This program tells the story of Joseph Kekuku, the Hawaiian musician credited with inventing the steel guitar. Back in 1889, as a student at Kamehameha Schools, Kekuku shaped a steel bar in the school's machine shop and slid it across his guitar strings, creating a sound that would travel far beyond the islands. The grandson of a royal chanter, he went on to perform for royalty in Hawai'i and across Europe, eventually bringing his innovation to audiences throughout the continental United States.

Set in the Troesh Studio Theater, with its large windows and adaptable lighting, this presentation digs into the origins of an instrument that reshaped American music. It's a chance to learn how a single student's experiment in a school workshop grew into a sound that influenced everything from country to blues to rock and roll.