wong are in the running, as are Tia Carrere, Cyril Pahinui and Raiatea Helm. (Copyright 2008 Associated Press. All rights reserved)