BIOGRAPHY
 Maro
Kawabata was born in Kyoto Japan. At the age of 12, he first saw Bill
Monroe & the Blue Grass Boys perform on Japanese television; he
thought the music was very inspirational. Soon there after, Maro asked
his mother for some spending money to purchase albums by Bill Monroe.
Motivated by Monroe, Maro and his brother Takaharu started to play
music together.
The first band Maro ever played in was called
The Riverside Brothers; the band name incorporates the direct
translation of the Kawabata and also reflects the fact that Maro and
Takaharu are brothers. The band performed in many different venues in
Japan included radio, television, and bluegrass festivals.
Maro's
story is one of persistence and determination, leading him to school in
the United States, back home to Japan where he met and married his
American bride, Sandra, and then to return to the USA to raise his
family in the midst of his musical Odyssey. Returning to Japan after
college, Maro took with him new ideas of musical expression, ideas that
had not been a part of his initial enthusiasm, at least not
consciously. At first, he said, "I was searching for technique." Though
rewarding at some levels, it was a search that ultimately left him
unsatisfied, so much so that for a while he nearly gave up playing.
"Something was missing in my life," he said, and that "something" was
music.
When he returned to playing and performing it was with
new insight --he needed to "get past technique and get closer to the
mind..." of those who came to bluegrass as a natural part of their
lives. He had to experience a metamorphosis in which he would learn to
let emotion and feeling drive his singing and playing. Maro has had the
opportunity to play with many different musicians, some well-known and
some not so well-known. A benefit of this musical interaction is the
development of Maro's own sense of musical taste and quality.
DISCOGRAPHY
CDs
Sunset Drive
PURCHASE: Flatpicking Mercantile | iTunes
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This
CD from Maro Kawabata features the guitar playing of both Maro and
Wyatt Rice. Wyatt also engineered and co-produced the project and Maro
brought in a great line up of bluegrass pickers and singers to help him
out, including Rickie Simpkins, Sammy Shelor, Adam Steffey, Ronnie
Rice, Don Rigsby, Andy Hall, Patty Mitchell, and Richard Bennett.
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Track List:
1. These Tears
2. Skipping Stones
3. Never Ended for Me
4. The Gift
5. Hana
6. Found Affection
7. Goodbye Liza Jane
8. Down Among the Budded Roses
9. The Hermit Miner
10. Banks of The Ohio
11. Wildflowers
12. Lost in Philly |
Appearances on other FGM Releases:
Click item to purchase and learn more information.
LINKS
Check out Maro Kawabata's official website at: http://www.marokawabata.com
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