Soul Sound Studios releases an instant holiday classic out of Kaneohe

Soul Sound Studios has released a holiday compilation record featuring some of Hawaii’s most respected recording and performance artists. Conceived and produced by Aumakua Records’ Shawn Moseley and his wife Maile Judd, Seasons Greetings from Soul Sound was begun on the first of the twelve days of Christmas.

Moseley relates that the project, which features 21 songs and 28 artists, was recorded in only five days at Soul Sound Studios in Heeia.

“It was pretty much twenty four-seven,” Moseley says.

Just 1000 physical units were manufactured, using only green and recycled products. Those units were distributed to the artists and others who contributed to the record.

Seasons Greetings from Soul Sound is available digitally exclusively from hawaiitunes.com. The album’s producers chose that particular outlet in order to keep all of the revenue generated by the project in Hawaii. All of the proceeds from the recordings will be distributed among the artists that helped create it, after the incumbent licensing fees of the songs are taken care of.

The artwork on the physical units is original and was created specifically to reflect the spirit of the project, which embodies the cheer and joy of the season and embraces the grateful appreciation of ohana and community. Each unit was hand signed by Moseley.

Among the artists featured variously on Seasons Greetings from Soul Sound are Hawaii favorites including Starr Kalahiki, slack key maestro Stephen Inglis, perennial rockers Piranha Brothers, Mike Love, lap steel stylist Buck Giles, and Kelii Heath, who also assisted with the engineering.

The record captures a variety of interpretations of holiday classics, from jazzy to country, from “Frosty the Snowman” to “O Holy Night.” An ambitious effort that was well executed, the quiet release of this album demonstrates that a simple idea to celebrate the holiday spirit in a truly local way can produce wonderful results. 

To download tracks from the record, go to www.hawaiitunes.com.

Also visit soulsoundhawaii.com.

Buck Giles

Kelii Heath

Starr Kalahiki

Stephen Inglis