In Tune with Ernie Cruz Jr.

by KAWENA CHUN
Sun Correspondent
Archived April 2008 article

Coming from an impressive musical lineage, it is evident that music is embedded in Ernie's blood and soul. His father, Ernie Cruz Sr., continues to play music to this day. His brothers are John and Guy Cruz. His sisters, Tiffa and Connie, have beautiful voices, and he is a cousin to Amy Hanaialii Gilliom.

Raised in Palolo, Cruz attended the Anuenue School, and it was there that his interest in music was first sparked.

"I grew up mostly in Palolo, young kid time, and when you hit fourth grade in Anuenue School they teach you ukulele. That was my first musical experience. And in fifth grade they taught me trumpet. Then in sixth grade, guitar, and I've been stuck on the guitar ever since," said Cruz.

Surprisingly, Cruz still has a trumpet. Although, being a thoughtful neighbor, he holds off from playing too much in his Kalama Valley home. According to Ernie, he does not want to disrupt the neighbors with his flat notes.

The surprises don't end there. "I'm a closet drummer too, I've been playing djembe (a type of African drum) with The Girlas," explains Cruz.

Like many local entertainers, Cruz honed his craft through Polynesian shows, which in turn afforded him the gift of travel.

"One of my favorite musical memories was when I did a bunch of tours to Asia and the Middle East with many different Polynesian shows. This was way before Ka'au Crater Boys, in around the early to mid '80s. It was a nice experience to travel outside of Hawaii and see the rest of the world; it was especially great getting paid to travel. It took me to Japan, Korea, Kuwait, Syria, Egypt, and Thailand. I mostly sang and did the fire-knife dance," said Ernie.

"When I came home, I worked at the Hilton Hawaiian Village on the boat as a musician," remembered Cruz. "The best was we used to get a free ride out to Kaisers on the boat. During the day, I worked for my cousin in Kuliouou. He owned a masonry company, and the good thing about that was he liked to surf, too. So if there were waves, we would quit an hour early and go surf."

Cruz continues, "As soon as the boat came in, I went to sing at Celebrity Bar and Grill, a bar in the '80s that was located by McCully and Algaroba. Henry Kapono, Brother Noland, Macky and Malani (when they weren't doing the full Kalapana band thing) used to play there. The cool thing about that was that I got to meet a lot the people I admired, a lot of my peers, so that's how I got to meet the guys."

Eventually, Ernie teamed up with Troy Fernandez and they started playing together. They met in a very island way. Their families were friends.

"My family and the Fernandez family grew up together in Palolo. I used to hang out with the older brother, Mooch. But Mooch didn't play music; he played sports. And I eventually met Troy, who played ukulele. Troy and I started playing together over the years, and we tried different formations. At one time we were ET: Ernie and Troy. But we couldn't really use that name. Our hand shake at the end of every gig was putting our pointer fingers together like E.T.," said Cruz.

Eventually the duo formed the Ka'au Crater Boys and released five albums and won several Hoku Awards.

When asked what his biggest passion in life was, the answer couldn't have been more agreeable. "The most important thing to me is... I just want to be happy, more than anything. Being my definition of happy. It motivates me to keep on moving forward."

Today Ernie Cruz Jr. is still maintaining his happiness. You could probably see him at his favorite North Shore surf spot, Ehukai or hitting up the waves at Sandys.

Looking to the future, Cruz said, "I still want to play and sing. I feel that I am as passionate about music as I have ever been."

He continues, "I feel that my best music, I haven't made yet."

On April 19th and 20th at the Waikiki Shell, Ernie and The Girlas will be backing up Paula Fuga at the Kokua Festival. It is destined to be a festive night with a jamboree of wonderful entertainers.

Beyond that, Cruz performs regularly on weekends at Uncles restaurant on Nimitz Highway, and is working on a second solo album, the follow up to his 2002 release, "Portraits."