Page 4 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - April 27, 2022

4 HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK APRIL 27, 2022
Take just about any checklist of things as- sociated with the color green and you’ll be surprised how favorably it compares to the six hardworking musicians who make up The Green.
greening of their families. So, big check.
“We’re all dads now, so we’ re busy with our kids,” explains guitarist-vocalist Zion Thompson. “When the pandemic happened in 2020, three of us in the band had daughters. In my case, I had my girl Bowie, named after David Bowie. It’s why I’m up early and up late with no sleep.”
kids,” explains Thompson. “But our focus has changed now that we have families. You start to feel different about why you’ re out there (on stage) — that it’s not for me anymore, you know? It’s like I’m not here just to mess around, but I’ m out here to make money and build this business and build this brand. Now, we do it because we all have families to support,” he says, adding that the number of children among current band mem-
Natural, infectious ener- gy? Check. Loads of creativ- ity? Check. Steady growth? Check. Long-term stability with blessings of satisfying prosperity? Check and check.
Since then, these good-na- tured local boys who first co- alesced back in the late 2000s and who today, as 30-some- things, are still energizing crowds, lighting up stages and kicking major butt with their monster grooves, have been carrying around their fatherhood badges with as much pride as any Nā Hōkū Hanohano Award they’ve earned. And while their papa responsibilities often leave them more exhausted than their tours do, they wouldn’t want it any other way.
He pauses momentarily to catch his breath and possibly a few imperceptible winks of shut-eye before adding, “I thought touring was hard, but this is way more nuts.”
At one time, about the only missing check mark for these pillars in the roots-reggae- smooth lovers’ rock scene might have been in the fertil- ity department. But that issue was finally put to rest a few years ago with the sudden
Led by guitarists-vocalists JP Kennedy (foreground) and Zion Thompson (background), The Green continues to perform before packed crowds in support of the group’s latest album, Brand New Eyes.
six years, Caleb (Keolanui, lead vocalist) and our origi- nal drummer Leslie Ludiazo had daughters, but that was it. The rest of us didn’t have
They’ve still got their monster reggae grooves after a decade together. But the members
of The Green possess something far more important these days: growing families.
Call it The Coming-of-age Green Effect.
body’s family is the priority.”
In embracing fatherhood, members of The Green have grown to accept a more ma- tured view of life in the spot-
light while also placing an even greater emphasis on their individual and collective family units.
bers totals 19.
“With The Green, every-
“In the band’s first five or
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