For over 50 years, Winchester, Indiana, has been home to the Hawaiian Steel Guitar Festival, one of the world's longest-running celebrations of Hawaiian steel guitar music.
From July 23 through 25, musicians and fans from around the globe will gather in Randolph County for concerts, workshops, and jam sessions celebrating Hawaiian steel guitar. This week on Cultural Manifesto, Kyle Long explores the remarkable story behind this unique Indiana event.
The festival began in 1975 when Winchester cabinetmaker and steel guitar builder Charles Moore invited fellow enthusiasts to gather in his basement. That small meeting grew into an internationally respected festival.
Since then, many celebrated figures in Hawaiian music and steel guitar have performed at the festival, including Genoa Keawe, Alvino Rey, Alan Akaka, Jerry Byrd, and many more. This year's festival continues that tradition with Mālie Lyman as the featured headliner.
Indiana's connection to Hawaiian music is no accident. During the first half of the twentieth century, Hawaiian music was enormously popular throughout the Midwest, where Hawaiian guitar schools, radio programs, and performers introduced generations of Americans to the music.
Listen to Kyle Long's conversation with two of the organizers behind this year's festival, musicians Mark Prucha and Bill Wynne.
