George Kahumoku, Jr. visiting the Paramount stage

The historic Paramount Theatre was built in 1929 as a place people could go to escape to a far off land.

It was a place to be entertained, and forget about your worries for awhile. Come escape with us to the tropical Hawaiian Islands as we present Hawaiian master slack key guitarist George Kahumoku, Jr.

He is a five-time Grammy Award winner and along with being a guitar player, songwriter, and world-traveling performer, he is also a high school and college teacher, artist and sculptor, storyteller and writer, farmer and entrepreneur.

Although George sounds impressive, most people probably wonder what playing Hawaiian slack key guitar even means. According to Dancing Cat Records, a recording company dedicated to producing and promoting Hawaiian slack key guitar, it is a unique, acoustic finger-picked style. The guitar strings (or “keys”) are “slacked” to produce many beautiful tunings, almost always based on a Major tonality.

Each tuning produces a characteristic resonance behind the melody; and each has its own characteristic color and flavor.

Many Hawaiian slack key guitar pieces are inspired by Hawaii’s natural environment and the emotions it inspires. Come be inspired by the tales of Hawaii’s beauty close to home. George will be performing at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 19. Tickets can be purchased online at paramounttheatre.org or by calling 434-0934.