Founder, Buck Giles was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawai`i where at an early age was influenced in part by his grandfather’s 78-rpm Hawaiian record collection. He received the honor of studying under the renowned Steel Guitarist, Jerry Byrd, which solidified his influences by instituting the importance of keeping a fragile musical tradition alive.

While performing in Los Angeles for “Inventing Paradise”, a Hawaiian exhibit at the Fullerton Museum in Los Angeles, Giles met legendary Hawaiian jazz musician, Bill Tapia.  Bill Tapia is a foremost Ambassador of Aloha and Hawaiian music to the U.S. in the early 1900’s.  Shortly after their meeting, they performed their first concert together at Ben Harper’s Folk Music Center and Museum in Claremont, California.  It was an instant hit, a magical moment in history of the young and the old, filling a musical generation gap.  It was such an enjoyable success that with the help of The Essential Resophonics jump-starting his musical renaissance they recorded Bill Tapia’s first ever solo album at 94 years old called “Tropical Swing”. It was nominated for a Na Hoku Honohono award, Hawai`i’s equivalent to the Grammy’s and was rated in the top ten best jazz albums by CMJ Jazz charts.  As well as recording with some of the legends in Hawaiian music, Giles has performed with the likes of Lopaka Colon, Makana and Martin Denny.  When not performing, Giles teaches basic guitar and `ukulele  to children and has had great success using musical exercises as a tool in the developmental learning processes of Autistic children.  In his spare time you can find him surfing, making custom steel guitars or at the library conducting research on the evolution of Hawaiian music and it’s influences as one of the roots of American music and pop-culture.

Diane Rubio is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist with a degree in Music from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She has studied cello with Joan Jeanrenaud of the Kronos Quartet; I-Bei Lin of Trio Xia; and Gregory Dubay, principal cellist of the Honolulu Symphony Orchestra. She has recently ventured into non-Classical genres, performing with the likes of Makana, Hawaii's premiere Ki Ho'alu (slack-key) guitarist; Bill “the Duke of Uke” Tapia, 96-year-old jazz musician and ‘Ukulele Hall of Fame inductee; Lori Ohtani’s (of Iona) BUTOH dance troupe; and the retro-Hawaii band, The Essential Resophonics (under the Mountain Apple label). She has opened on cello for the Russian cellist and former model, Nina Kotova, and has played ‘ukulele alongside the Brazilian guitarists Carlos Barbosa-Lima and Carlos Bendfeldt. She is an honorary member of the ‘Ukulele Guild of Hawaii, and is a repeat guest artist for the annual ‘Ukulele Guild of Hawaii Festivals. Diane’s latest project is a performance at Hawaii Theatre co-headlined by Makana and Jason Maraz.

Ernest Provencher is a versatile bassist. He lived and played in Boston , NYC , Finland, Santa Cruz CA,  and Hong Kong before landing in Hawaii. He plays jazz, classical, salsa, mariachi, and Balkan in addition to Hawaiian music.

    Ernie's compositions for modern dance have been presented in Asia, Europe and the U.S.  He has been on the dance/ music faculties at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts, the Theater Academy of Finland, and the University of Hawaii Manoa. Some of the artists he has played and recorded with include : Michael Franks, Eartha Kitt, Joanne Brackeen, and Curtis Fuller as well as Hawaiian performers including Gabe Baltazar, Del Beazley, and Makana.  When Ernie is not performing he spends his days as the band/music teacher for Hana Hau`oli school and String teacher at Waldorf school.